Tablelands Region: History
Yidinji (also known as Yidinj, Yidiny, and Idindji) is an Australian Aboriginal language. Its traditional language region is within the local government areas of Cairns Region and Tablelands Region, in such localities as Cairns, Gordonvale, and the Mulgrave River, and the southern part of the Atherton Tableland including Atherton and Kairi.
Prior to the 2008 amalgamation, the Tablelands Region consisted the entire area of four previous local government areas:
the Shire of Atherton;
the Shire of Eacham;
the Shire of Herberton; and
the Shire of Mareeba.
On 11 November 1879, when the Divisional Boards Act 1879 came into effect proclaiming 74 divisions around Queensland, the nature and distribution of the population in the Tablelands region was vastly different from today. Most of the area was divided between the Hinchinbrook and Woothakata divisions. On 3 September 1881, Tinaroo Division was proclaimed from part of Hinchinbrook, making the mining towns of Tinaroo and Thornborough the administrative centres of the region.
A number of changes occurred from that point:
15 September 1888 – Formation of the Borough of Herberton to manage the town of Herberton
14 May 1889 – Walsh Division (Irvinebank) separated from Woothakata
20 December 1890 – Barron Division separated from Tinaroo
11 May 1895 – Herberton Division separated from Tinaroo; amalgamated the Borough
31 March 1903 – Under the Local Authorities Act 1902, Barron, Herberton, Tinaroo, Walsh and Woothakata became Shires.
16 December 1908 – Shire of Chillagoe formed from part of Woothakata
18 November 1910 – Shire of Eacham formed from part of Tinaroo
20 December 1919 – Shire of Barron abolished and divided between Mulgrave and Woothakata
1933 – Shires of Walsh and Chillagoe amalgamated into Woothakata
1935 – Shire of Tinaroo renamed Shire of Atherton
20 December 1947 – Shire of Woothakata renamed Shire of Mareeba
In July 2007, the Local Government Reform Commission released its report and recommended that the four areas amalgamate. Amongst its reasons given for this recommendation were that a community of interest revolved around the towns of Mareeba and Atherton, with residents travelling to Cairns for services not offered in the region. The opportunity for tourism and leisure promotion under a single banner, the close proximity of most major towns, the lack of natural barriers and similar economic interests including beef, dairy, fruit and sugar production. All councils opposed the amalgamation, although Atherton, Herberton and Eacham were willing to consider shared service delivery. On 15 March 2008, the Shires formally ceased to exist, and elections were held on the same day to elect councillors and a to the Regional Council.
In 2012, a proposal was made to de-amalgamate the Shire of Mareeba from the Tablelands Region. On 9 March 2013, the citizens of the former Mareeba shire voted in a referendum to de-amalgamate. The Shire of Mareeba was re-established on 1 January 2014.