Yep gavsta, I think the advice given to you previously was based on where there'd be good chances to pick up work, and also that had locations near the coast, and Brisbane with a lot of water and other infrastructure development planned is one such place, and you have the sunshine coast to the north and gold coast to the south, there being a desalination plant planned for down there, and it along with the sunshine coast are the two most rapidly expanding regions of SE Queensland and Queensland as a whole.

Nightlife - Brisbane has one larger area called Fortitude Valley with a heap of pubs, bars, clubs and cafes all in the one area and then there are a few other stand alone pubs of some renown, so though you haven't got the scope of Sydney or Melbourne just merely because of population differences, the place is not devoid of nightlife venues.
You've also got the gold coast less than a 100km. down the road where you could always tootle off to for a weekend.
Sunshine Coast is a quieter more layback scene, but be worth a look around too.