Tully, Queensland facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tully Queensland
Tully's main street, Butler Street, 2006
Tully Location in Queensland
Population	2,368 (2021 census)
Postcode(s)	4854
Elevation	24 m (79 ft)
Location	1,569 km (975 mi) from Brisbane 142 km (88 mi) from Cairns 209 km (130 mi) from Townsville
LGA(s)	Cassowary Coast Region
State electorate(s)	Hill Hinchinbrook
Federal Division(s)	Kennedy
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall 33 °C 91 °F 22 °C 72 °F 4,095.1 mm 161.2 in
Localities around Tully: Walter Hill Bulgun Birkalla Walter Hill Tully Mount Mackay Jarra Creek Jarra Creek Silky Oak

Tully is a town in Queensland, Australia, located in the Cassowary Coast Region. It's about 140 kilometers (87 miles) south of Cairns and 210 kilometers (130 miles) north of Townsville. Tully is famous for being one of the wettest towns in Australia. It's also home to a giant, 7.9-meter (26-foot) tall statue called the Golden Gumboot.

The Tully River was named after William Alcock Tully, who was a Surveyor-General in the 1870s. The town of Tully got its name from this river when it was planned in 1924, around the time a sugar mill was being built. Before that, a small settlement called Banyan existed nearby.

Tully is one of the bigger towns in the Cassowary Coast Region. The main way people make a living here is through farming. Sugar cane and bananas are the most important crops. The sugar cane from local farms is processed at the Tully Sugar Mill. The raw sugar is then sent away to be made into other products.

In 2021, about 2,368 people lived in Tully.

History of Tully

The town of Tully in 1927

Cardwell Shire Council Chambers in Tully, 1930

Butler Street, looking west, 1935

The area around the Tully River was slowly settled after the town of Cardwell, to the south, was established. The river was officially named in 1872 to honor William Alcock Tully. The first settlers in the area were James Tyson's nephews, who raised beef cattle. However, the town of Tully didn't really start to grow until the government built a sugar mill in 1925.

Schools in Tully's Past

Banyan Provisional School first opened its doors on June 30, 1924. In 1925, it became Tully State School. Over the years, its name changed a few times, but it went back to Tully State School in 1964. Its current motto is "Work well and succeed."

Augustinian priests from Innisfail started holding Roman Catholic church services in Tully in 1926. A church named after St Clare of Montefalco began construction in May 1926. St Clare's Catholic School was then started in 1928 by the Sisters of the Good Samaritan.

Local Government Changes

Tully was originally part of the Cardwell Division, which later became the Shire of Cardwell in 1903. The main office for this local government was first in the older town of Cardwell. But in 1929, they decided to move the main office to Tully because more people lived there. The first council meeting in Tully happened in June 1929. A new council building was built in 1930.

Tully State High School opened on January 28, 1964. During Cyclone Yasi in 2011, some parts of the school were badly damaged, but they have since been rebuilt.

Tully remained the main center for the Shire of Cardwell until 2008. That's when the shire joined with others to form the Cassowary Coast Region. The main office for this new regional council is now in Innisfail.

In 2019, Tully won a special competition called Loud Shirt Day. This competition was about finding Queensland's "Loudest Town" by raising money for young people with hearing loss. Tully raised $13,410 and won!

What is the Climate Like in Tully?

Butler Street, Tully, with Mount Tyson in the background with low cloud, 2016

Tully has a tropical rainforest climate. This means it's very wet and warm all year round. It gets a lot of rain because of the strong winds from the southeast. Tully gets over 4,000 millimeters (157 inches) of rain on average each year. In 1950, it had the most rainfall ever recorded in a populated area of Australia, with 7,900 millimeters (311 inches)! This makes Tully arguably the wettest town in Australia. There's a friendly competition with the nearby town of Babinda for this title.

To celebrate its high rainfall, Tully put up a huge gumboot statue called the "Golden Gumboot" in 2003. It's also a museum that shows how much rain has fallen each year and tells stories about past floods.

Cyclone Yasi's Impact

On February 3, 2011, Cyclone Yasi caused a lot of damage in Tully. Residents said it was "mass devastation." Many homes were completely destroyed by strong winds, which were estimated to be around 300 kilometers per hour (186 mph). When the sun came up, reports showed that about 90 percent of the buildings on the main street were badly damaged.

Farming in Tully

Farming is very important in Tully. In March 2015, a banana farm in Tully found a plant disease called Panama disease. This disease affects banana plants. Experts were brought in to help. They said that the way Queensland handled the situation was very good and other countries are learning from it. The disease has been kept only in the Tully Valley, and people are working hard to stop it from spreading further.

Education in Tully

Tully State School, 2024

Tully State School is a government primary school for students from Prep (kindergarten) to Year 6. It also has a special education program. In 2018, the school had 247 students.

St Clare's Catholic Primary School is a Catholic primary school for students from Prep to Year 6. In 2018, it had 153 students.

Tully State High School, 2023

Tully State High School is a government high school for students from Year 7 to Year 12. It also has a special education program. In 2018, the school had 688 students. It serves students from Tully and nearby areas like Cardwell, Mission Beach, and El Arish. The school is known as a Centre of Excellence in Mathematics, Science, and Technology. It's also one of the few "Reef Guardian" schools, meaning it helps protect the Great Barrier Reef. The school has a large campus with an aquaculture center, a worm farm, and sports fields.

Community Facilities

• The Cassowary Coast Regional Council runs the Dorothy Jones Library in Tully.
• The Tully branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association (QCWA) meets at the CWA Hall.
• St Clare of Montefalco Catholic Church is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns.

Important Places in Tully

View towards Tully from the south on the Bruce Highway. The rising steam is from the Tully Sugar Mill, 2016

• The Tully Sugar Mill is located in the southeast part of town.
• Tully Hospital and Tully Ambulance Station are on Bryant Street.
• Tully Police Station is also on Bryant Street.
• Tully Fire Station is on Richardson Street.
• The Tully SES Facility is on Bryant Street.
• Tully Cemetery is managed by the Cassowary Coast Regional Council.

Getting Around Tully

Tully Railway Station is an important stop on the main North Coast Railway Line. It's about halfway between Townsville and Cairns. In December 1924, Tully was connected by train to both Townsville and Innisfail.

Sports in Tully

The Tully Tigers are the local Rugby League club. One famous player who started here is Peter Jones.

Fun Attractions

The Golden Gumboot is a big statue in a park at the corner of Butler Street and Hort Street. It was built in 2003 and is 7.9 meters (26 feet) tall. This height matches the most rainfall ever recorded in a populated area of Australia, which happened in Tully in 1950. You can even go inside the boot and climb a spiral staircase to the top for views of the town! There's also a museum next to the boot that shares the history of floods in Tully.

Military Presence

The Australian Army has a special training center called the Combat Training Centre – Jungle Training Wing (CTC-JTW) just outside Tully. These are the Army's experts in jungle warfare. They train soldiers in how to fight in jungle environments. They also work with armies from other countries, sharing their knowledge because they are highly respected in the military world.

Famous People from Tully

• Lisa Camilleri, a squash player
• Kim Carroll, a soccer player
• Jake Clifford, a rugby league player
• Paul Fleming, a boxer, was born in Tully
• Aila Keto, an environmentalist
• Russell Kiefel, an actor
• Shane Knuth, a politician
• Ted Lindsay, a politician
• Max Menzel, a politician
• Keith Murdoch, an All Blacks rugby player, lived in Tully
• Joel Riethmuller, a rugby league player
• Craig Teitzel, a rugby league player

Images for kids

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  Tully's main street, Butler Street, 2006

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  The town of Tully in 1927

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  Cardwell Shire Council Chambers in Tully, 1930

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  Butler Street, looking west, 1935

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  Butler Street, Tully, with Mount Tyson in the background with low cloud, 2016

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  Tully State School, 2024

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  Tully State High School, 2023

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  View towards Tully from the south on the Bruce Highway. The rising steam is from the Tully Sugar Mill, 2016