The Shire of Douglas is a local government area in Far North

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 ...

. 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 from 1880 until 2008, when it was amalgamated with the City of Cairns to become the

Cairns Region The Cairns Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Queensland, Australia, centred on the regional city of Cairns. It was established in 2008 by the amalgamation of the City of Cairns and the Shires of Douglas and Mulgrave. H ...

. Following a poll in 2013, the Shire of Douglas was re-established on 1 January 2014. The major industries are tourism and

sugar production The sugar industry subsumes the production, processing and marketing of sugars (mostly sucrose and fructose). Globally, most sugar is extracted from sugar cane (~80% predominantly in the tropics) and sugar beet (~ 20%, mostly in temperate climate ...

. Minor industries include tropical fruit and beef.

History

'' Kuku Yalanji'' (also known as ''Gugu Yalanji'', ''Kuku Yalaja'', and ''Kuku Yelandji'') is an Australian Aboriginal language of the Mossman and Daintree areas of North Queensland. The language region includes areas within the local government area of Shire of Douglas and

Shire of Cook The Shire of Cook (The Shire) is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia. The Shire covers most of the eastern and central parts of Cape York Peninsula, the most northerly section of the Australian mainland. It covers an area ...

, particularly the localities of Mossman, Daintree,

Bloomfield River The Bloomfield River is a river located in the Wet Tropics of Far North Queensland, Australia, noted for its Bloomfield River cod fish species, found only in the river. Course and features The river rises in the Great Dividing Range below Zi ...

, China Camp, Maytown,

Palmer Palmer may refer to: People and fictional characters * Palmer (pilgrim), a medieval European pilgrim to the Holy Land * Palmer (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Palmer (surname), including a list of people and ...

, Cape Tribulation and Wujal Wujal. '' Yalanji'' (also known as ''Kuku Yalanji'', ''Kuku Yalaja'', ''Kuku Yelandji'', and ''Gugu Yalanji)'' is an Australian Aboriginal language of Far North Queensland. The traditional language region is

Mossman River The Mossman River is a river located in the Cape York Peninsula of Far North Queensland, Australia. The headwaters of the river rise under Devils Thumb on the Mount Carbine Tableland in the Great Dividing Range. The river flows through a dee ...

in the south to the Annan River in the north, bordered by the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

in the east and extending inland to west of Mount Mulgrave. This includes the local government boundaries of the Shire of Douglas, the

and the

Aboriginal Shire of Wujal Wujal The Wujal Wujal Aboriginal Shire is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is managed as a Deed of Grant in Trust under the ''Local Government (Community Government Areas) Act 2004''. Geography It is on the east coast of ...

and the towns and localities of Cooktown, Mossman, Daintree, Cape Tribulation and Wujal Wujal. It includes the head of the Palmer River, the

, China Camp, Maytown, and Palmerville. Douglas Division, March 1902

On 11 November 1879, the Cairns Division was one of the initial 74 divisions created under the ''Divisional Boards Act 1879''. On 3 June 1880, the northern part of Cairns Division was excised to create Douglas Division. With the passage of the ''Local Authorities Act 1902'', Douglas Division became the Shire of Douglas on 31 March 1903. On 15 March 2008, under the ''Local Government (Reform Implementation) Act 2007'' passed by the Parliament of Queensland on 10 August 2007, the Shire of Douglas merged with the City of Cairns to form the

. In 2012, a proposal was made to de-amalgamate the Shire of Douglas from the Cairns Region. On 6 December 2012, the Queensland Minister for Local Government, the Hon.

David Crisafulli David Frank Crisafulli (born 14 April 1979) is an Australian politician. He has been a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly since 2017, representing the Gold Coast-based electorate of Broadwater for the Liberal National Party. He was ...

, granted the people of the former Douglas Shire a vote on possible de-amalgamation from the Cairns Regional Council, even though the Queensland Treasury Corporation had calculated the costs to be too high a burden on the few ratepayers of this small Shire, and the Shire to be unviable in the long term. Despite strong opposition from many parties, 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.

Towns and localities

The Douglas Shire Council's administrative centre is in Mossman. The Shire of Douglas includes the following settlements: * Mossman *

Port Douglas Port Douglas is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Douglas, Queensland, Australia, approximately 60 km north of Cairns. In the , Port Douglas had a population of 3,504 people. The town's population can often double, however, with the in ...

Bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...

* Bonnie Doon * Bloomfield¹ * Cape Kimberley * Cape Tribulation *

Cassowary Cassowaries ( tpi, muruk, id, kasuari) are flightless birds of the genus ''Casuarius'' in the order Casuariiformes. They are classified as ratites (flightless birds without a keel on their sternum bones) and are native to the tropical fore ...

* Cooya Beach * Cow Bay * Craiglie * Dagmar * Daintree * Dayman Point * Dedin * Degarra * Diwan * Ellis Beach² * Finlay Vale * Forest Creek * Four Mile Beach * Killaloe * Low Isles * Lower Daintree * Miallo * Mossman Gorge * Mowbray * Newell * Noah *

Oak Beach Oak Beach is a small community and census-designated place located near the eastern end of Jones Beach Island, a barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and the Great South Bay of Long Island. The community is part of the village of Babylon in ...

* Rocky Point * Shannonvale * Spurgeon * Stewart Creek Valley *

Syndicate A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest. Etymology The word ''syndicate'' comes from the French word ''syndicat ...

Thornton Beach Thornton or ''variant'', may refer to: People *Thornton (surname), people with the surname ''Thornton'' * Justice Thornton (disambiguation), judges named "Thornton" *Thornton Wilder, American playwright Places Australia * Thornton, New South Wa ...

* Upper Daintree * Wangetti * Whyanbeel * Wonga Beach ¹ - shared with the

² - until 1995, it was part of the Shire, now it's part of the

Libraries

The Douglas Shire Council operates public libraries at Mossman and

Population

Chairmen and Mayors

The following were the chairmen and mayors of the Shire of Douglas in its first incarnation: The following were the mayors of Shire of Douglas in its second incarnation:

References

External links

University of Queensland: Queensland Places: Douglas ShireDouglas Shire Historical Society

Pro amalgamation website Happy With Cairns

Pro amalgamation website People Of Douglas

De-amalgamation website Friends Of Douglas Shire
{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas Shire Far North Queensland 1880 establishments in Australia Local government areas of Queensland 2008 disestablishments in Australia Populated places disestablished in 2008 2014 establishments in Australia Former local government areas of Queensland