Mackay - Culture and History

The first European to pass by the Mackay area was Captain James Cook as he sailed up the eastern coast of Australia in 1770. He named Cape Palmerston, failed to recognise the mouth of the Pioneer River and, quite sensibly, was more concerned about running aground on the reef than about the potential of the land to the west.

The area remained isolated for over 70 years after the settlement of Port Jackson. The first European explorer in the area was Captain John Mackay, after whom the town is named. In May 1860, after travelling overland from northern New South Wales, searching for good grazing land, Mackay led a group of people into the area via Bells Creek and the Pioneer River. On 28 May the group started marking runs after drawing straws for the best lots.

In 1861 Mackay brought cattle and horses overland from Armidale in New South Wales. The following year the tiny settlement of Mackay was established on the banks of the Pioneer River. The area around Mackay remained predominantly cattle until 1865 when John Spiller planted the first sugar.

Sugar mills were built in the area around Mackay in 1867 and the first sugar was exported that year. It was around this time that the South Sea island labourers known as Kanakas were brought to the area to work, as virtual slave labour, on the sugar plantations. At the time there was a notion that the tropics were not a suitable work environment for white people and that only blacks were able to handle the debilitating conditions. Kanakas continued to work on the plantations until 1906.

It was sugar that really gave Mackay its boost. Even today it is hard not to be overwhelmed by the magnitude of sugar production in the area. Once outside the city it seems that every road is flanked by endless fields of sugar cane. It has been estimated that the area around Mackay produces over 25 per cent of all Australia's sugar.

Certainly by the 1870s the growth of Mackay and the Pioneer Valley could be accounted for by the local sugar production. In 1874, for example, there were sixteen sugar mills in the area.

Mackay became a municipality in 1869 and a city on 16 August 1918. Its increasing importance was related to its development as a major transport centre. The railway arrived in 1922 and in 1939 an artificial deepwater harbour was built with the largest sugar terminal in the Southern Hemisphere jutting out to load ships with the hinterland's produce.

More recently the discovery and development of the huge coal deposits in the Bowen Basin (particularly at Blair Athol, Dysart and Moranbah) has led to the construction of the Hay Point Coal Terminal which, when it was built, was the world's largest coal-loading facility. In 1983 it was extended when the Dalrymple Bay coal loader was opened.

Mackay is a remarkably gracious tropical city. It basks under the tropical sun and its wide streets are characterised by beautifully kept median strips with Royal palm trees and flowering tropical plants. The town's current piece de resistance is the huge Mackay Civic Centre complex which features a fountain identical to the one in Sydney's Kings Cross.