Brisbane East

Distinguished and Famous people from Brisbane East

Eastern Brisbane's sporting connections include both an elite player's childhood and the creation of community facilities. Cannon Hill and Carina supply the local detail behind two widely recognised names.

🏉 Wally Lewis

Wally Lewis' family moved to Cannon Hill when he was a young child, and he began playing with Cannon Hill Stars in the under-eights. His parents were both involved in local sport, and his own account recalls football as a constant part of family life. He later became one of rugby league's best-known players, associated with Queensland's State of Origin era and Australian representative football. The east-Brisbane connection is his childhood home and junior club. His subsequent fame makes more sense with those ordinary sideline beginnings in view.

🏟️ Clem Jones

Clem Jones helped secure land on Stanley Road for community sports facilities in Carina in 1957. The Camp Hill Carina Welfare Association developed the site, which became the Clem Jones Centre. A Camp Hill resident, he combined this neighbourhood involvement with a career as Brisbane's lord mayor from 1961 to 1975. His wider public record includes major changes to the city's infrastructure and substantial charitable activity. In eastern Brisbane, the sports centre provides a specific connection to the practical work of creating places for young people and community recreation.