Indigenous people Moreton Island is the traditional home of the
Ngugi tribe. A large funeral cave in the stony hill of
Mudlieimbah near Cape Moreton was a location where bones of the deceased Ngugi were traditionally placed. By the 1910s, these skeletons had been taken by collectors.
British exploration and conflict Captain James Cook named the main headland on the island Cape Morton after
James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton on 17 May 1770.
Convict castaways
Thomas Pamphlett,
John Finnegan and
Richard Parsons traversed the island in March and April 1823 before heading to the mainland via Stradbroke Island.
Pilot station and lighthouses A British settlement on the island did not occur until 1848 when the
maritime pilot station for Moreton Bay was relocated from
Amity Point on Stradbroke Island to
Cowan Cowan on the north-west shore of Moreton Island. This pilot station was later moved the nearby site of
Bulwer. , Queensland's oldest lighthouse At Cape Moreton is Queensland's oldest lighthouse,
Cape Moreton Light, which was first lit in 1857. The lighthouse was followed by at least
four other lighthouse erected since the 1860s, at Comboyuro Point, North Point, Cowan Cowan Point and Yellow Patch. Ngugi people were able to live on country during this period as some like Toompani and his wife Thruppan obtained employment as boatmen and housekeepers for the pilots and lighthouse keepers. However, by around the 1890s the remaining Ngugi had either died or relocated to Stradbroke Island.
World War II During World War II, a number of defence installations were installed on the island by the
Royal Australian Navy and
Australian Army. These sites included anti aircraft guns and mine control buildings. Their purpose was to protect the approaches to the port of Brisbane and at its peak 900 troops were stationed on the island.
Sand mining Moreton Island was included in the Greater Brisbane area in 1974. The council initially permitted 60% of the island to potentially be sandmined, however a public outcry led to the council changing the zoning to open space. The sands on the island contain
rutile and
zircon. The Queensland Government, led by
Joh Bjelke-Petersen supported sandmining on the island and established the Cook Inquiry which produced a report recommending that 94% of the island be banned from mining. The dugong was placed in the lagoon to increase its natural
instincts before being released into the wild.
Pacific Adventurer oil spill On 11 March 2009 the container ship
MV Pacific Adventurer lost bunker oil and cargo north of Moreton Island during heavy seas that were generated by
Tropical Cyclone Hamish. The ship reportedly lost 31 containers of ammonium nitrate and as much as 230 tonnes of bunker oil. The spilled bunker oil was washed ashore on beaches along the northern end of Moreton Island including Honeymoon Bay, as well as along Bribie Island and beaches on the Sunshine Coast. These have been deemed disaster areas, although a controversy has arisen as to the lack of early response as well as the refusal to accept offers of help or allow access to clean up the area. The ship's owners face the possibility of up to 2 million in fines and the skipper could have to pay up to $200,000. They may also be liable for up to $250 million for environmental damage to the shoreline. As of October 7th the fire has been extinguished with 2300 hectares burned or an estimated 13% of the National Park.
Native title recognition The
Quandamooka people were granted native title of Mulgumpin on 27 November 2019. Joint management of the national park gives responsibility for camping book to the Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation ==Heritage listings==