A useful book. Poor Queensland, one has to say. The balance between human habitation and nature's ability to sustain was upset by settlement from abroad. The viciousness of the original convict settlement in Moreton Bay, under Capt. Patrick Logan was Queensland's first black mark.
Settlers, haunted by the fear of missing out, dashed about the new land chasing wealth. Wool, cattle, sugar-cane, gold, wheat, land consolidation, all contributed to a feverish scavenging of land. A lucky few got the wealth.
The others, Aboriginal, Chinese gold-diggers, Kanaka indentured labourers, miners were met with the most terrible violence and harsh legislation whenever they in any way threatened "development" and the social cohesion of the strong petty-bourgeois mentality of the newcomer.
The book is a good starter for an overview of the period up to 1915. It's nearly forty years since publication. However, it does set the scene for Queensland in the Twentieth Century where the dominant ethos in the state remained "development" as the prime motivator.