Moreton Bay Regional Council was formed in 2008 by the amalgamation of Caboolture Shire, Pine Rivers Shire and Redcliffe City. It is immediately north of the Brisbane City municipality and reaches 35 km to the Glass House Mountains National Park. The Council includes most of Bribie Island and extends 40 km inland.
Moreton Bay lies between the mainland and Moreton and North Stradbroke Islands. It was named after Lord Morton, President of the Royal Society, who was influential in financing James Cook's voyage (1768-71) to the South Pacific and Australia. 'Morton' was rendered as 'Moreton' in a publication describing Cook's discoveries.
Redcliffe City, an area of 36 sq km occupied a peninsula slightly north of centre of Moreton Bay's shoreline. The three municipalities' contributions to Moreton Bay Regional Council were:
| Area (sq km) | Population (2006) | |
|---|---|---|
| Caboolture Shire | 1225 | 132,473 |
| Pine Rivers Shire | 750 | 141,141 |
| Redcliffe City | 36 | 51,788 |
| Totals | 2011 | 324,788 |
The Caboolture divisional board (1879) administered all of the area now comprising the Moreton Bay Regional Council, along with the Kilcoy and Redcliffe districts. Even after the numerous excisions from the 1879 area, the Caboolture local government area had hilly rural hinterland (dairying country) and coastal sand dunes. Settlement clustered along the undulating coastal country and the North Coast railway line (1888 to Caboolture, 1890 beyond). Twenty years later an inland branch was built from Caboolture to Woodford (1909) and Kilcoy (1913).
The Pine Rivers Shire, close to Brisbane for marketing its dairy produce, fruit and vegetables, had the North Coast line through Strathpine and Petrie, and its villages at Samford and Dayboro had a railway (1920), but cut back to Ferny Grove in 1955. Redcliffe had no railway, but has prospered despite only the promise of one over many decades. The Hornibrook Highway, across Bramble Bay from Brighton to Clontarf, brought Redcliffe into the motor-car age in 1935.
The change from rural shire and coastal watering place to modern suburbs depended on the areas' proximity to Brisbane. Redcliffe grew in the 1950s-1960s; Pine Rivers began in the 1960s and has not stopped; and Caboolture's growth followed slightly later.
Moreton Bay Regional Council has offices at the three former municipal headquarters in Caboolture, Strathpine and Redcliffe.
Moreton Bay Regional Council census populations have beeN
| census date | population |
|---|---|
| 2011 | 378,045 |
Caboolture Shire, Pine Rivers Shire, Moreton Bay and Redcliffe entries
