Transport
The 1920’s saw the arrival of the car in Mackay. Transport had always been a difficulty for people wanting to travel into Mackay from surrounding districts. Bridges were low level and subject to flooding. The Mackay Railway was completed and opened on the 10 August 1885. Locos, an engine with metal cane bins attached, (at […]
Sugar Industry
Following the exploration and discovery of the Mackay district credited to John Mackay in 1860, very little of the original land was being used for cattle grazing within 20 years of that discovery. The first ton of sugar was made at Captain Louis Hope’s sugar plantation at Ormiston, Cleveland in September 1864.’ In the early […]
New Australians
‘New Australians’ is a term used in North Queensland to acknowledge people who arrive from overseas to live in Australia. In 1988 the population in Queensland was 213,525 growing to just over a million people in 1954. The earliest settlers in Mia Mia arrived in 1883. A plaque at the Mia Mia Park commemorates some […]
Impact of Climate
Mia Mia is one hour’s drive from Mackay in North Queensland, which means the same humid subtropical climate with maximum temperatures around 30 degrees C and a minimum of around 23 degrees C in winter. The minimum temperature seldom drops below 2 degrees C. Spring is usually more dry and hot and humid than winter. […]
Manual to Mechanical Cane Cutting
Prior to mechanical harvesting, cane cutting was seasonal work with the influx of men to the Mackay district during the months from May to November each year for the period of time that the “crushing” took place in the cane fields. These men needed to be housed and fed for the long days they spent […]
Role of Women in Agriculture
Women play a significant role in an agricultural community as paid or unpaid workers whether full or part-time, for those families who need a second income; as home makers and mothers. Women are largely economically dependent on men. Those women who have a higher level of education are more likely to obtain higher paid work […]