They talk of GoMA as the catalyst for Brisbane’s cultural revolution. They portray Brisbane as Sydney and Melbourne’s poor cousin, just starting to come out of an awkward adolescent phase and who, with the right attention, clothes and make-up could just be ok.

I loved these sorts of stories four years ago.  It put Brisbane on the map.  Three years ago, it served as a reinforcement of our coming of age, two years ago it was a confirmation… but now, it’s kind of tired and frankly a little offensive.

Brisbane might not be the Paris, Florence or New York of Australia – but it doesn’t try to be. A few weeks ago, the Red PR crew attended the opening of Laruche – the new lounge bar on Ann St – where any sentiments of Brisbane being the ‘poorer cousin’ couldn’t be further from the truth.

The bar caps off an amazing line up of venues to open over the last 12 months including Buffalo Club, Sky Bar, Alloneword, HiFi, XandY and Cloudland – not to mention countless restaurants, independently owned galleries and boutiques.

Brisbane’s social and cultural scene isn’t changing – it has changed. Take a look around.  While showing our American exchange worker Ashlee Stubits around Brisbane, we kept entertained with a number of different events – a fashion parade, radio fundraiser and film retrospective, Racecourse Road Street Party and Spring/Summer fashion launch.

Talk of Brisbane being a hick town and those cultural comparisons between Sydney and Melbourne have become obsolete. Indeed our culture is unique but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

If you ask me, the ugly cousin is grown up and looking pretty hot… but this is coming from someone who proudly drinks XXXX and wears thongs.