FAR NORTH QUEENSLAND Regional profile
Far North Queensland is the northernmost part of the state of
Queensland, stretching from the city of Cairns north to the
Torres Strait.
Regional Strengths
Far North Queensland is made up of four regions based on
local government boundaries including: The Wet Tropics –
Hinchinbrook, Cassowary Coast, Cairns, Atherton Tablelands,
The Gulf – Croydon, Etheridge, Carpentaria, Mornington,
Burke and Cape York – Cook, Aurukun and Torres.
Agriculture is one of the north’s largest sectors, contributing
A$863 million to the regional economy.
Cairns
Cairns is at the heart of Far North Queensland and is the
gateway to the Great Barrier Reef and World Heritage
rainforests. It is 348 km north of Townsville with a tropical
climate and high rainfall. It is a multicultural society, known for
its adventure activities, Coral Sea and lush rainforests.
Cairns services 2,400km of Far North Queensland’s coastline
- to the tip of Cape York Peninsula, and around the Golf of
Carpentaria to the Northern Territory border. Air transport links
to export markets are through the Cairns International Airport
to Japan, Hong Kong, China (seasonally) and Papua New
Guinea, and through other ports via an extensive domestic
aviation network. Raw sugar is shipped from Cairns to world
markets, while live cattle and mineral ore are sent through
smaller regional ports.
Economy
North Queensland covers an enormous geographic and
economically-diverse area. In addition to its natural
attractions, it is a major agricultural region, with a sugar
bulk-loading shipping terminal, marine fishing base and a
range of agricultural services.
Cairns is the administrative and health services base for the
Far North region. Its close proximity and air access to Papua
New Guinea attracts companies who want to establish major
projects there.
Agriculture
Leading agricultural export products include raw sugar, live
cattle, horticulture (mangoes, avocadoes, lychees and coffee)
and tropical pasture seed. Peanuts and macadamias are sent
to South East Queensland for processing and export. Some
vegetables like potatoes are exported to Papua New Guinea.
A large fishing industry supplies Asian and domestic markets with
fresh and frozen product, while the aquaculture sector produces
mainly prawns, barramundi and red claw for local markets.
A small food manufacturing sector produces mostly dried
tropical fruits, a large range of fruit wines and liqueurs,
Australian native fruit condiments, vanilla bean and flavoured
products and specialty cheeses.
Marine
Cairns is home to a large and diverse marine sector made up
of fishing and reef fleets, small craft and super yachts, cargo
vessels and cruise liners. Cairns offers ship repair services as
well as ancillary services that support and complement each
other including ship building, maintenance, training and
coastal shipping.
Aviation
Mining
The aviation industry has grown steadily over the past 20
years and continues to demonstrate strong growth, enhanced
by the tourism industry. To support this, there are many supply
chain industries that include flight catering, engineering,
trucking, logistics and air transport. Equipment installation,
maintenance and training have also been developed to service
the industry. Cairns has the only recognised service facility for
Bombardier’s Dash 8 Q-Series aircraft in the Southern
Hemisphere and boasts the largest avionics facility in
Australia. The major training institution for aircraft engineers
and technical support staff is the Cairns Aviation Skills Centre.
The mining industry contributes A$860 million to the regional
economy. The North West Queensland minerals province and
nearby Papua New Guinea have attracted a growing cluster of
mining services to the region. Cairns is an ideal engineering
and manufacturing hub for the booming resource sector in the
Oceania-Australasia region. The engineering and steel
fabrication sector provides specialist metal products,
machinery and equipment manufacturing capabilities for a
diverse range of industries.
Trade & Investment Queensland
Cairns
Education
Judy Noller
Trade Adviser
The Cairns region boasts the world-renowned James Cook
University, CQ University’s Cairns Distance Education Study
Centre, and the state-of-the-art TAFE North. The diversity of
education options is immense, with more than 140 schools,
while the training capability of the region spans the marine,
aviation, mining, tourism and hospitality sectors.
Phone: +61 7 4037 3232
Mobile: +61 407 697 056
Email:judy.noller@tiq.qld.gov.au
Matthew Lamprecht
TradeStart Adviser
Construction
The Cairns region has a diverse and highly capable building
and construction sector, and it is one of the largest industry
employers in Cairns. There are approximately 3,000
businesses in the region involved in the construction industry
with environmental sustainability, tropical design and liveability
are driving building solutions in the region.
Phone:
+61 7 4037 3211
Mobile: +61 418 186 796
Email:matthew.lamprecht@tiq.qld.gov.au
Address: PO Box 2358, Cairns Q 4870
Ground Flr, Cairns Port Authority Blg,
cnr Harley & Grafton Sts, Cairns Q 4870
Contact us
+61 7 3514 3094
Cairns
tiq.qld.gov.au
Townsville
tiq.info@tiq.qld.gov.au
investment@tiq.qld.gov.au
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