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Mackay, Queensland
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Mackay is a city on the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River. Mackay is nicknamed the sugar capital of Australia because its region produces more than a third of Australia's cane sugar. There is controversy about the Geographic location of the region, with most people referring it as apart of North Queensland, with some, even the Bureau of Meteorology, calling it the far north end of Central Queensland.
of the first Europeans to travel through the Mackay region was Captain James Cook, who reached the Mackay coast on 1 June 1770 and named several local landmarks, including Cape Palmerston, Slade Point and Cape Hillsborough.
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Encyclopedia
Mackay is a city on the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River. Mackay is nicknamed the sugar capital of Australia because its region produces more than a third of Australia's cane sugar. There is controversy about the Geographic location of the region, with most people referring it as apart of North Queensland, with some, even the Bureau of Meteorology, calling it the far north end of Central Queensland.
History
One of the first Europeans to travel through the Mackay region was Captain James Cook, who reached the Mackay coast on 1 June 1770 and named several local landmarks, including Cape Palmerston, Slade Point and Cape Hillsborough. It was during this trip that the Endeavour's botanist, Sir Joseph Banks, briefly recorded seeing Aborigines. The City of Mackay was later founded on Yuibera traditional lands.
Although several other maritime explorers sailed through the waters off Mackay, it was not until 1860 when moves were made to claim the region’s virgin pastures.
Two young men, John McCrossin and Scottish-born John Mackay, assembled a party of eight, including an Aborigine named Duke, and left Armidale, New South Wales in January 1860. Two men left the party in Rockhampton while the others reached the top of the range overlooking the Mackay district's Pioneer Valley in May. After descending into the valley and exploring almost to the mouth of the river, which they named the Mackay, the members of the party selected land and began the trip back to civilisation. On the return journey, they all suffered from a fever that claimed the life of Duke.
Mackay returned to the area with 1,200 head of cattle in January 1862 and founded Greenmount station. Although the other members of his first expedition had marked runs, none but Mackay took up their claims. However, Mackay remained in possession of Greenmount for less than two years. Ownership transferred to James Starr in September 1864 and, despite Mackay’s protests, he never succeeded in regaining control. Greenmount passed through a number of owners’ hands before being bought by A.A. Cook in 1913. Before leaving the district, John Mackay chartered the vessel Preston, which landed stores from him on the riverbank about a kilometre upstream from the present Hospital Bridge. Mackay made a survey of the river and the chart was sent to Rockhampton. The Port of Mackay was then officially declared a port of entry.
In 1918, Mackay was hit by a major Tropical Cyclone causing severe damage and loss of life with hurricane-force winds and a large storm surge. The resulting death toll was further increased by an outbreak of Bubonic plague.
The largest loss of life in an Australian aircraft accident was a B17 aircraft,with 40 of 41 people on board perishing, on 14 June 1943, after departing from Mackay Aerodrome, and crashing in the Bakers Creek area.
Economy
Tourism
Despite being close to Eungella National Park, the Great Barrier Reef and the Whitsunday Islands, Mackay has not capitalised greatly on its location. New facilities, such as Artspace Mackay, are being used not only as centres of culture for the town, but also as new ways of attracting tourists.
Mackay Regional Botanic Gardens
The Gardens, opened and replaced Queen's Park as Mackay's Regional Botanic Garden in 2003. The gardens focus on rare native plants of Central Queensland and are located on Lagoon St, West Mackay, on the way to the City Gates. Before 2003, the area was commonly called "The Lagoons." "The Lagoons" were redeveloped into the Botanic Gardens.
Geography
Mackay is situated on latitude 21 on the banks of the Pioneer River. The Range lies on the eastern side of the city, with the Athelstane Range to the west. The city is expanding to accommodate for growth with most of the expansion happening in the Beachside, Southern, Central and Pioneer Valley suburbs.
Beaches
Mackay is surrounded by coastline, with 31 beaches within short driving distance. Situated close to the city are Illawong, Far, and Town beaches. Harbour Beach, the most popular, locally patrolled swimming beach built is renowned for its locality to fishing hotspots and is located adjacent to the newly developed Mackay Marina. Further north of the city are Bucasia, Dolphin Heads, Blacks Beach, Shoal Point, and Eimeo, otherwise known as the Northern Beaches.
Climate
On 18 February 1958, Mackay was hit with massive flooding caused by heavy rainfall upstream with 878 mm of rain falling at Finch Hatton in 24 hours. The flood peaked at 9.14m. The water flowed down the valley and flooded Mackay within hours. Residents were rescued off rooftops by boats and taken to emergency accommodation. The flood broke Australian records.
On 15 February 2008, almost exactly 50 years from the last major flood, Mackay was devastated by severe flooding caused by over 600 mm of rain in 6 hours with around 2000 homes affected.
Transport
Mackay is connection point of two major National Highway routes, the A1 (Bruce Highway), and highway 70 (Peak Downs Highway). The A1 connects Mackay to Townsville and Cairns in the north, and Rockhampton and Brisbane in the south. The Peak Downs Highway connects Mackay to Moranbah, Clermont and Emerald in the south-west.
Numerous major road projects are under construction within the Mackay Region, these include the Forgan Smith Bridge duplication, the Hospital Bridge replacement, the Joint Levee Road and the Mackay-Bucasia Road duplication.
The North Coast railway line, operated by Queensland Rail, meets the Western line in the city's south. Rail services from Brisbane pass through Mackay and continue through to Townsville and further to Cairns, including the regular Tilt Train service between Brisbane and Cairns. The minerals from the western line (Moranbah and other coal mining centres) are transported to Hay Point and Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminals for trans-shipment to other destinations. The Port of Mackay (the Harbour) deals mainly with the exportation of sugar and the accommodation of international passenger liners.
The City is served by Mackay Airport, in which Qantas, Virgin Blue, Jetstar Airways and Tiger Airways offer flights to Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne, as well as to regional destinations such as Geelong, Cairns, Townsville, Rockhampton and Gladstone. Macair previously provided a limited service into and out of Mackay for mining companies, before it ceased operations in 2009.
Health and Education
The Mackay Base Hospital is situated in West Mackay, and is located around 4 km from Mackay City and is the major hospital for the Central Queensland Region. The Pioneer Valley Hospital and Mater Hospital are located on the city's northside.
Mackay has numerous primary and secondary schools. Separate systems of private and public schools operate in Queensland. There are 11 state primary schools and 3 state high schools operated by the Queensland state government Department of Education within the Mackay City Council area.
The private system encompasses 5 primary schools, 1 secondary colleges, two P-12 college, one P-10, one 8-10 and the state's only 11-12.
The Mackay Campus of the Central Queensland University is located in the rural suburb Ooralea and the Mackay campus of James Cook University is located in South Mackay. The city is also home to a TAFE college which is located in the south of the inner city.
Government
Mackay is governed locally by the Mackay Regional Council, a product of the amalgamation of the former City of Mackay, formed in 1869, with surrounding shires. The mayor is Col Meng. Tim Mulherin and James Bidgood (Dawson) are the state and national government representatives.
Sport
The Mackay Cutters rugby league team played their first season in 2008 in the Queensland Cup and will act as a feeder team to the North Queensland Cowboys. The Whitsunday Miners Football Club represents the Mackay region in the Queensland State League and act as a feeder club to the North Queensland Fury FC.
Media
- The Daily Mercury (newspaper)
- Seven Local News (Monday to Friday local news bulletin)
- Hot FM
- Sea FM
- MY105 FM Hot Country & Legends
- 4MK FM
- ABC Tropical North
- 1026AM Easy Listening
- 4CRM Community Radio Mackay
Notable People From Mackay
- Sandy Brondello, Olympic Basketballer
- Nick Ffrost, Olympic Swimmer
- Cathy Freeman, Olympic Sprinter
- Jodi Gordon, TV Actress and Model
- Benita Johnson Olympic Distance Runner
- Linda Mackenzie, Olympic Swimmer
- George T. D. Moore, Jockey and horse trainer
- Nicole Pratt, Tennis player
- Grant Rovelli, Rugby League player
- Wendell Sailor, Rugby League player
- Brett Seymour, Rugby League player
- William Forgan Smith, Queensland Premier
- Grant Sullivan, Cricketer
- Geoff Huegill, Olympic Swimmer
- Delvene Delaney, Model, television presenter and actress
Sister Cities
External links
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- The Rawson family established the cattle station, 'The Hollow' on the Pioneer River at Mackay in 1866. This diary is held by the State Library of Queensland.
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