Latest news with #Mareeba

ABC News
28-06-2025
- Climate
- ABC News
Rain-shadow effect inspires Mareeba's claim to 300 sunny days a year
Far North Queensland may be renowned for its rainforests, monsoons and cyclones, but nestled in heart of the wet tropics one town claims to be a literal ray of sunshine. Proudly boasting 300 sunny days a year, Mareeba, near the Atherton Tablelands on the range west of Cairns, is just 180 kilometres north of Australia's wettest town, Tully. But while Mareeba is known for its clear days, whether or not the marketing matches the weather records is more cloudy. The Bureau of Meteorology's Livio Regano said Mareeba did have a drier climate compared to other parts of the region, due to a "rain-shadow" effect. "It just means that if you're behind a big range and the eastern side catches the moisture, most of the rain falls on that side and by the time the air comes over the other side, it's already dried out a bit," Mr Regano said. "The moisture has been rung out on the eastern side like a wet sponge getting squeezed and there's nothing left in it. "On the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range, you're in a rain shadow, and that includes most of the Atherton Tablelands." While it makes for a pleasant climate, Mr Regano said the "300 days of sun" claim was harder to substantiate. To accurately measure sunshine statistics, a sunshine recorder is needed. Mareeba does not have one. But there is a weather station at the airport, which has recorded an average 86 clear days, and 95 cloudy days per year. "That nowhere near adds up to 300 sunny days a year, unless your definition of sunshine is that the sun pokes through the cloud, at least for one minute every day," Mr Regano said. When comparing the days of sun in Mareeba to other towns and cities in different parts of Australia, it doesn't quite make the leaderboard. "It's not comparable with what they have, for example, in the Burdekin and around Townsville — you know the Townsville Dome as we all call it," he said. Gaining traction in the 1990s, the tagline "300 sunny days a year" became popular as the once-thriving tobacco industry declined, and Mareeba sought a fresh identity. Rochelle Harding from the Mareeba Shire Council, which erected a sign with the slogan, said the sunny weather had proven to be one of the town's greatest assets, especially for tourism. "It's an ideal location for recreational flyers with access to the Mareeba Airport and for hot air ballooning," she said. "Mountain bikers, hikers and campers benefit from the reliable weather, with easier access to outback stations and trails. "Mareeba's climate also attracts grey nomads, who enjoy the warm, dry conditions while camping and exploring the region at their leisure." The official records are one thing, but for Peter Howe from Rock Ridge Farming, the proof is in the avocados and bananas he grows in both Mareeba and the Atherton Tablelands. He said although his blocks were relatively close in proximity, he noticed the difference in production and climate. "We've got we got ladyfingers [bananas] down at Mareeba and in Atherton, and there's a about a four-week delay on the ones in Atherton coming in versus Mareeba," he said. Mr Howe said picking bananas was also more efficient in sunny conditions, and bigger bunches were produced. "You just need sunshine to make everything grow and perform," he said.

ABC News
11-06-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Queensland crocodile cull plan supported by some councils, slammed by conservationists
On George Adil's cane farm in Far North Queensland, the day-to-day of life and work keeps him busy. It means he doesn't always have time to be vigilant of crocodiles on his Mareeba property, inland of Cairns, especially when he has to get into the river to service his irrigation equipment and pump by hand. "It is definitely worrying when you have to get into the river," he says. "I'm focused on farming, and I'm focused on the next problem." He believes saltwater crocodiles have been an increasing problem since a major flood in 2000, now leading a petition to expand an existing crocodile removal zone. He says, aside from the impact on his farming, he and his family have also had to stop swimming in the Barron River. Mr Adil is supportive of a proposed bill, which would allow crocodile culls and removals in populated areas. But says decisions about the management of the species should be made by those who live in crocodile country. The proposed legislation from Katter's Australian Party, which would also allow Indigenous groups to run safari-style hunting trips, is currently being examined by a Queensland parliamentary inquiry. At a public hearing held in Brisbane today, it received support from some local councils, who say more needs to be done. Speaking at a public hearing into the bill on Wednesday, Mareeba Shire deputy mayor Lenore Wyatt said Mr Adil was far from alone in his frustration with crocodiles. She says it was taking to long to remove crocodiles or obtain the permits needed to move them — including within an existing special zone "F" where saltwater crocodiles are already removed upon sighting. Councillor Wyatt says in one case a farmer had contacted the state environment department in January about a large crocodile in his dam, but had yet to have it removed in June. She says this slow response time highlighted an "urgent need for reform". Councillor Wyatt told the committee it's believed crocodiles had not been native to the area, and instead had ended up in the area's waterways in the 1990s after escaping a crocodile farm. She said this made it a "unique" situation, and was urgently calling for more to be done regarding crocodile management. "We're not asking for crocodile eradication, but we are asking for a more responsive and place-based approach to crocodile management," she said. Crocodiles were hunted to the brink of extinction in Queensland prior to the 1970s. Saltwater crocodiles are currently considered a threatened species and are protected. The Department of Environment estimates there are between 20,000 and 30,000 salt and freshwater crocodiles in Queensland waterways. Further south, the Whitsundays Regional Council says it's also dealing with growing crocodile populations. The Proserpine River has the largest population of saltwater crocodiles along the east coast. It's also supportive of the bill and moves to address numbers, and to make it easier to get permits to move crocodiles. "Crocodiles are an important tourist attraction for the Whitsundays," council's natural resource management and climate manager Scott Hardy told the committee. "They can also be a hazard as well." He says crocodiles are regularly sighted offshore at Airlie Beach as well as occasionally off Whitsunday Islands, and a growing population in popular tourist locations is causing concern over the risk of "inevitable" crocodile interactions with tourists and residents. Like in Mareeba, Mr Hardy says council is struggling to relocate crocodiles due to the length of time it takes to obtain permits to do so. He is also supportive of a better way to record crocodile sightings, such as by using a QR code, and is calling for better education and more frequent surveys. Meanwhile, conservationists including Bob Irwin and the Environmental Defenders' Office (EDO) appeared at the inquiry to speak in opposition of the bill. Mr Irwin, who founded what would go on to become Australia Zoo, said he'd been working with crocodiles in the wild and captivity for more than four decades. He said over that time he and his son Steve had worked hard to get into their heads and understand them. Mr Irwin said he was "frustrated" to once again hear calls for crocodile culling, describing it as a "pointless exercise". He told the committee he was concerned that as large crocodiles were extremely territorial, killing one or removing it would simply lead to smaller ones, with potentially worse behaviour, replacing them. Mr Irwin said he wasn't against moving crocodiles away from areas where people exercised their dogs or from waterways near a boat ramp, but said he remained concerned about crocodiles returning to their own territory. He also called for more education, saying most deaths around crocodiles occurred due to human recklessness and was scathing of people who filmed themselves getting close to crocodiles. For Queensland premier David Crisafulli, it was human safety which had to come "first absolutely". "I'll always say that. We also have to balance good environmental outcomes and that's why everyone should have their say on this bill," he said on Wednesday. The committee will deliver its final report in August.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Yahoo
Teen dies in e-scooter crash
A young man has died after falling from an electric scooter in regional Queensland. The crash tragic accident happened in the town of Mareeba, near Cairns, on Tuesday night. A police spokeswoman told NewsWire, as of late Wednesday morning, the deceased male was yet to be identified. Local media reports it is a teenager who has died. The spokeswoman said the police believe there were no other vehicles involved in the crash. The forensic crash unit is investigating. The tragic incident is the latest electric scooter crash to rock the country and follows the release of a report last week from doctors and researchers in Queensland highlighting the 'significant risk' to children from e-scooters. The report, published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, analysed 176 child e-scooter injury cases that presented to Sunshine Coast University Hospital between January 2023 and December 2024. The research found 71 per cent of cases were male, falls accounted for 78 per cent of crashes, while 13 per cent involved motor vehicles. Helmet noncompliance was documented in 42 per cent of the presentations, 12 per cent involved doubling, and 36 per cent exceeded the 25km/h speed limit. Further, fractures occurred in 37 per cent of cases, 18 per cent required computerised tomography scans and 11 per cent sustained life-threatening or potentially life-threatening injuries.

News.com.au
11-06-2025
- News.com.au
Teen dies in e-scooter crash at Mareeba, far north Queensland
A young man has died after falling from an electric scooter in regional Queensland. The crash tragic accident happened in the town of Mareeba, near Cairns, on Tuesday night. A police spokeswoman told NewsWire, as of late Wednesday morning, the deceased male was yet to be identified. Local media reports it is a teenager who has died. The spokeswoman said the police believe there were no other vehicles involved in the crash. The forensic crash unit is investigating. The tragic incident is the latest electric scooter crash to rock the country and follows the release of a report last week from doctors and researchers in Queensland highlighting the 'significant risk' to children from e-scooters. The report, published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, analysed 176 child e-scooter injury cases that presented to Sunshine Coast University Hospital between January 2023 and December 2024. The research found 71 per cent of cases were male, falls accounted for 78 per cent of crashes, while 13 per cent involved motor vehicles. Helmet noncompliance was documented in 42 per cent of the presentations, 12 per cent involved doubling, and 36 per cent exceeded the 25km/h speed limit. Further, fractures occurred in 37 per cent of cases, 18 per cent required computerised tomography scans and 11 per cent sustained life-threatening or potentially life-threatening injuries.


The Guardian
07-06-2025
- General
- The Guardian
‘Geographic narcissism': the battle to fund aged care providers in rural Australia
In the final stages of Angiolina Moro's dementia journey, she would revert to speaking Italian. 'She was in her late 20s when she arrived in Australia,' her son, Joe Moro, says. 'So as her dementia creeped in, she lost the capacity to speak in English.' Angiolina died in February. She spent the final five years of her life at an aged care facility in Mount Kooyong, 50km north of Mareeba, the far north Queensland town where she had lived most of her life. Moro says his mother would have preferred to stay in Mareeba, where language wasn't as much of a barrier. Ten per cent of Mareeba's population is Italian. 'I know the staff [at Mount Kooyong] spent a lot of effort trying to communicate,' he says. 'I think they did a fantastic job. 'A lot of older people in the [region] are the first lot of immigrants who came back in the 50s and worked hard and are now deteriorating and ending up in homes. So language is a big barrier up here for getting good outcomes in care.' Sign up to receive Guardian Australia's fortnightly Rural Network email newsletter Moro says because of the relative isolation of the region there are limited options for aged care. Some travel to Cairns, about 60km from Mareeba, to fit in with their adult children's work schedules. But, Moro says, most of their elderly parents would prefer to stay in smaller communities. Ross Cardillo sold his business several years ago to help around the family lychee and longan farm at Mareeba. He and his sister are supporting their mother, 77, who is providing in-home care for their father, 83. 'There's just not sufficient care in Mareeba,' Cardillo says. '[Dad] wants to stay home, which is fair enough. If he goes to an aged care facility, he will die. And my mother won't let him die.' It is a common story in rural Australia. In-home aged care services are limited the further you travel from capital cities and regional centres. Cardillo has many friends who travel an hour to access aged care homes and the distances increase as you move further inland. Cardillo is the chairman of Mareeba and Communities Family Healthcare, a social, not-for-profit enterprise founded five years ago to provide improved medical services in the town. 'We are trying to cater for our ageing population with little or no support from anyone else,' he says. 'As a community, we see it as valuable and important and we're pursuing that. 'It's about opening up funding to more providers that are available up here.' In May, the enterprise set up an outreach clinic in Mutchilba, 35km south-west of Mareeba, to service the 600 locals. 'Most of them are elderly, so we didn't want them to travel as far,' Cardillo says. Moro, who is also the Mareeba Chamber of Commerce president, says Mareeba and Communities Family Healthcare was set up to focus on general medical services but could expand to aged care if there was adequate 'dollars, cents and expertise'. 'We have an overall shortage here,' he says. 'There are numerous councils trying to get investment and there's talk of something going to happen – at the end of the day it's an investment issue.' A 2023 report by the National Rural Health Alliance estimated that rural Australians missed out on $850 worth of healthcare services each year due to a lack of access to or availability of services in their local area – equating to a total annual rural health underspend of $6.5bn. The Alliance chief executive, Susi Tegen, says many communities have resorted to raising funds on their own. She described the failure of governments to adequately fund aged care in the regions as 'geographic narcissism'. 'Some communities are coming up with models that are much better and allow for support from the local community,' Tegen says. 'However, they are often not funded. They rely on volunteers and they are often not considered by government funding to be good enough. And yet, we seem to see a population that is being told by the lack of funding that they're not as important as urban people.' In New South Wales, the Snowy Mountains community of Bombala shot a nude calendar to raise funds to keep the Currawarna assisted living facility open after it closed due to staff shortages in 2022. Tegen says rural communities need a commitment from state and federal governments to ensure they receive equitable funding to keep pace with the ageing population. The number of Australians aged over 65 years is projected to almost double from 3.8m in 2017 to 6.4m in 2042, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Tegen says it is difficult to attract healthcare workers to move to regional areas because they 'feel they're not being supported'. 'They're having to beg and scrape, and they're having to jump through hoops to get the money that everyone else seems to be getting in the city,' she says. The federal government in March said it would invest $600m in in-home care in regional Australia and for people with diverse backgrounds and life experiences. There is also almost $1bn in the federal budget for the Aged Care Capital Assistance Program, which provides grants to build, extend or upgrade aged care services or to build staff accommodation where older Australians have limited or no access. But Cardillo says it seems as though that money never filters down to his community, and the people at the top do not understand the reality of those in regional communities. He says the community will keep doing what they need to do to cater for their ageing population. 'They get things done themselves and they do it themselves,' he says. Sign up for the Rural Network email newsletter