A 1980s vision finally comes to life for Cairns Chinese community

A 40-year-old dream to recognise Chinese history in the Far North is finally springing to life.

Minister for Multiculturalism Fiona Simpson announced $2.7 million in funding to build a Cairns Chinese cultural centre, a dream 40 years in the planning. Minister Fiona Simpson, CADCAI President Mrs Lai Chu Chan an TPG architect Roger Mainwood.

A 40-year-old plan to recognise Chinese history in the Far North is finally springing to life after a pledge for vital cash to support to project.

Speaking in Cairns on Thursday, state multiculturalism minister Fiona Simpson announced the government would deliver $2.7 million to help build a Chinese cultural centre in Edge Hill.

Initially proposed in the 1980s, the centre will form a community space and museum displaying cultural artefacts from the Chinese diaspora who made up close to a third of the Cairns population in the late 1800s.

Cairns and District Chinese Association president Lai Chu Chan said the promised money would mean the history and culture of the region’s Chinese community would live on for generations.

“A lot of our children have the same story, when you migrate to a country you want to integrate so you do not want to identify yourself,” Mrs Chan said.

“I think it is important for us to pass on to the future generations through these artefacts so that they can see and renew interest.

“So they can be proud of being Chinese, being Australian, and being part of the fabric of Australia.”

Chinese immigration has been a key part of Far North Queensland’s story for nearly 150 years after migrants from southern china flocked to Australia in search of gold and a better life.

Since the early 1800s the Far North has benefited greatly from Chinese communities that helped to develop the region’s sugar and fruit industries.

The centre will be built directly across from the Cairns Chinese Friendship Gardens and include spaces for cultural dances, cooking and events as well as a permanent home for rescued artefacts from Cairns’ Lit Sung Goong Temple that once stood in Grafton Street.

The plan to build a Cairns Chinese cultural centre was first proposed in the 1980s. After decades of fundraising and an injection of funds from the state government construction is due to start in late 2025. Lai Chu Chan, Fiona Simpson, Margarita Zorrilla, Roger Mainwood, Ann Kreger.

Ms Simpson said the unique nature of the centre could make it a tourism drawcard for the region.

“It’s over 40 years of work that (CADCAI) put together in regard to gathering the cultural heritage, preserving it and building this plan,” Ms Simpson said.

“This centre will be quite an amazing addition to tourism and economy in this local area but also to the heritage of our Chinese Australians.

“We are partnering to help this local association build this facility and I think it’s going to be not only a facility that will capture the heritage of our Australian Chinese, it will be a rich centre to provide a space for the wider community as well.”

The project is expected to break ground in late 2025 and will be completed in January 2027 in time for Lunar New Year.

Originally published as A 1980s vision finally comes to life for Cairns Chinese community