The Cairns Region is a

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

Far North Queensland Far North Queensland (FNQ) is the northernmost part of the Australian state of Queensland. Its largest city is Cairns and it is dominated geographically by Cape York Peninsula, which stretches north to the Torres Strait, and west to the Gulf Co ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia, centred on the regional city of

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

. It was established in 2008 by the amalgamation of the

City of Cairns The City of Cairns was a local government area centred on the Far North Queensland city of Cairns. Established in 1885, for most of its existence it consisted of approximately around Cairns itself, with much of the metropolitan area being loc ...

and the Shires of

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

and Mulgrave. However, following public protest and a referendum in 2013, on 1 January 2014, the Shire of Douglas was de-amalgamated from the Cairns Region and re-established as a separate local government authority. The Cairns Regional Council has an estimated operating budget of A$300 million.

History

First Nations

'' Yidinji'' (also known as ''Yidinj'', ''Yidiny'', and ''Idindji'') is an

Australian Aboriginal language The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...

and a traditional Indigenous country. Its traditional language region is within the local government areas of Cairns Region and

Tablelands Region The Tablelands Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia inland from the city of Cairns. Established in 2008, it was preceded by four previous local government areas which dated back more than a century. On 1 January ...

, in such localities as Cairns City (CBD),

Gordonvale Gordonvale is a rural sugar-growing town and locality situated on the southern side of Cairns in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Gordonvale had a population of 6,944 people. Geography Gordonvale lies approx ...

, and the

Mulgrave River The Mulgrave River, incorporating the East Mulgrave River and the West Mulgrave River, is a river system located in Far North Queensland, Australia. The -long river flows towards the Coral Sea and is located approximately south of . Locati ...

, and the southern part of the

Atherton Tableland The Atherton Tableland is a fertile plateau which is part of the Great Dividing Range in Queensland, Australia. The principal river flowing across the plateau is the Barron River. It was dammed to form an irrigation reservoir named Lake Tina ...

including Atherton and Kairi. ''

Tjapukai The Djabugay people (also known as Djabuganydji or Tjapukai) are a group of Australian Aboriginal people who are the original inhabitants of mountains, gorges, lands and waters of a richly forested part of the Great Dividing Range including th ...

'' (also known as ''Djabuganydji'', ''Djabugay'', and ''Djabuganydji'') is the traditional Aboriginal country and language north of the Barron River in the Cairns Region, with the traditional group extending west towards Mareeba and north towards

Douglas Shire The Shire of Douglas is a local government area in Far North Queensland. It is located on the coast north of the city of Cairns. The shire, administered from the town of Mossman, covers an area of , and existed as a local government entity fro ...

and Port Douglas.

Post colonialisation

Prior to the 2008 amalgamation, the Cairns Region consisted of the entire area of three previous local government areas: * the

; * the

Shire of Douglas The Shire of Douglas is a local government area in Far North Queensland. It is located on the coast north of the city of Cairns. The shire, administered from the town of Mossman, covers an area of , and existed as a local government entity f ...

; * and the Shire of Mulgrave. The city, which for most of its existence covered only the central business district and inner suburbs of Cairns, had its beginning in the Borough of Cairns which was proclaimed on 28 May 1885 under the ''Local Government Act 1878''. With the passage of the ''Local Authorities Act 1902'', it became a Town on 31 March 1903 and was proclaimed a City on 12 October 1923. The Shire of Mulgrave had its origins in the Cairns Division, one of Queensland's 74 divisions created under the ''Divisional Boards Act 1879'' on 11 November 1879. The

Douglas Division #REDIRECT Shire of Douglas The Shire of Douglas is a local government area in Far North Queensland. It is located on the coast north of the city of Cairns. The shire, administered from the town of Mossman, covers an area of , and existed as ...

was created on 3 June 1880. They became the

Shire of Cairns Shire is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries such as Australia and New Zealand. It is generally synonymous with county. It was first used in Wessex from the beginn ...

and the

on 31 March 1903. On 20 December 1919, it grew to include some territory from the abolished

Shire of Barron The Shire of Barron is a former local government area in Far North Queensland, Queensland, Australia. It existed between 1890 and 1919. History Under the ''Divisional Boards Act 1879'', the Cairns Division, Hinchinbrook Division and Woothakata ...

, and on 16 November 1940, the shire was renamed Mulgrave. On 21 November 1991, the Electoral and Administrative Review Commission, created two years earlier, produced its second report, and recommended that local government boundaries in the Cairns area be rationalised, and that the Shire be dissolved and amalgamated with the

. The ''Local Government (Cairns, Douglas, Mareeba and Mulgrave) Regulation 1994'' was gazetted on 16 December 1994. On 22 March 1995, the Shire was abolished and became part of the new

. In July 2007, the Local Government Reform Commission released its report and recommended that Cairns amalgamate with the Shire of Douglas, and that the new Cairns Regional Council be undivided with 10 councillors and a mayor. On 15 March 2008, the City and Shire formally ceased to exist, and elections were held on the same day to elect councillors and a mayor to the Regional Council. In 2012, a proposal was made to de-amalgamate the Shire of Douglas from the Cairns Region. On 9 March 2013, the citizens of the former Douglas shire voted in a referendum to de-amalgamate. The shire was re-established on 1 January 2014.

Wards

The Region is divided into nine divisions, each of whom elects one councillor to the Cairns Regional Council. The mayor is elected by the entire region. Division 1 covers the southern districts which were part of the Shire of Mulgrave prior to 1995. At the time of the 2008 amalgamation, Division 10 contained all of the former Shire of Douglas.

Towns and localities

The Cairns Region includes the following settlements:

Central area: * Aeroglen *

Bungalow A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is either single-story or has a second story built into a sloping roof (usually with dormer windows), and may be surrounded by wide verandas. The first house in England that was classified as a b ...

* Cairns City *

Cairns North Cairns North is a coastal suburb of Cairns in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Cairns North had a population of 5,191 people. Geography The suburb is bounded to the north by the Cairns Airport, to the east by Trinity Bay ( ...

* Earlville * Edge Hill * Kanimbla * Manoora *

Manunda TSMV ''Manunda'' was an ''Australian'' registered and crewed passenger ship which was converted to a hospital ship in 1940. During the war ''Manunda'' saw service in both the Middle East and Pacific Campaigns, specifically New Guinea. She resu ...

* Mooroobool * Parramatta Park *

Portsmith Portsmith is a suburb of Cairns in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Portsmith was 195. History Portsmith is situated in the Yidinji traditional Aboriginal country. The origin of the suburb name is from ...

* Westcourt * Whitfield Northern Mulgrave area: * Barron * Barron Gorge * Brinsmead * Buchan Point *

Caravonica Caravonica ( lij, Caironega) is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Imperia in the Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about northwest of Imperia. Caravonica borders the following municipalities: Borgomaro, ...

* Clifton Beach *

Ellis Beach Ellis Beach is a coastal locality in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Ellis Beach had a population of 24 people. Geography The five-kilometre strip of Ellis Beach is located aside the Coral Sea north of Cairns on the Capta ...

Freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does incl ...

* Holloways Beach * Kamerunga *

Kewarra Beach Kewarra Beach is a coastal suburb of Cairns in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Kewarra Beach had a population of 5,652 people. Geography Kewarra Beach is bordered by the Coral Sea to the east and Kuranda National Park to ...

* Lamb Range * Macalister Range * Machans Beach *

Palm Cove Palm Cove is a suburb of Cairns in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Palm Cove had a population of 2,059 people. It is named after the palm trees that line the beach. Geography Palm Cove is located in Far North Queensland on ...

* Redlynch * Smithfield * Stratford *

Trinity Beach Trinity Beach is a coastal suburb of Cairns in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. At the , Trinity Beach had a population of 5,488. Geography Trinity Beach is approximately from the Cairns city centre and approximately 6.6 km ...

* Trinity Park *

Yorkeys Knob Yorkeys Knob is a coastal suburb of Cairns in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Yorkeys Knob had a population of 2,759 people. Geography The suburb is approximately north of the centre of Cairns, and is the third beach s ...

Southern Mulgrave area: *

Aloomba Aloomba is a town and a locality in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Aloomba had a population of 529 people. Geography Aloomba is a long thin locality hemmed in east and west by mountain ranges. It is bounded to the north by t ...

Babinda Babinda is a rural town and locality in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Babinda had a population of 1,253 people. Geography Babinda is located south of Cairns. The town is noted for its proximity to Queensl ...

Bartle Frere Sir Henry Bartle Edward Frere, 1st Baronet, (29 March 1815 – 29 May 1884) was a Welsh British colonial administrator. He had a successful career in India, rising to become Governor of Bombay (1862–1867). However, as High Commissioner for ...

* Bayview Heights *

Bellenden Ker Mount Bellenden Ker is the second-highest mountain in Queensland, Australia, with a height of . It is named after the botanist John Bellenden Ker Gawler. Located south of Cairns near Babinda, it is adjacent to Mount Bartle Frere, the state's ...

* Bentley Park * Bramston Beach *

Deeral Deeral is a town and coastal locality in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Deeral had a population of 141 people. Geography Deeral has an unusual "J"-shape boundaries. The eastern part is a long section of beach facing the C ...

* East Russell * East Trinity *

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city an ...

* Eubenangee¹ * Fishery Falls * Fitzroy Island * Glen Boughton * Goldsborough *

* Green Hill * Green Island * Kamma * Little Mulgrave * Meringa * Miriwinni * Mount Peter *

Mount Sheridan Mount Sheridan el. is a prominent mountain peak overlooking Heart Lake in the Red Mountains of Yellowstone National Park. The peak is named in honor of General Philip H. Sheridan, U.S. Army, one of the early protectors of the park. History ...

* Ngatjan¹ * Packers Camp * Waugh Pocket * White Rock * Woopen Creek * Wooroonooran² *

Woree Woree is a suburb of Cairns in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the Woree had a population of 4,821 people. Geography The Bruce Highway goes between Bald Hills in Brisbane to Woree and is long. The highway goes through Woree both ...

* Wrights Creek ¹ – shared with

Cassowary Coast Region The Cassowary Coast Region is a local government area in the Far North Queensland region of Queensland, Australia, south of Cairns and centred on the towns of Innisfail, Cardwell and Tully. It was created in 2008 from a merger of the Shire ...

² – shared with

and

Libraries

The Cairns Regional Council operate public libraries at

, Cairns City, Earlville,

, Smithfield and Stratford.

Population

The populations given relate to the component entities prior to 2008. The only census in which the Cairns Region included the Douglas Shire was conducted in 2011.

Mayors

Council members

The Council members elected in 2020 were: The Council members elected in 2016 were: The Council members elected in 2012 were: On 1 January 2014, Julia Leu ceased to be a Councillor upon the de-amalgamation of the Shire of Douglas. On 31 January 2015, Rob Pyne was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of Queensland The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly ...

and resigned as a Councillor. Cathy Zeiger was appointed on 12 March 2015 to replace Rob Pyne by a panel comprising Mayor Bob Manning and former Councillors Fran Lindsay and Jeff Pezzutti. The Council members elected in 2008 were:

References

External links

Cairns Regional Council
{{coord, 16, 55, 24, S, 145, 46, 26, E, display=title, region:AU_type:adm2nd_source:GNS-enwiki Cairns, Queensland Local government areas of Queensland 2008 establishments in Australia