The electorate of Mansfield lies between 8km and 22km southeast of Brisbane City. The name ‘Mansfield’ was first announced in the Queensland Government Gazette on April 15, 1967.
The name was allocated after the then Governor of Queensland, Sir Alan Mansfield, consented to having one of the new suburbs named after him. Sir Alan once lived in the Mt Gravatt area.
The 1996 census showed that Mansfield had a population of 39,828 people, slightly more than half of them female.
Just over 10,000 people were born overseas, about one-third of those from Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, the UK and USA. A total of 6676 people spoke a language other than English at home, the largest group (2072) speaking a Chinese language.
In religious preferences, a huge 29,885 described themselves as Christians (of some denomination), 1534 following non-Christian religions and about 8000 who indicated no religion (or did not answer that question).
The census showed that there were 14,329 private dwellings in Mansfield, of which 10,006 were fully owned or were being purchased, while 614 private dwellings were unoccupied.
Of the 18,566 people who work, the huge majority (11,151) drove themselves in a car, while 332 walked, only 75 travelled by bicycle and 949 worked at home. Two cars were owned in 4931 households, while a further 1580 had three vehicles.
The median age in Mansfield is 34 (Queensland is 33); median weekly individual income $300-$399 ($286); median weekly household income $700-$999 ($614) and average household size 2.9 (2).
Mansfield is a southside suburb of Brisbane, the capital city of Queensland, which is midway up the East Coast of Australia – 27.5 degrees south, 153 degrees east. With the Gold Coast to the south and the Sunshine Coast to the north, Brisbane is served by both domestic and international airports. The Brisbane River meanders through the suburbs and eventually flows into Moreton Bay. Moreton Bay is a popular boating and fishing leisure area and a number of islands are located within the Bay.
Brisbane enjoys a sub-tropical climate with mild winters and warm to hot summers. Most rain falls in the summer months with tropical thunderstorms being prevalent.
Brisbane operates on Eastern Standard Time, which is 10 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time.
In Australia as in Britain we drive on the left side of the road. Brisbane is well served with public transport, for example, trains, buses, ferries and taxis and has a modern road system.
Mansfield is a suburb of Brisbane, we have firm contact wiith State Representative Phil Reeves with whom I have spoken and now have e-mail contact. His e-mail address is phil.reeves@parliament.qld.gov.au. Phil has been very helpful and as a result I have broadcast on their local radio station.
