Tully is a town and locality in the Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It is adjacent to the Bruce Highway, approximately south of Cairns by road and north of Townsville. At the, the population was 2,390. The Tully River was named after Surveyor-GeneralWilliam Alcock Tully in the 1870s. The town of Tully was named after the river when it was surveyed during the erection of the sugar mill in 1924. During the previous decade, a settlement known as Banyan had grown up on the other side of Banyan Creek. Tully is one of the larger towns of the Cassowary Coast Region. The economic base of the region is agriculture: sugar cane and bananas are the dominant crops. The sugar cane grown at the many farms in the district is processed locally at the Tully Sugar Mill, and the raw sugar produced is shipped elsewhere for further refining.
History
Dyirbal is a language of Far North Queensland, particularly the area around Tully and Tully River Catchment extending to the Atherton Tablelands. The Dyirbal language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of Cassowary Coast Regional Council and Tablelands Regional Council. The Tully River area was slowly settled once Cardwell, to the south, was established. The river was renamed in 1872 in honour of William Alcock Tully, then under-secretary for public lands and chief commissioner of crown lands in Queensland. The first settlers were the nephews of James Tyson, who raised beef cattle. It was not until the government constructed a sugar mill in 1925 that the town began to develop. Tully was originally within the Cardwell Division, which became the Shire of Cardwell in 1903. The first headquarters for the division/shire were in older town of Cardwell. In 1929, the decision was taken to relocate the shire council's headquarters to the newer but more populous town of Tully. The first council meeting held in Tully was on 27 June 1929. A new shire chambers was built in 1930 on the south-east corner of Bryant and Morris Streets. Tully remained the administrative centre for the Shire of Cardwell, until the shire was amalgamated into the Cassowary Coast Region in 2008. The regional council has its headquarters in Innisfail. In March 2015, a farm at Tully tested positive for the soil-borne Panama disease. Follow-up testing confirmed the results. One of the strains of the disease affects all types of bananas and has previously only been detected in the Northern Territory. Harvesting continued on the property with strict protocols allowing the farm to continue to operate and distribute product without posing a threat. At the, Tully had a population of 2,436, and at the, the population was 2,390.
Tully has a tropical rainforest climate. With an average annual rainfall exceeding, and the highest-ever annual rainfall in a populated area of Australia, Tully is arguably the wettest town in Australia. However, a rivalry exists between Tully and the nearby town of Babinda for that title. Although Tully's average rainfall is less than that of Babinda, a giant gumboot was erected in Tully in 2003, as a monument to the town's high rainfall. It also serves as a museum, documenting past floods, as well as displaying the rainfall for the current year.
Buildings in Tully were badly damaged by Cyclone Yasi on 3 February 2011. According to residents, Tully was "...a scene of mass devastation". An unknown number of homes were completely destroyed as intense winds, estimated at, battered the area. Many other homes not destroyed sustained severe façade and or roof damage. As daybreak came, reports from the town stated that about 90 percent of the structures along the main avenue sustained extensive damage.
is a prominent station on the main North Coast Railway Line, situated just over halfway between Townsville and Cairns. By 10 December 1924, Tully was connected with both Townsville and Innisfail.
Tully State High School has serviced students in the Tully district since its establishment in 1964. Tully State High School has an enrolment of approximately 630 students. As of 2016, Richard Graham is the principal of the school. Tully State High School has been accredited as a Centre of Excellence in Mathematics, Science and Technology and is also one of only a few Reef Guardian schools. The campus is situated on extensive grounds, 38 hectares, and includes an aquaculture centre, a worm farm, an arboretum, a herd of cattle and several sports fields. The high school was partially destroyed by Cyclone Yasi in 2011. B Block was completely destroyed and G Block was damaged. Both have since been rebuilt.
Tully State School
caters to the educational needs of the town's primary school children. When erected in 1924, it was known as Banyan Provisional and has since gone through a number of name changes: Tully Provisional ; Tully State School ; Tully State Rural School ; Tully State Rural and High School ; and reverted to Tully State School in 1964. The school's current motto is "Work well and succeed".
St. Clare's Parish School
is a Catholic primary school which was erected in 1928.
Sport
Tully is the hometown to Indigenous boxer and 2008 Olympian, Paul Fleming. Tully Tigers, is the local Rugby League club. One of their most famous juniors is former Cowboys forward Peter Jones. Tully was once one of the biggest sporting hubs in Far North Queensland, but since the economic crisis has hit, they are looking for more and more ways to support their clubs. Tully is the last place reclusive All Black rugby player Keith Murdoch has been sighted.
Attractions
The Golden Gumboot is in the park on corner of Butler Street and Hort Street. Built in 2003, the Gumboot is 6.1 metres long and 7. 9 metres high; the height corresponds to highest annual rainfall in a populated area of Australia, which occurred in Tully in 1950. There is an internal spiral staircase to the top of the boot which provides views of the town. A fibreglass green tree frog is climbing the side of the boot. There is a museum beside the boot with the history of the town's floods.
Military
The Australian Army's Combat Training Centre – Jungle Training Wing, is located on the outskirts of Tully. JTW are the Australian Army’s experts in jungle warfare, their primary role is to deliver basic and advanced jungle warfare training to dismounted Combat Team sized organisations. JTW are also heavily engaged in international exercises, often providing training to regional allies as their level of expertise is highly regarded in the international military community.
