Mirani () is a rural town and

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localitie ...

in the

Mackay Region The Mackay Region is a local government area located in North Queensland, Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by three previous local government areas with modern histories extending back as far as 1869. It has an estimat ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. In the , the locality of Mirani had a population of 1,806 people.

Geography

The locality of Mirani is predominantly flat land used for

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

farming. It is bounded to the south by Lake Kinchant, the impoudment created by the Kinchant Dam. The Pioneer River passes through the locality from west to north and forms part of the northern boundary. The Mackay–Eungella Road passes from east to north-west through the locality. There are a network of private tramways through Mirani to transport the sugar cane to the Mackay Sugar mills. The town of Mirani is situated centrally within the locality on the eastern bank of the Pioneer River with Mackay-Eungella Road passing through it.

History

'' Yuwibara (''also known as ''Yuibera, Yuri, Juipera, Yuwiburra)'' 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 ...

spoken on Yuwibara country. It is closely related to the Biri languages/dialects. The Yuwibara language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the

.' The Pioneer Valley railway line coming west from Mackay to Mirani (then known as ''Hamilton'') was built in 1885. Later the name was changed to Mirani to avoid confusion with

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. The line had the following stations servicing the locality (from west to east): * Yeolands railway station () * Mirani West railway station () * Mirani railway station () * Nanyima railway station () * Otterburn railway station () Between 1886 and 1896 land was made available for

selection Selection may refer to: Science * Selection (biology), also called natural selection, selection in evolution ** Sex selection, in genetics ** Mate selection, in mating ** Sexual selection in humans, in human sexuality ** Human mating strat ...

to be

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

farms on the resumed portions of the Hamilton and Hopetown

pastoral The pastoral genre of literature, art, or music depicts an idealised form of the shepherd's lifestyle – herding livestock around open areas of land according to the seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. The target au ...

runs. The

receiving office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

called Hamilton had provided limited postal services to the community, and in 1885 the name Hamilton was changed to Hopeton. Mirani Post Office replaced the Receiving office in April 1890. Mirani Provisional School opened on 18 January 1892, becoming Mirani State School on 11 March 1897. In 1961, the school added a secondary department, which operated until a separate secondary school was opened in 1967. The school was located at Augusta Street on the site of the current secondary school. On 22 June 1968, the school relocated to its present site in Maud Street with new buildings. On Sunday 10 December 1899,

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Joseph Higgins, accompanied by 500 other people, travelled by special train to Mirani, where Higgins laid the foundation stone for a new Catholic church in Mirani. The new convent was opened on Sunday 6 April 1924. A new church opened on Sunday 5 June 1927. On Sunday 15 March 1908, Reverend T. Hely-Wilson laid the foundation stone for an Anglican church. The church opened on Sunday 20 September 1908, when it was dedicated to the

Good Shepherd The Good Shepherd (, ''poimḗn ho kalós'') is an image used in the pericope of , in which Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ is depicted as the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. Similar imagery is used in Psalm 23 and Ezeki ...

. In August 1951,

Wilfred Belcher opened a new Good Shepherd Anglican Church. On Sunday 12 July 1908, a Presbyterian church opened in Mirani. The church was re-opened on 4 August 1918. On 4 September 1913, the Shire of Mirani was established, split from the

Shire of Pioneer The Shire of Pioneer was a Local government in Australia, local government area surrounding the city of Mackay, Queensland, Mackay and including all but its innermost suburbs. The shire, administered from Mackay, Queensland, Mackay itself, cover ...

under the ''Local Authorities Act 1902''. Mirani was the administrative centre of the shire. The 1918 Mackay cyclone struck the city of Mackay, Queensland, Australia on 2021 January 1918. It remains one of the most destructive

cyclone In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an ant ...

s to strike a populated centre in Australia. Mirani State High School opened on 23 January 1967. At the , the town of Mirani had a population of 813. On 15 March 2008, under the ''Local Government (Reform Implementation) Act 2007'' passed by the

Parliament of Queensland The Parliament of Queensland is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature, legislative body of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland. As provided under the Constitution of Queensland, the Parliament consists o ...

on 10 August 2007, the Shire of Mirani merged with the City of Mackay and

Shire of Sarina The Shire of Sarina was a Local government in Australia, local government area located in the Central Queensland region of Queensland, Australia. The shire, administered from the town of Sarina, Queensland, Sarina, covered an area of , and exist ...

to form the

Demographics

In the , the locality of Mirani had a population of 1,541 people. In the , the locality of Mirani had a population of 1,806 people.

Heritage listings

Mirani has a number of

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and human-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In ma ...

sites, including: * Victoria Street (): Lt Thomas Armstrong Memorial * Victoria Street: Mirani railway station

Education

Mirani State School is a government primary (Prep–6) school for boys and girls at 12 Maud Street (). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 343 students with 20 teachers (19 full-time equivalent) and 19 non-teaching staff (10 full-time equivalent). Mirani State High School is a government secondary (7–12) school for boys and girls at Augusta Street (). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 842 students with 70 teachers (68 full-time equivalent) and 35 non-teaching staff (26 full-time equivalent). It includes a

special education Special education (also known as special-needs education, aided education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, and SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual di ...

program.

Amenities

The Mackay Regional Council operates a library at 16 Victoria Street.

References

External links

* * {{authority control Towns in Queensland Mackay Region North Queensland Localities in Queensland