Emeritus Professor Peter Spearritt
Emeritus Professor
School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry
Researcher biography
Emeritus Professor Peter Spearritt is the co-editor of five major public websites, Queensland Places (over 1100 places, with their history and economy), Queensland Speaks (interviews with key government ministers and public servants), the Queensland Historical Atlas and Text Queensland, a resource for studying the state. He is also the co-editor of Victorian Places, a project with Monash University, detailing over 1500 settlements in Victoria.
A Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, his research interests include coastal urbanisation and conservation, housing and the developer-led apartment boom, green space provision in urban areas and the use and abuse of water in our cities.
Publications
Books
Spearritt, Peter (2018). Where history happened: the hidden past of Australia’s towns and places. Canberra, Australia: National Library of Australia.
Spearritt, Peter (2011). The Sydney Harbour Bridge: a life. Rev. ed. Sydney, Australia: NewSouth Publishing.
Spearritt, Peter (2007). The Sydney Harbour Bridge: A Life. Updated 75th anniversary ed. Sydney, NSW: University of New South Wales Press.
Liddy, Peter, Spearritt, Peter, Kubler, Alison and Butler, Rebekah (2007). Line of lode: Photographs by Peter Liddy. Broken Hill, NSW, Australia: Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery.
Spearritt, Peter (2005). State of play: 100 years of tourism in New South Wales 1905-2005. The Rocks, NSW, Australia: Tourism New South Wales.
Spearritt, Peter, Helmrich, Michele and Searle, Ross (2005). Defending the North: Queensland in the Pacific War. St Lucia, QLD, Australia: University Art Museum, The University of Queensland.
Wilkenfeld, George and Spearritt, Peter (2004). Electrifying Sydney: 100 Years of Energy Australia. Australia: EnergyAustralia.
Book Chapters
Ginn, Geoffrey and Spearritt, Peter (2016). Cities, imperial. The encyclopedia of empire. (pp. 1-14) edited by John M. MacKenzie, Nigel Dalziel, Nicholas Doumanis and Michael W. Charney. Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons. doi: 10.1002/9781118455074
Spearritt, Peter (2014). Bodies on the Gold Coast. Flesh: The Gold Coast in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. (pp. 10-11) edited by Graham S. Burstow. St Lucia, QLD Australia: University of Queensland Press.
Spearritt, Peter (2012). Sydney. Sociology: antipodean perspectives. (pp. 63-67) edited by Peter Beilharz and Trevor Hogan. Australia: Oxford University Press.
Spearritt, Peter (2012). Mercier, Emile Alfred Lucien (1901–1981) cartoonist. Australian Dictionary of Biography. (pp. xx-xx) edited by Melanie Nolan. Carlton, Melbourne, Australia: Melbourne University Press.
Spearritt, Peter (2012). Pidgeon, William Edwin (Wep) (1909–1981). Australian dictionary of biography. (pp. xx-xx) edited by Melanie Nolan. Melbourne, Australia: Melbourne University Press.
Spearritt, Peter (2012). Brisbane. Sociology: antipodean perspectives. (pp. 77-82) edited by Peter Beilharz and Trevor Hogan. South Melbourne, Vic., Australia: Oxford University Press.
Spearritt, Peter (2010). Selling Torbreck.. Found in Fryer : Stories from the Fryer Library Collection. (pp. 140-141) edited by Roslyn Follett. St Lucia, Qld. Australia: University of Queensland Library.
Spearritt, Peter (2010). Brisbane City Hall construction. Found in Fryer : Stories from the Fryer Library Collection. (pp. 94-95) edited by Roslyn Follett. St Lucia, Qld. Australia: The University of Queensland Library.
Spearritt, Peter and Head, Brian (2010). Water politics. A climate for growth. (pp. 88-107) edited by Brendan Gleeson and Wendy Steele. St Lucia, Qld, Australia: University of Queensland Press.
Spearritt, Peter (2010). Sydney Harbour Bridge. Symbols of Australia. (pp. 145-151) edited by Melissa Harper and Richard White. Sydney, Australia: UNSW Press; National Museum of Australia Press.
Spearritt, Peter (2010). The 200 kilometre city. A climate for growth. (pp. 39-58) edited by Brendan Gleeson and Wendy Steele. St Lucia, QLD, Australia: University of Queensland Press.
Spearritt, Peter (2009). Finding grandeur: Paris, Venice, Newcastle, Brisbane. Margaret Olley: Life's Journey. (pp. 11-32) edited by Michele Helmrich. Brisbane: The University of Queensland Art Museum.
Spearritt, Peter (2008). The Sydney Harbour Bridge. Australian greats. (pp. 123-125) edited by Peter Cochrane. Sydney NSW, Australia: Random House Australia.
Spearritt, Peter (2008). The water crisis in Southeast Queensland: How desalination turned the region into carbon emission heaven. Troubled waters: confronting the water crisis in Australia's cities. (pp. 19-36) edited by Patrick Troy. Canberra ACT, Australia: ANU E Press.
Spearritt, P. (2007). Finey, George Edmond (1895-1987). Australian Dictionary of Biography: Volume 17 1981-1990: A-K. (pp. 182-183) edited by Diane Langmore and Darryl Bennet. Carlton, VIC, Australia: Melbourne University Press.
Spearritt, Peter (2007). Kenneth Macqueen's coastal landscapes. Making It Modern: The Watercolours of Kenneth Macqueen. (pp. 40-47) edited by Rebecca Dezuanni. Brisbane, Australia: Queensland Art Gallery.
Spearritt, P. (2006). Brisbane. Sociology: Place, Time & Division. (pp. 59-63) edited by Beilharz, P. and Hogan, T.. Australia: Oxford University Press.
Spearritt, P (2006). Bridge mementos and souvenirs. Bridging Sydney. (pp. 257-261) edited by C Mackaness. Australia: Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales.
Spearritt, P. (2006). Consuming Sydney. Talking about Sydney: Population, community and culture in contemporary Sydney. (pp. 199-212) edited by R. Freestone, B. Randolph and C. Butler-Bowdon. Australia: University of New South Wales Press Ltd.
Spearritt, P (2006). From Iluka to Q1: Property marketing on the Gold Coast from the 1970's to today. Sold! The Gold Coast Real Estate Dream. (pp. 8-12) edited by J Walsh. Australia: Gold Coast Art Gallery.
Spearritt, Peter (2005). Positioning: On site and in situ. Yesterday's tomorrows: The Powerhouse Museum and its precursors 1880-2005. (pp. 240-253) edited by Graeme Davison and Kimberley Webber. Haymarket, NSW, Australia: Powerhouse Publishing; UNSW Press.
Spearritt, Peter (2003). Freedom and commerce on the Australian beach. Some like it hot: The beach as a cultural dimension. (pp. 24-39) edited by James Skinner, Keith Gilbert and Allan Edwards. Oxford, U.K.: Meyer & Meyer Sport.
Journal Articles
Cook, Margaret and Spearritt, Peter (2021). Water forever: Warragamba and Wivenhoe dams. Australian Historical Studies, 52 (2), 211-226. doi: 10.1080/1031461x.2021.1882513
O'Hanlon, Seamus and Spearritt, Peter (2017). From water engineers to financial engineering: water provision in Australia's east coast capital cities, 1945-2015. Journal of Urban History, 46 (1), 009614421769298-112. doi: 10.1177/0096144217692985
Spearritt, Peter and Keogh, Luke (2015). Where did the trams go?. Queensland Historical Atlas.
Spearritt, Peter (2013). Review of Design 29: creating a capital. reCollections, 8 (2).
Spearritt, Peter (2012). The 2012 Lesley Muir address: cleaning up in Sydney. History: Magazine of the Royal Australian Historical Society (114), 11-12.
Spearritt, Peter (2012). One little piece of earth which is ours. Inside Story.
Stell, Marion and Spearritt, Peter (2010). Queenslanders: people in the landscape. Queensland Historical Atlas: Histories, Cultures, Landscapes (2009-2010).
Stell, Marion and Spearritt, Peter (2010). Walkabout. Queensland Historical Atlas: Histories, Cultures, Landscapes, 2009-2010.
Spearritt, Peter (2010). Distinctiveness: how Queensland is a distinct landscape and culture. Queensland Historical Atlas.
Spearritt, Peter (2010). Queensland for 'the best kind of population, primary producers'. Queensland Historical Atlas.
Spearritt, Peter and Stell, Marion (2010). Creating rural attractions. Queensland Historical Atlas: Histories, Cultures, Landscapes, 2009-2010.
Spearritt, Peter and Stell, Marion (2010). Queensland brand. Queensland Historical Atlas: Histories, Cultures, Landscapes, 2009-2010.
Spearritt, Peter (2010). The writings of Walter Burley Griffin. Australian Journal of Politics and History, 56 (3), 469-470. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8497.2010.01566.x
Spearritt, Peter (2010). The 200 kilometre city. Queensland Historical Atlas.
Scott, Roger and Spearritt, Peter (2010). 'Queensland speaks': A progress report. Australasian Parliamentary Review, 25 (1), 49-53.
Spearritt, Peter and Stell, Marion (2009). Triumph in the tropics: selling Queensland. Fryer Folios, 4 (3), 13-15.
Spearritt, Peter , Stell, Marion and Young, John (2009). The why and wherefore of queenslandplaces.com.au. Fryer folios, 4 (3), 6-8.
Spearritt, Peter (2009). The 200 KM city: Brisbane, the gold coast, and sunshine coast. Australian Economic History Review, 49 (1), 87-106. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8446.2009.00251.x
Spearritt, Peter (2009). Sydney's transport woes: An outsider's perspective. Sydney ideas quarterly, 16-17.
Spearritt, Peter (2009). Planning failures crippling times. The Canberra Times (24 October 2009), 10-11.
Spearritt, P. (2007). Parched land - Attempting to ease Australia's drought. Jane's Intelligence Review
Spearritt, Peter (2007). Will we ever get affordable housing: The fate of the Boggo Rd Urban Village. Queensland Shelter Quarterly, 3 (2), 13-14.
Spearritt, P (2007). Car wars: How the car won our hearts and conquered our cities (Book review). Australian Journal of Politics And History, 53 (1), 155-156.
Spearritt, Peter and Helmrich, Michele (2005). An enduring furphy. Griffith Review (9 Spring), 25-32.
Spearritt, Peter (2003). Can Brisbane remain a sub-tropical city?. Queensland Review, 10 (2), 25-35.
Forbes, Jim and Spearritt, Peter (2003). Rum Corps to white-shoe brigade. Griffith Review, 25, 23-35.
Conference Papers
Spearritt, Peter and Salisbury, Chris (2016). Damnation: from the Hinze Dam to the Tugun desalination plant. UHPH 2016: 13th Australasian Urban History/Planning History Conference, Griffith University, Gold Coast, 31 January–3 February 2016. Gold Coast, QLD, Australia: Australasian Urban History/Planning History Group and Griffith University.
Spearritt, Peter and Salisbury, Chris (2016). Damnation: from the Hinze Dam to the Tugun desalination plant. UHPH 2016: 13th Australasian Urban History/Planning History Conference, Griffith University, Gold Coast, 31 January–3 February 2016.
Salisbury, Chris and Spearritt, Peter (2016). Damnation: from the Hinze Dam to the Tugun desalination plant. Australasian Urban History Planning History Conference, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia, 31 January–3 February 2016. Gold Coast, QLD, Australia: Australasian Urban History/Planning History Group and Griffith University.
Salisbury, Chris, Stell, Marion and Spearritt, Peter (2014). "Like all union things, blood was shed": conflict in Queensland’s industrial landscape. Australian Historical Association’s ‘Conflict in History’ Conference, University of Queensland Brisbane, Australia, 7 - 11 July 2014. Fullarton, SA, Australia: sapro Conference Management.
Spearritt, Peter (2014). Why Melbourne kept its trams. 12th Australasian Urban History/Planning History Conference (UHPH 2014), Wellington, New Zealand, 2–5 February 2014. Wellington, New Zealand: Victoria University of Wellington.
Salisbury, Chris, Stell, Marion and Spearritt, Peter (2014). “Like all union things, blood was shed”: conflict in Queensland’s industrial landscape. Conflict in History: Australian Historical Association 33rd Annual National Conference, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 7-11 July 2014.
Spearritt, P. (2014). Bridge climbs: new money for cultural tourism. 4th International Conference on Heritage and Sustainable Development, Guimarães, Portugal, 22-25 July 2014. Barcelos, Portugal: Green Lines Institute for Sustainable Development. doi: 10.14575/gl/heritage2014/0147
Spearritt, P. (2012). Who owns the coast? Holiday structures and public access. Heritage 2012 - 3rd International Conference on Heritage and Sustainable Development, Porto, Portugal, 19-22 June 2012. Barcelos, Portugal: Green Lines Institute for Sustainable Development.
Preprint
Research Reports
Morris, Colleen, Spearritt, Peter and Lumby, Roy (2013). The modern movement in New South Wales: a thematic study and survey of places. North Ryde, NSW, Australia: Hericon Consulting.
Spearritt, Peter (2011). Essay: What is heritage?. Australian Heritage Strategy - commissioned essays Canberra, ACT, Australia: Australian Heritage Strategy.
Creative Works
Stell, Marion and Spearritt, Peter (2015). Queensland Places. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: Centre for the Government of Queensland, University of Queensland.
Ritchie, Jonathan, Kemish, Ian, Spearritt, Peter, Stell, Marion, Lowe, David and Moutu, Andrew (2015). PNG Speaks. Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea: Papua New Guinea National Museum & Art Gallery.
Spearritt, Peter and Stell, Marion (2015). Victorian places. St. Lucia, QLD, Australia: The University of Queensland.
Spearritt, Peter and Stell, Marion (2011). Queensland historical atlas. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: Queensland Historical Atlas.
Spearritt, Peter, Stell, Marion and Miller, Danielle (2011). Queensland speaks. St Lucia, QLD, Australia: Centre for the Government of Queensland.
Spearritt, Peter and Stell, Marion (2011). Text Queensland: Queensland's past online. St Lucia, QLD, Australia: Centre for the Government of Queensland.
Spearritt, Peter and Stell, Marion (2009). Queensland places. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: Centre for the Government of Queensland, The University of Queensland.
Spearritt, Peter and Stell, Marion (2009). Triumph in the tropics: Selling Queensland. St Lucia, QLD, Australia: UQ Art Museum.
Spearritt, Peter and Byrne, Dianne (2004). The 200 kilometre city: Noosa to the Tweed. Brisbane: Museum of Brisbane.
Reference Entries
Spearritt, P. and Young, J. (2007). Korman, Stanley (1904-1988).
Spearritt, Peter and Young, John (2005). Retailing.