Shire of Douglas explained

Type:lga
Shire of Douglas
State:qld
Image Upright:0.81
Pop:12337
Area:2428
Area Footnotes:[1]
Est:1880 until 2008, 2014
Mayor:Lisa Scomazzon
Seat:Mossman
Region:Far North Queensland
Url:http://www.douglas.qld.gov.au/
Near-Nw:Cook
Near-N:Cook & Wujal Wujal
Near-Ne:Coral Sea
Near-W:Mareeba
Near-E:Coral Sea
Near-Sw:Mareeba
Near-S:Cairns
Near-Se:Cairns

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 2428km2,[1] 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. Following a poll in 2013, the Shire of Douglas was re-established on 1 January 2014.

The major industries are tourism and sugar production. Minor industries include tropical fruit and beef.

In the, the Shire of Douglas had a population of 12,337 people.

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, particularly the localities of Mossman, Daintree, Bloomfield River, China Camp, Maytown, Palmer, Cape Tribulation and Wujal Wujal.[2]

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 in the south to the Annan River in the north, bordered by the Pacific Ocean in the east and extending inland to west of Mount Mulgrave. This includes the local government boundaries of the Shire of Douglas, the Shire of Cook and the Aboriginal Shire of Wujal Wujal and the towns and localities of Cooktown, Mossman, Daintree, Cape Tribulation and Wujal Wujal. It includes the head of the Palmer River, the Bloomfield River, China Camp, Maytown, and Palmerville.[3] 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 Cairns Region.

In 2012, a proposal was made to de-amalgamate the Shire of Douglas from the Cairns Region.[4] On 6 December 2012, the Queensland Minister for Local Government, the Hon. David Crisafulli, 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.[5] The shire was re-established on 1 January 2014.[6] [7]

Towns and localities

The Douglas Shire Council's administrative centre is in Mossman.[8]

The Shire of Douglas includes the following settlements:

1 – shared with the Shire of Cook
2 – until 1995, it was part of the Shire, now it's part of the Cairns Region

Libraries

The Douglas Shire Council operates public libraries at Mossman and Port Douglas.[9]

Demographics

YearPopulationNotes
1933 2,901
1947 2,493
1954 3,100
1961 3,354
1966 3,919
1971 4,072
1976 4,746
1981 5,957
1986 7,750
1991 12,440
1996 12,980
13,966
10,193
2011 11,380 Shire of Douglas did not exist at this time but was part of the Cairns Region.
11,714
12,337

Council

Douglas Shire Council
House Type:Unicameral
Leader1 Type:Mayor
Leader1:Lisa Scomazzon
Party1:[Independent]
Leader2 Type:Deputy Mayor
Leader2:Roy Zammataro
Party2:Independent
Seats:5 elected representatives, including a Mayor and 4 councillors
Political Groups1:
  • Majority:
Last Election1:16 March 2024
Next Election1:March 2028

Below is the current council, elected in 2024:[10]

NamePartyNotes
Mayor
Deputy Mayor

Election results

Chairmen and mayors

The following were the chairmen and mayors of the Shire of Douglas in its first incarnation:[11]

TermIncumbent
1900Andrew Jack
1901–1903James Reynolds
1904–1905Richard Augustine "Dick" Donnelly
1906William Mackay
1907Daniel Joseph Kirwan
1908Robert David Low
1909Richard James Walsh
1910Robert Punton Tunnie (first term)
1911–1912Frederick "Fred" Thompson
1913James Patrick Reynolds (first term)
1914Robert Punton Tunnie (second term)
1915–1921James Patrick Reynolds (second term)
1921–1927John Quill
1927–1933Severin Berner "Barney" Andreassen
1933–1955Raymond David Rex
1955–1964Ernest William Berzinski
1964–1967George Quaid Jr
1967–1970J.S. Allen
1970–1981Onslow Rutherford Andrews
1981–1991Anthony Mijo
1991–2008Mike Berwick
The following were the mayors of Shire of Douglas in its second incarnation:
TermIncumbent
2014–2020Julia Leu[12] [13]
2020–2024Michael John Kerr[14]
2024–currentLisa Jayne Scomazzon[15]

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2017-18: Population Estimates by Local Government Area (ASGS 2018), 2017 to 2018. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 27 March 2019. 25 October 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190327110730/http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/3218.02017-18. 27 March 2019. live. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018.
  2. Kuku Yalanji. Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages map. 28 January 2020.
  3. Yalanji. Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages map. 5 February 2020.
  4. Web site: A Proposal to the Minister for Local Government Hourable David Crisafulli M.P. in support of de-amalgamation of the former Douglas Shire from Cairns Regional Council. 14 August 2013. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130428114021/http://www.dlg.qld.gov.au/resources/report/local-government/bc/douglas-proposal.pdf. 28 April 2013. dmy-all.
  5. Web site: Douglas Area De-amalgamation Poll – Douglas – Poll Area Summary. Electoral Commission Queensland. 14 August 2013. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130512060530/http://ecq.qld.gov.au/elections/local/DOUGLAS/results/district96.html. 12 May 2013. dmy-all.
  6. Web site: De-amalgamation. Queensland Government. 14 August 2013. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130826155025/http://www.dsdip.qld.gov.au/bc. 26 August 2013. dmy-all.
  7. Web site: Local Government (De-amalgamation Implementation) Regulation 2013. Local Government Act 2009. Queensland Government. 14 August 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130526200010/http://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/LEGISLTN/CURRENT/L/LocalGovDeamallmpR13.pdf. 26 May 2013. live.
  8. Web site: Contact the Douglas Shire Council. 2022-01-02. Douglas Shire Council. en-US.
  9. Web site: Douglas Shire. 20 September 2016. Public Libraries Connect. State Library of Queensland. 2 February 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180201193001/http://www.plconnect.slq.qld.gov.au/networking/directory-of-public-libraries/services/douglas. 1 February 2018. live.
  10. Web site: Meet the Mayor & Councillors .
  11. Web site: Mayors of the Douglas Divisional Board. Cairns Heritage Page. Cairns Regional Council. 19 February 2014. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120326132546/http://www.cairns.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/1985/Douglas_Shire_Mayors.pdf. 26 March 2012. dmy-all.
  12. Web site: 2013 Douglas Shire Council – Mayoral Election. Electoral Commission of Queensland. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140225095801/http://www.ecq.qld.gov.au/elections/local/LG2013/DouglasShireCouncil/results/mayoral/district1.html. 25 February 2014. 20 February 2014. dmy-all.
  13. Web site: 2016 Douglas Shire Council - Mayoral Election - Election Summary. results.ecq.qld.gov.au. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20180327051941/http://results.ecq.qld.gov.au/elections/local/LG2016/DouglasShireCouncil/results/mayoral/summary.html. 27 March 2018. 2017-12-04.
  14. Web site: 2020. 2020 Local Government Elections: Saturday, 28 March 2020. 16 June 2020. Electoral Commission of Queensland.
  15. Web site: 2024. 2024Local Government Elections: Saturday, 16 March 2024. 30 March 2024. Electoral Commission of Queensland.