Women in central Queensland: A study of three coastal centres, 1940-1965

While in agreement with the perceived wisdom that events during World War Two were responsible for many social changes for women in Australia, the thesis disagrees with the implication in existent Queensland womens historiography that these changes affected women equally in all parts of the State. Research undertaken in Central Queensland provides evidence that, although some similarities existed, the conservative forces in this region restricted the liberating effect of such changes. It also addresses the subject of Queensland difference, and argues that the rural patriarchal economy sustained the notion of rigid gender and class differences in Central Queensland. It maintains that this affected women in regional Queensland to a far greater extent than those in the Brisbane metropolitan area because of the lack of secondary wartime industry and the masculine nature of rural industry. Additionally , in opposition to the widely held belief there was universal post-war financial security the thesis argues that poverty did exist. In particular it addresses the subjects of rising inflation and what has been termed the Social Security Poverty Group, basing conclusions on statistical evidence, oral evidence, and secondary and documentary sources.