Cairns Region
The Cairns Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Queensland, Australia, centred on the regional centre of Cairns. It was established in 2008 by the amalgamation of the City of Cairns and the Shire of Douglas. However, following public protest and a referendum in 2013, on 1 January 2014, the Shire of Douglas was separated from the Cairns Region and re-established as a local government authority.
History of Cairns
In 2004, the Cairns Convention Centre was named the world's best congress center by the annual general assembly of the International Association of Congress Centers. In the same year, the local Djabugay rainforest Aboriginal group were given native title over Barron Gorge National Park, the first such claim to be recognised in Queensland, and the first in Australia to be granted out of court. In 2005, the Japanese company, Daikyo, withdrew its operations from North Queensland because of economic problems elsewhere in the organisation. This departure ended 17 years of major tourism investment in the Cairns area, including a $30 million upgrade of facilities at Green Island. On 24 April 2006, the Yarrabah-based Mandingalbay Yidinji people became the second Aboriginal clan in Queensland, after the Djabugay group, to win recognition of their traditional lands. This recognition by the Australian Government took 12 years to be approved, and was made 236 years after James Cook made his brief visit to the Yarrabah area.