About the Cassowary Coast

Posted by Ruth Medd on 1st Oct 2025

Cassowary Coast Far North Queensland - a local resident

The Cassowary Coast Region is a local government area in far north Queensland, south of Cairns and centred on the towns of Innisfail, Cardwell and Tully. Mission Beach lies between Innisfail and Tully. Mission Beach became part of the Johnstone Shire in 1937. Charley’s is part of the LGA (Local Government Area) of The Cassowary Coast. Charley’s is 130km south from Cairns.

Mission Beach, Tully and Innisfail

Local economy

Cassowary Coast’s Gross Regional Product was $2.07 billion in the year to June 2024 , growing 6% from the previous year. It’s major industry is Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing, which generated 18% of total employment. In comparison, Tourism and Hospitality represented 6.4% of total employment.

Ideal cocoa growing conditions are based on equatorial distance and climate. Cocoa grows well in warm and wet places such as Mission Beach which is at a latitude of 17.8691 and longitude of 146.1063 and averages 3.41 meters of annual rainfall.

History

The original inhabitants, the Djiru-speaking Aboriginal people were linguistically, culturally and socially related to the Dyirbal, Girraman and Gulngay groups of the Tully and Murray River districts. Expert hunters, fishers and gatherers, they harvested the rich plant and animal resources of the rainforests and coast. They excelled in making canoes and rafts. Contact with early navigators and coastal surveyors as well as with beche-de-mer fishing boats occurred long before the first white people settled the area.

The first white settlers were the Cutten brothers in 1882. They settled at Bingil Bay and farmed mangoes, bananas, pineapples, coffee, citrus fruit and coconuts. Cargo boats carried their produce south. They were followed by the Unsworths at Narragon Beach; the Garners at Garner’s Beach; and the Porter brothers at Porter's Creek (or “Wongaling Creek”) at the south end of North Mission Beach.

Mission Beach today