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 , 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.
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. 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. 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 with a 57.6% vote . 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 Bamboo Bonnie Doon Bloomfield1 Cape Kimberley Cape Tribulation Cassowary 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 Port Douglas Rocky Point Shannonvale Spurgeon Stewart Creek Valley Syndicate Thornton Beach Upper Daintree Wangetti Whyanbeel Wonga Beach
1 – shared with the Shire of Cook2 – 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.
Demographics Year Population Notes 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
Below is the current council, elected in 2024:
Name Party Notes Mayor Deputy Mayor
Election results
Chairmen and mayors The following were the chairmen and mayors of the Shire of Douglas in its first incarnation: TermIncumbent1900Andrew Jack1901–1903James Reynolds1904–1905Richard Augustine "Dick" Donnelly1906William Mackay1907Daniel Joseph Kirwan1908Robert David Low1909Richard James Walsh1910Robert Punton Tunnie (first term)1911–1912Frederick "Fred" Thompson1913James Patrick Reynolds (first term)1914Robert Punton Tunnie (second term)1915–1921James Patrick Reynolds (second term)1921–1927John Quill1927–1933Severin Berner "Barney" Andreassen1933–1955Raymond David Rex1955–1964Ernest William Berzinski1964–1967George Quaid Jr1967–1970J.S. Allen1970–1981Onslow Rutherford Andrews1981–1991Anthony Mijo1991–2008Mike Berwick The following were the mayors of Shire of Douglas in its second incarnation: TermIncumbent2014–2020Julia Leu2020–2024Michael John Kerr2024–currentLisa Jayne Scomazzon
References
Further reading — a history of the Shire of Douglas
External links
University of Queensland: Queensland Places: Douglas Shire Douglas Shire Historical Society Pro amalgamation website Happy With Cairns Pro amalgamation website People Of Douglas De-amalgamation website Friends Of Douglas Shire Douglas Shire Independent News