Mutarnee is a rural town and coastal

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

City of Townsville The City of Townsville is a local government area (LGA) located in North Queensland, Australia. It encompasses the city of Townsville, together with the surrounding rural areas. To the south are the communities of Alligator Creek, Woodstock a ...

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 Mutarnee had a population of 120 people.

Geography

Mutarnee is approximately 67 kilometres north-west of

Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...

, Australia and 44 kilometres south-east of Ingham. It is situated on the banks of

Crystal Creek Crystal Creek (also known as Saltwater Creek) is a creek in the City of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It runs for 17.5 km, beginning just below Paluma, flowing through the township of Mutarnee and emptying into the Coral Sea T ...

and is near the rainforest village of Paluma. The town is in the north-west of the locality and consists of

rural residential A hobby farm (also called a lifestyle block, acreage living, or rural residential) is a smallholding or small farm that is maintained without expectation of being a primary source of income. Some are held simply to bring homeowners closer to n ...

housing. The rest of the locality is used for a mix of agriculture, including growing

sugarcane 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 ...

and

grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to free range (roam around) and consume wild vegetations in order to feed conversion ratio, convert the otherwise indigestible (by human diges ...

on native vegetation. The

Bruce Highway The Bruce Highway is a major highway in Queensland, Australia. Commencing in the state capital, Brisbane, it passes through areas close to the eastern coast on its way to Cairns in Far North Queensland. The route is part of the Australian Natio ...

enters the locality from the south-east (

Rollingstone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known ...

), passes through the town, and exits to the north-west ( Coolbie). The North Coast railway line enters the locality from the south-east (Rollingstone) and is immediately parallel and west of the highway. It passes through the town and exits to the north-west (Coolbie). There are two railway stations: * Mutarnee railway station, serving the town () * Moongobulla railway station, in the south of the locality, now abandoned ()

History

Mutarnee takes its name from its railway station, which in turn was named on 23 December 1920 by the

Queensland Railways Department Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Queensland Rail is owned by the Queensland Government, and operates both suburban and interurban rail services in South East Queensland, as well as long-distance passenger t ...

using an Aboriginal word meaning ''food'', as suggested by

Archibald Meston Archibald Meston (26 March 1851 – 11 March 1924) was an Australian politician, civil servant, journalist, naturalist and explorer. Personal life Archibald Meston was born at Towie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, the son of Alexander Meston. Mest ...

. Ollera Provisional School opened in 1905 and closed in 1906. Ollera Creek State School opened on 17 May 1920. In 1923, it was renamed Mutarnee State School.

Demographics

In the , the locality of Mutarnee had a population of 116 people. In the , the locality of Mutarnee had a population of 120 people.

Education

Mutarnee State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at School Road (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 19 students with 3 teachers (1 full-time equivalent) and 3 non-teaching staff (1 full-time equivalent). Mungalla Silver Lining School is a private secondary school (7-12) school for Indigenous boys and girls at 64 Spiegelhauer Road (). There is no government secondary school is Mutarnee. The nearest government secondary schools are Ingham State High School in Ingham to the north and Northern Beaches State High School in Deeragun,

, to the south-east.

Facilities

Facilities at Mutarnee include a state primary school,Mutarnee State School
, accessed 1 November 2010. a recreational waterhole, and a camping area at nearby Crystal Creek.

References

{{Suburbs of Townsville Suburbs of Townsville Localities in Queensland Towns in Queensland