Where does north Queensland start? We check with the experts
QUEENSLAND has a Lord of the North, but where does his territory actually begin? It seems it’s not that simple. Have your say
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WHERE is north Queensland?
The Sunday Mail can today reveal it is an imaginary border line that floats on the whims of government departments and fiercely tribal sporting rivalries, and is more about a way of life than a state of being.
Nearly every different federal, state and local government department has a different version of north Queensland on a map of Queensland.
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Ever since Captain James Cook beached the Endeavour and Burke and Wills set out to explore Terra Nullius, there has been great but unsolved debate about how to locate this mythical Shangri-La of tropical reef, forests, and laid-back locals.
Still today – in this new-world order of rules and regulations – there is no official or definitive line on where north Queensland starts or stops.
Newspaper style guides have roughly declared north Queensland starts at Mackay and far north Queensland at Townsville.
But a State Government spokesman told The Sunday Mail defining north Queensland was not a simple or straightforward issue.
“Different Queensland Government agencies use different boundaries to classify north Queensland,’’ the spokesman said.
“Neither federal nor state statistical or government agencies have a uniform agreed definition. Interpretations vary considerably depending on circumstances.
“Broadly the Government’s focus is the area that is from the Tropic of Capricorn north.
“It includes Rockhampton, Mackay, Mount Isa, Townsville, Cairns, Cape York and the Gulf, covering 46 of the 77 Local Governments.
“I note that for some purposes, for example the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, Gladstone is included in north Queensland.’’
The Sunday Mail conducted a pub test of a handful of NQ celebrities, politicians and a sports star.
Some say Rockhampton to the tip of Cape York. Others start at Mackay north. One calls it Bowen to Cardwell. None include Gladstone.
But far north Queensland, too, is borderless.
Then there is the dilemma of where to put the North-West, Gulf Country and the Outback.
“It’d be nice if there was some consistency in the maps,” said Peter Beattie, an Atherton boy, former Premier and Commonwealth Games chief.
“It seems they are often reshaped depending on the prevailing winds of the time.
“To me, FNQ is Cairns north and the size of an entire state on its own.
“NQ is Mackay, Townsville, up to Cairns.
“But it is more than a line on a map, it is a way of life, a state of mind, it is that laid-back attitude.”
Jillian Whiting, a Mackay girl and TV presenter, draws the line at Sarina.
“Rocky is out. It doesn’t smell the same,’’ she said.
“Business is done differently in NQ, the language is different, it is a more relaxed way of speaking, there is the art of storytelling, it is a remarkable environment, and pretty chilled people.”
Miss World Australia and Cairns supermodel Erin Holland said: “I would go further and suggest that there is such a thing as far north Queensland – that’s what us Cairnsians refer to ourselves as where the heartbeat is the Great Barrier Reef.
“Queensland is a huge and diverse state so we prefer to differentiate ourselves.
“I was always brought up to believe that NQ started at Mackay and ended at Townsville.
“So anywhere north is FNQ, with Cairns being the vibrant main city.”
Holland’s account concurs with newspaper style guides.
Karl Stefanovic, a Cairns lad and TV breakfast show co-host, prefers to run the border along rugby league tribalism.
“I personally believe anywhere north of Lang Park up to JT’s house in Townsville is NQ, and anything north of JT’s house is FNQ,’’ he said.
“Yorkey’s Knob is the centre of FNQ, because it’s got a knob in the name, and that’s where my mum lives.
“FNQers are better fishermen and have ability to take piss out of themselves because they are surrounded by tranquil beauty while also having the ability to take on a crocodile in a pair of pluggers, with a XXXX Gold in one hand, without blinking.
“People who do not reside in NQ, that’s anywhere north of Lang Park, only every desire to live in NQ and be known as north Queenslanders.’’
Townsville-born-and-bred Cowboys star Michael Morgan, who is filling the no 7 jersey for the injured “King of the North” Johnathan Thurston, said anyone who supported the footy club was “an honorary north Queenslander”.
“When I was playing junior club footy, NQ players were picked from Mackay north, so I reckon that’d be my boundary,’’ said Morgs.
“You’ve just got to be able to tolerate the heat. It can get very hot up here. We use a lot of talcum powder.”
Cloncurry-born maverick MP Bob Katter, a leading voice for a separate state of NQ, sees a “million billion reasons” to draw a line north of the outskirts of Rockhampton and jettison the rest of the state south.
“We’ve got all the sugar, beef, mining, and tourism up here,’’ Katter said.
“We’ve got all the best seafood, black soil, and salt-of-the-earth people on the planet.
“But imagine if we put in an NQ State of Origin team?,” he chortled.
“That’d make the selectors worried. We’d roll the lot of them.’’
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