Like those in other sectors, managers in community-based organisations face an uncertain and challenging future. Research and writing about the community sector (non-government, not-for-profit, or third sector) has canvassed a wide range of issues. A selective review of the recent literature reveals the breadth of research interest in the challenges facing community sector managers. While some reflection on the implications for managers of current economic and social policy contexts is crucial for this sector, research effort needs to be focused on understanding how third sector managers construe their current strategic challenges and the strategies they use to address them. A small sample of managers working in a regional area in South East Queensland was asked to identify current strategic concerns related to the future viability of their organisations. The key issues raised by managers are compared with the issues raised in the research literature. Results to date indicate that managers' concerns are reflected in the research literature, but that managers are also concerned about the current trends in social policy towards collaboration, amalgamation, and partnership. Implications of these findings for managers operating in this sector are discussed.

Paronella Park, near Innisfail in far north Queensland, is a 1930s pleasure garden of around five hectares on the old route of the Bruce Highway between Townsville and Cairns. The focus of the garden is the Mena Creek waterfalls close to the road crossing of Mena Creek. The garden stretches from the road eastwards along the north bank of the creek. The park is set in the sugarcane fields surrounding the South Johnstone Mill but the tropical planting within the garden has developed to a degree where this landscape setting in uniform cane fields is hard to believe.

During the 2001 Queensland state election, the Australian Labor Party's (ALP) ‘Just Vote 1’ campaign message sought to limit preference exchange among conservative parties. This paper analyses the impact of this tactic that produced a 53.6 per cent increase in the exhausted vote over the last election. The size of the landslide to Labor made this tactic irrelevant but it affected the outcome in five seats and could have been decisive in a closer election. The concern is raised that the optional preferential system produces a less representative and less democratic outcome than the compulsory preferential system.

My interest in The Oasis developed from research I have been pursuing into cultural icons in Brisbane: how they are defined and how they develop. I would suggest the development of ‘iconic’ status for any site is a construction of shared memory and is very much tied to place and identity. Over the fifty years of its existence, The Oasis, in the suburb of Sunnybank, was intimately integrated into the social fabric of Brisbane. It held its place in the affections of Brisbanites and of the many southern visitors who came to enjoy our winter sun. In these terms The Oasis and its tropical gardens became one of Brisbane's icons and, within the terms of our conference theme, an exemplar of ‘Tropical pleasures’.

The gardens of the two settlements in the Lamington National Park – Binna Burra and O'Reillys – are cultural landscapes in a much loved area of the Scenic Rim of Queensland's border with NSW. The concept of cultural landscapes in the World Heritage and national contexts was introduced at the 2002 Australian Garden History Society conference in Hobart. This paper examines the evolution of two gardens within a national park – one evolving from a farm and one designed to accompany a rainforest holiday centre – and the acceptance of cultural values in natural areas.

Rockhampton City's colourful and controversial Alderman Rex Pilbeam, qualified public accountant and secretary, longest-serving mayor (1952–82) of any Australian city, took office when Rockhampton was burdened with heavy municipal debt, poor quality roads, costly water supply, little sewerage, and few recreational facilities. However, Pilbeam's vision, single-minded devotion, unflagging energy, political skill, and managerial flair brought a dramatic turnaround in the city's fortunes. Continuing after retirement with voluntary community service until his mid-eighties, the Pilbeam legacy to Rockhampton is everywhere in evidence.

The myth of the ‘tropical garden’ probably originated with historical accounts of tropical rainforest. Charles Darwin, in 1822, described his first encounter with tropical rainforest thus: ‘Delight … is a weak term to express the feelings of a naturalist who, for the first time, has wandered by himself in a Brazilian forest … the beauty of the flowers, the glossy green of the foliage, but above all the general luxuriance of the vegetation, filled me with admiration …’. About fifty years later, Isabella Bird wrote to her sister of her first impressions of Honolulu: ‘And beyond the reef and beyond the blue, nestling among cocoanut trees and bananas, umbrella trees and breadfruits, oranges, mangoes, hibiscus, algarroba [carob (Ceratonia siliqua)] and passion-flowers, almost hidden in the deep, dense greenery, was Honolulu’. These images of lushness, luxuriance, colour, warmth and the exotic carry on into the popular modern perception of the ‘tropical garden’.

The Queenslander garden is instantly recognisable both by those blessed with a Queensland birthright and by those who are newly arrived or perhaps making a brief visit to the state while on holiday. Since the proclamation of the State of Queensland in 1859 the Queensland domestic garden has undergone various and numerous changes. There have been changes in size, design and preferred plant species. There have been changes in the householder's perception, use and management of the garden. Importantly there has also been change in what constitutes the Queenslander house.

There are 450 accommodation facilities on the Gold Coast, including hotels, caravan parks, apartments, villas and resorts. This paper will focus on two distinctly different resorts – each has a distinct image and consequently the difference in the garden styles is vast. Palazzo Versace at Main Beach, on the northern end of the Gold Coast mainland tourist strip is the epitome of style. Palazzo Versace has been described as ‘a place of Renaissance splendour, elegance and ease – in a breathtaking location’. By contrast the eco-tourism resort of Couran Cove Island Resort, stretching from the ocean front to the Broadwater, is a gentle and relaxing kind of place, a haven from the energetic and glamorous, busy Gold Coast.

The Roma Street Parkland, completed in 2001, has already established itself as a destination venue for locals and visitors to Brisbane. It is the largest inner-city subtropical landscape project in a city centre to be developed in recent years. The Queensland Government's brief for the development of 16 hectares of inner-city land several minutes walk from the centre of the city, required that the Roma Street Parkland provides a high-level visitor attraction with the emphasis on horticulture and the environment.