Mourilyan, Queensland

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The spectacular destruction of the Mourilyan Sugar mill was one of the iconic images from the Cyclone Larry aftermath

Mourilyan is a small town located 8km south of Innisfail on the Bruce Highway. It was established about the Mourilyan Sugar Mill which provided a large portion of the employment of the area up until its devastating destruction during Cyclone Larry on March 20, 2006. Mourilyan's main attraction is the Australian Sugar Industry Museum ^[1], which contains a number of relics from North Queensland's extensive sugar farming history. It also serves as a gateway to Mourilyan Harbour, Etty Bay and Paronella Park.

1 History
2 Today
3 See also
4 References

[edit] History

The Mourilyan Sugar mill began construction in 1882, rendering it amongst the oldest in Australia. Excavation of the site was mainly undertaken by the Kanaka peoples with relatively small contribution also from Chinese and Anglo-Saxon labourers. After its completion in 1884, the mill had a processing capacity of 14 tonnes of sugar per 12-hour shift. ^[2]

In 1913, the Colonial Sugar Refining Company as it was then known (now CSR) began purchasing sugar refined at the mill. The Mourilyan community remained a quite small settlement growing only very slowly since.

Mourilyan has consistently been prone to cyclones. In 1918, a cyclone caused the community and mill serious damage having a drastic effect on the sugar production in that year. In 1986 Cyclone Winifred (Larry's Brother) also caused substantial damage to the area.

[edit] Today

The township of Mourilyan is still reeling from the effects of Cyclone Larry. The cyclone caused substantial damage to a huge percentage of households in the area in addition to rendering the town's main source of employment defunct. A huge effort by the Australian Defence Force helped to restore Mourilyan Primary School to functioning capacity and insurance payouts have assisted in getting households and business repaired.^[3]