Belonging
Mackay Region
Image supplied by Mackay City Council
The Mackay Region
The Mackay Region represents one of Queensland's strongest growth regions. It covers an area in excess of 90,000 km2, which is about 5.2 per cent of the total area of Queensland. Mackay is strategically located in the heart of Queensland, halfway between Brisbane and Cairns. The region encompasses Australia’s largest continuous stretch of rainforest, spectacular National Parks, breathtaking mountains and gorges, historic townships, miles of golden beaches, more than 70 tropical islands and of course the enchanting world of the Great Barrier Reef.
In the west, the region extends into the coal-mining belt of the Bowen Basin, the largest single coal mining area in Australia. Throughout the area the landscape is dotted with cane fields, reflecting the Central Region’s place as Australia’s largest sugar producer. The Mackay region has an estimated population of more than 124,309 permanent residents and of this number, more than half (78,401) live within Mackay City Council. Mackay’s population is younger than the State’s average and some of the outer lying mining towns rank among the State’s wealthiest.
About Mackay City
Located about halfway between Brisbane and Cairns, Mackay truly is the Heart of Queensland.
This coastal city of over 82,000 residents is positioned 400 kilometres north of the Tropic of Capricorn, with its boundaries extending from Alligator Creek in the south to the O’Connell River in the north.
It covers an area of 2820 square kilometres on the mainland and a further 100 square kilometres of islands, including Lindeman, Brampton, Keswick and St Bees.
Mackay is the largest sugar producing area in Australia and is home to several sugar mills, one of Australia’s four sugar refineries and the largest bulk sugar terminal in the world.
The city is also a vital service centre for the mines of the nearby Bowen Basin, which produce 85 per cent of the state’s coal. The beef cattle and tourism industries are also important to Mackay’s economic base and this diversity has helped the city to maintain its prosperity despite fluctuating markets and other challenges.
Some things intrinsically belong. Whether it’s the memory of an item tied to a place – a box that always sat on Grandma’s dresser, the sounds of a wind-chime at a holiday house on the beach - or a memory of a place itself, these things gel in our minds and are a connection from the present to the past.
Dale Arvidsson
Mackay City Council
© Copyright 2007. All images contained within this website are protected under Australian Copyright Law,
and as such may not, under any circumstances be copied, used, or reproduced without permission. For
further information regarding the copyright restrictions of these images contact Auz Vizions Photographics.
|
|
