Far North Queensland Economy Thriving

13th Apr 2007

One of the features that has made Cairns such a resilient and fast growing regional centre is the strength of the region it services. While population in most rural areas of Australia outside the major regional centres has been declining, the situation in the Cairns region is very different.

Cairns is surrounded by a series of vibrant growing regional centres and districts that stretch out over an area as large as the British Isles.

To the immediate north is the rapidly growing tourism centre of Port Douglas – the haunt of presidents and film stars.

With more than 2,600 rooms in hotels, motels and serviced apartments, Douglas Shire, in its own right, is a tourism area that exceeds most of Australia’s regional cities.

Mossman’s sugar mill was on the first in Australia to computerise its production processes.

It is now leading the way with new technology to produce low calorie sugar and dietary fibre for Australian and overseas markets.

Kuranda, the lifestyle ‘Village in the Rainforest’ also of tourism fame, is one of Australia’s creative industry hot spots with more artists, craftsmen, performing artists and creative writers per head population than almost anywhere else in Australia.

Mareeba, to the west of Cairns and the capital of the Far North’s Savannah lands, was facing a grim future in the mid 1990s as the Federal Government moved to do away with protective arrangements supporting its mainstay industry, tobacco.

The tobacco industry no longer exists, but Mareeba has bounced back with a diversified agricultural base and new processing established or on its way.

This includes sugar milling, chicken processing, cattle feed lotting, coffee roasting, wine distilling and sawmilling.

Mining is on the rise again, with existing and proposed operations in gold, zinc, copper, tungsten, tin, copper sulphate, perlite, marble and limestone.

The beautiful southern tablelands area with its growing centre of Atherton, continues to prosper with agriculture, dairying, tourism, engineering and the resurgence of mining in the Herberton and Mt Garnet area – home of Kagara Zinc.

The tropical coast south of Cairns took a battering from Cyclone Larry but it bouncing back strongly as tourism (previously heavily concentrated along the coast north of Cairns) discovers the outstanding attributes of the area with major resort developments taking place – and proposed – at the Mission Beach / Dunk Island area and Ella Bay.

Innisfail (on the point of passing 10,000 in population) has long been important in the regional economy as the location of the region’s foundry, major agricultural engineering works, meatworks and major sugar mills.

Mourilyan seaport is expanding with new live cattle and timber export proposals.

Tully also has been growing, especially with expanding sugar and tropical fruit production and growing tourism flows.

Further afield to the north, Cooktown is feeling the benefits of the long-awaited sealing of its access road with impacts on rising agricultural, tourism and mining activities.

The growing population of the Peninsula / Torres Strait area is now well over the 20,000 mark.

Major expansion of bauxite mining and processing is underway in the Weipa / Aurukun area.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, craftsmen and performers are starting to make their mark in the creative industries.

Tourists are discovering the Torres Strait Islands in significant numbers. The proposed gas pipeline from Papua New Guinea will pass right through the area.

Recent years have also seen the remote Gulf area growing as roads are sealed and port facilities developed. Mining and tourism are on the rise and agriculture is creeping into the area around Georgetown.

Karumba has been developing as a mineral and cargo shipment port of top of its traditional fishing industry and live cattle export roles.

Total population of the region outside of Cairns is close to the population of Cairns itself, almost doubling the market serviced by Cairns and regional business, and making the Cairns region with a population of more than 250,000 the largest in northern Australia.