The Queensland Premier who enthusiastically embraced the idea of changing the name of the North Coast to the Sunshine Coast, Frank Nicklin was part of the fabric of the area and a favourite son of Palmwoods.
Sir George Francis Reuben Nicklin KCMG, MM, LL.D. is a name that is firmly stamped on the Sunshine Coast, but for the residents who knew him, it was simply “Frank”.
There were many aspects to the man – soldier, farmer, lobbyist, politician, sportsman and all-round good bloke.
He never lost sight of his agricultural roots or his love for his community – Palmwoods and the Sunshine Coast.
From officially opening the doors of the new Nambour Ambulance Station (below) to cutting the ribbon declaring the Nicklin Way open in June 1965, there were few major events during the 1950s-1970s that didn’t have his name on them.
When the Kenilworth councillor and aspiring Maroochy Shire Chairman, his friend Eddie De Vere, mentioned the idea of re-naming the region the Sunshine Coast in early 1966, Nicklin responded “I think you are on a winner” and supported the concept from the beginning.
Nicklin was born in Murwillumbah in 1895, attended Highfield College in Sydney and in 1910, moved with his family to Beerwah to help his father, a former newspaper proprietor, on his banana farm.
He enrolled in the army when he was 21 and after serving with distinction on the Western front – Lieutenant-Colonel Nicklin was awarded the Military Medal for his bravery – returned to Queensland in 1919 and bought an 8ha pineapple farm at Palmwoods under the soldier-settlement scheme.
In 1921, he married Georgina Fleming from Beerwah (she died in 1960), but they did not have any children.
During the 1920s and Depression years, Nicklin’s farm succeeded where many failed and his involvement with a number of state and local fruitgrowers’ associations, usually as an office bearer, led him to Country Party politics.
One resident later recalled that during the 1920s and ‘30s, “Nicko”, as his team mates knew him, “strode as purposefully and successfully on to the cricket arenas, the tennis courts and into the lifesaving conference rooms as he did in later years through the Queensland Parliament.
“How Frank Nicklin found time for his numerous sporting commitments will never be fully understood but he threw himself with gusto into the North Coast Lifesaving Movement.”
Nicklin was first elected to Murrumba, between Brisbane and the North Coast, in 1932 and remained there until 1950, when he became the Member for Landsborough.
He was passionate about agricultural issues and the problems facing soldier-settlers and was respected for his “honesty of purpose and character”.
In 1941, he became party leader and despite losing five elections while Queensland Opposition Leader, finally became Queensland Premier in 1956, a job he held until sickness, likely stemming from being gassed in the trenches as a young man, forced his resignation at age 72 in January 1968.
He was also chief secretary from 1957-63 and Minister for State Development from 1963-68.
Earning the nickname “Honest Frank” he had a knack for “saying ‘no’ in a very pleasant manner” and although he could crack the whip, he was widely considered as a personable leader who had always time to listen to the problems of the people.
Ultimately, he presided over the most tranquil decade in 20th century Queensland politics.
Sir Thomas Hiley eulogised “whatever was accomplished from 1957 to 1968 was largely due to his leadership and to the force of his example. He showed real wisdom and sound judgement” while Landsborough MLA and later Premier Mike Ahern said, “Sir Francis Nicklin was an extraordinary person and in the very best sense of the term, he was a man of the people.”
Frank Nicklin died at Sundale in Nambour on January 29, 1978, aged 83 years. Sundale had “benefited greatly from his interest and generosity right from its beginning” and Nicklin Lodge, where he lived in a unit before moving into the nursing home, was named for him.
This “distinguished citizen of Palmwoods” was honoured in January 1979, with the opening of the Sir Francis Nicklin Memorial Clock which still presides over the town.
This flashback is brought to you by veteran Sunshine Coast journalist and history writer Dot Whittington, also the editor of Your Time Magazine.
