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46-789: Locations were as diverse as Thursday Island in Queensland , Maatsuyker Island lighthouse in Tasmania , the Mount Lofty Fire Tower near Adelaide , Kings Cross in Sydney , The Lodge in Canberra , Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory , and remote Kingoonya with a population of six in outback South Australia . It was, at the time, a great achievement in television technology, if not in terms of

92-545: A special education program at Summers Street ( 10°34′48″S 142°13′20″E  /  10.5800°S 142.2222°E  / -10.5800; 142.2222  ( Tagai State College - Special Education Program ) ). Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School is a Catholic primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at Normanby Street ( 10°34′59″S 142°12′57″E  /  10.5830°S 142.2157°E  / -10.5830; 142.2157  ( Our Lady of

138-719: A Green Paper being produced. The State Government subsequently took over the process, and in April 2007, a White Paper entitled "Community Government in the Torres Strait: the way forward" was released, recommending both governance and structural changes to ensure the sustainability of governance in the region. The White Paper expressed concerns about workload and capacity to meet community needs, deficiencies in corporate governance and accountability and other challenges and issues. The Local Government Reform report in July 2007 recommended

184-706: A Japanese-based fleet which did not use local resources or personnel. In the 1950s plastic buttons imitating pearl supplanted much of the demand for shell. Before the decline, pearl fishing was taken by the island-based fleet to the Aru Islands in what was then the Dutch East Indies . The Thursday Island Customs House opened in 1938 at 2 Victoria Parade ( 10°35′05″S 142°13′15″E  /  10.5848°S 142.2209°E  / -10.5848; 142.2209  ( Thursday Island Customs House (1938) ) ). During World War II , Thursday Island became

230-728: A hydrographic survey of the area was conducted by Captain Owen Stanley of the Royal Navy , the commander of HMS Rattlesnake . He named this island Friday Island and another island Thursday Island (presumably reflecting the day of the week on which he named them). However, in June 1855 Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort of the Royal Navy (the Admiralty Hydrographer) decided to switch the names around, likely to preserve

276-925: A population of 4,124 people. The Region is effectively colocated with the Shire of Torres , which administers the northern tip of Cape York Peninsula and a number of islands including Thursday Island , Horn Island and Prince of Wales Island . The local government jurisdiction was created on 15 March 2008 from 15 previous entities—the Island Councils of Badu (Mulgrave Is.), Boigu (Talbot Is.), Dauan (Mt. Cornwallis Is.), Erub (Darnley Is.), Kirirri (Hammond Is.), Iama (Yam Is.), Arkai (Kubin Community at Mua Is.), Mabuiag (Jervis Is.), Masig (Yorke Is.), Mer (Murray Is.), Poruma (Coconut Is.), Saibai , Wug (St. Pauls Community at Mua Is.), Ugar (Stephen Is.), and Warraber (Sue Is.). Its first election

322-539: Is 1,781.2 mm (70.13 in), with a late summer maximum. Extreme temperatures have ranged from 37.9 °C (100.2 °F) on 8 December 2002 to 15.1 °C (59.2 °F) on 8 September 2019. Climate data was sourced from Horn Island, which is 8.7 km ENE of Thursday Island. Torres Strait Creole is the dominant language spoken on Thursday Island by the Islanders, followed by Kalaw Lagaw Ya , commonly called Mabuiag (pronounced Mobyag) by many, although English

368-825: Is a local government area in Far North Queensland , Australia, covering part of the Torres Strait Islands . It was created in March 2008 out of 15 autonomous Island Councils during a period of statewide local government reform. It has offices in each of its 15 communities, and satellite services in Thursday Island and in Cairns (which are outside of the region). In the 2021 census , the Torres Strait Island Region had

414-640: Is also spoken. The indigenous language is Kaiwaligau Ya, another dialect of Kalaw Lagaw Ya, otherwise known as Kowrareg, (or more correctly Kauraraigau Ya, the name used by the people in the mid to late 1800s). Thursday Island has number of services open to the community, including a sporting complex, gym, public library as well as ANZAC park and Ken Brown Oval. There is a community pharmacy, general store, butcher, bank and many other essential services. The Shire of Torres operates Ngulaig Meta Municipal public library at 121 Douglas Street. The current library facility opened in 2015. Sacred Heart Catholic Church

460-697: Is also the administrative and commercial centre of the local government area of Torres Strait Island Region despite not being part of that local government area. The island has been populated for thousands of years by the Torres Strait Islanders , though archeological evidence on Badu , further north in Torres Strait, suggests that the area has been inhabited from before the end of the last Ice Age. The archaeology from Badu, Pulu, Saibai and Mer shows that Melanesian occupation started around 2,600 years ago (see Kalaw Lagaw Ya ). In 1848

506-469: Is also the name of the town in the south and west of the island, formerly known as Port Kennedy , and also the name of the locality which contains the island within the Shire of Torres . The town of Rose Hill (known as Abednego until 7 September 1991) is located on the north-eastern tip of the island ( 10°34′11″S 142°13′30″E  /  10.5698°S 142.2250°E  / -10.5698; 142.2250  ( Rose Hill, Queensland ) ). In

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552-451: Is at 21 Aplin Road ( 10°34′39″S 142°12′50″E  /  10.5774°S 142.2138°E  / -10.5774; 142.2138  ( Tagai State College - Thursday Island Secondary ) ) In 2017, the school across all location had a total enrolment of 1,554 students with 168 teachers (165 full-time equivalent) and 198 non-teaching staff (142 full-time equivalent). The school includes

598-837: Is in Douglas Street. It is within the Thursday Island Parish of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns . Tagai State College is a government primary and secondary (Early Childhood-12) school for boys and girls that operates 17 campuses throughout the Torres Strait, including two on Thursday Island. The Thursday Island primary school campus (Early Childhood-6) is at 31 Hargrave Street ( 10°34′54″S 142°13′16″E  /  10.5817°S 142.2212°E  / -10.5817; 142.2212  ( Tagai State College - Thursday Island Primary Campus ) ). The Thursday Island secondary school campus (7-12)

644-430: Is only in part self-sufficient for water, some being piped from the adjacent island. It has two wind turbines which generate some of its electricity requirement. The economy of the island is dependent on its role as an administrative centre and is supported by pearling and fishing, as well as a fast-developing tourism industry, with perhaps the most famous tourists being novelist Somerset Maugham and Banjo Paterson , and

690-416: The 2021 census , the locality of Thursday Island had a population of 2,805 people. Thursday Island has an area of about 3.5 square kilometres (1.4 square miles). The highest point on Thursday Island, standing at 104 metres (341 feet) above sea level , is Milman Hill, a World War II defence facility. While Thursday Island is within the Shire of Torres and is the administrative centre for that shire, it

736-540: The Quetta Memorial Church on the island was the cathedral church of the large Diocese of Carpentaria which included North Queensland, the Islands of the Torres Strait and, to 1968, Northern Territory. In the 2011 census , the locality of Thursday Island had a population of 2,610 people. In the 2016 census , the locality of Thursday Island had a population of 2,938 people. In the 2021 census ,

782-726: The Roman Catholic Vicariate Apostolic of Cooktown (now the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns) was established in 1884. On 25 August 1887, The Paterson (Cape York) Telegraph Station on the West Coast of Cape York was opened. It connected the Cape York Telegraph Line with Thursday Island, via an undersea cable. In the late-19th and early-20th centuries Thursday Island was a regular stop for vessels trading between

828-477: The 30 August 2002, Erub (Darnley Island) became the second Indignenous Knowledge Centre (IKC) to open in the Torres Strait. The IKC was established in a partnership between the Erub Island Council and State Library of Queensland. Erub Island Council was amalgamated into the newly created Torres Strait Island Regional Council (TSIRC) in 2008. The IKC has been operational and enjoyed by the community for

874-593: The Queensland Government considered merging the Shire with the other islands and communities, but felt that having one council subject to three different types of legislation would be inefficient. Because of the unique structure of the DOGIT areas, where a community owned the land and the council represented the community owners, concerns were raised by the councils about ownership potentially transferring to

920-553: The Queensland Police to provide for community police officers—hence extending well beyond the normal functions of local government. The Local Government (Community Government Areas) Act 2004 extended to community councils many of the provisions and benefits of the Local Government Act 1993 normally enjoyed by shire councils. In 2006, the councils were involved in a consultation process which resulted in

966-639: The Sacred Heart School ) ). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 103 students with 12 teachers (9 full-time equivalent) and 13 non-teaching staff (9 full-time equivalent). The Torres Strait Campus of the Tropical North Queensland TAFE Institute is located on the island next to the Tagai State College. Notable people who are from or who have lived on Thursday Island include: Torres Strait Island Region The Torres Strait Island Region

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1012-458: The Straits and down to Cairns. This is a necessary service because navigation through the area is tricky due to the extensive reef systems. The island has the area hospital and courts, is the regional centre for higher education, a centre for some research organisations and is the administrative base for the local, state and federal governments. Banking and phones are available. Thursday Island

1058-727: The Thursday Islanders became an issue in the 1970s, when Papua New Guinea sought to include some of the Torres Strait Islands within its borders. The Torres Strait Islanders insisted that they were Australians, however, and after considerable diplomatic discussion and political disputation between the Queensland and the Federal Governments, all of the Torres Strait islands, including Thursday Island, remained part of Australia. From 1900 to 1996

1104-532: The burial place of many Japanese pearl shell divers, or possibly the Japanese thinking there were still Japanese residents on the island. However, neighbouring Horn Island was extensively bombed. There was an airbase there, used by the Allies to attack parts of New Guinea . At the end of the war, the island tradition of a no-footwear policy was reinstated out of respect for the ancient spirits believed to reside on

1150-629: The creation of the Torres Strait Island council as well as the Northern Peninsula Area council to attempt to address these issues. The Queensland Government responded by proposing the Local Government and Other Legislation (Indigenous Regional Councils) Amendment Bill 2007 to bring the two new councils into line with the recommendations of both reports. During statewide local government reform in 2007–08,

1196-677: The east coast of Australia and Southeast Asia . A shipping disaster to a vessel in this service occurred in 1890 when RMS  Quetta struck an uncharted reef in the Strait and sank in five minutes with the loss of over 130 lives. The Anglican Church on Thursday Island built shortly afterwards was named the Quetta All Souls Memorial Cathedral in memory of the event. Today the church is called All Souls and St Bartholomew Church . Cyclone Mahina , which hit Bathurst Bay, southeast of Thursday Island in 1899, wrecked

1242-437: The east-west naming sequence with the present-day Friday Island and the nearby Wednesday Island. The original place of permanent European settlement in Torres Strait was Somerset , south-east of the tip of Cape York Peninsula , established in 1864. However, the channel between Albany Island and Somerset proved to be hazardous for a port and in 1875 it was jointly decided by the Queensland and British governments to transfer

1288-636: The finale and played it at closedown until it began round-the-clock broadcasting in the 1990s. Thursday Island Download coordinates as: Thursday Island , colloquially known as TI , or in the Kawrareg dialect, Waiben or Waibene , is an island of the Torres Strait Islands , an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait . TI is located approximately 39 kilometres (24 miles) north of Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland , Australia. Thursday Island

1334-413: The former entities and elects one councillor, with a mayor being elected by the entire region. At the 2008 election, the following councillors were elected: The Torres Strait Island Regional Council operate a public library at Poruma and Indigenous Knowledge Centres at Badu Island , Boigu Island , Dauan Island , Erub Island , Hammond Island , Iama Island , Kubin , Mabuiag , and Warraber . On

1380-421: The harvesting of pearl shell, which was used mainly to make shirt buttons. The local pearl oyster is Golden Lip Oyster, Pinctada maxima . Trochus shell was also gathered using specialized boats. Most shell was exported as the raw material—to a London-based market. Pearls themselves were rare and a bonus for the owner or crew. The boats used were very graceful two-masted luggers . In shallow water free diving

1426-538: The island by the Queensland Government and by 1883 over 200 pearling vessels were based on the island. A lucrative pearling industry was founded on the island in 1884, attracting workers from around Asia , including Japan , Malaya and India , seeking their fortune. The Japanese community was in part indentured divers and boat hands who returned to Japan after a period of service and some longer term residents who were active in boat building and in

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1472-461: The island. After the war, an airline service was set up by Ansett Airlines from Cairns to TI twice a week, using de Havilland Dragon Rapides and later DC3s . Passengers disembarked on Horn Island and caught a ferry-boat over to TI, as they still do. The island was also served by a ship, the Elsana , which made the journey once a month. For a short period after the war Okinawan divers were used on

1518-477: The locality of Thursday Island had a population of 2,805 people. Thursday Island has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: The Gab Titui Cultural Centre (2004) on Thursday Island showcases both heritage and contemporary Islander artworks. The Island is one of the two bases for the Torres Straits Pilots, a cooperative owned and run by qualified Master Mariners who pilot ships through

1564-495: The luggers but this was not a great success. In the 1950s, the CSIRO attempted to establish cultured pearl farms, but many were devastated by disease in the 1970s. The trigger is considered by some to be the use of dispersants on the 1970 oil spill from the tanker Oceanic Grandeur . This industry still exists around the island today. In the 1970s, there was also an attempt to farm green turtles. The Melanesian background of

1610-486: The luggers. Shell was usually opened on the mother vessels rather than on the luggers, in order to secure any pearls found. The waters of the Straits are murky and visibility was generally very poor. Even though dive depths were not great, except at the Darnley Deep (near Darnley or Erub Island ), which was 40 fathoms (240 feet), attacks of the bends were common and deaths frequent. The Thursday Island Parish of

1656-481: The military headquarters for the Torres Strait and was a base for Australian and United States forces. January 1942 saw the evacuation of civilians from the island. Residents of Japanese origin or descent were interned. The residents did not return until after the end of the war and many ethnic Japanese were forcibly repatriated. The island was spared from bombing in World War II, due, it was thought, to it being

1702-476: The most numerous being day-trippers from the cruise ships that call into the island each year. Thursday Island has a tropical savanna climate ( Köppen: Aw), with a wet season from December to April and a dry season from May to November. Temperatures remain hot year-round, with average maxima ranging from 29.0 °C (84.2 °F) in July to 32.1 °C (89.8 °F) in November. Average annual rainfall

1748-630: The new entities and diluting their title over it. Some councils responded by creating a private company with all community members as shareholders, and transferring the ownership to the company. This was opposed by the State Government who threatened to take legal action against the communities. Following the elections, the Department of Local Government provided $ 675,000 to the Regional Council to assist with expenses relating to

1794-442: The ownership of luggers for hire—which was illegal but bypassed by leases through third parties back to other Japanese, a practice called "dummying". Additionally, many south Pacific Islanders worked in the industry, with some originally imported against their will, in a practice known as blackbirding . While the pearling industry has declined in importance, the mix of cultures is evident to this day. The pearling industry centred on

1840-596: The pearling fleet sheltering there, with huge losses of vessels and lives. The fear of Russian invasion as a result of the deterioration of relations between the Russian Empire and the British Empire led to a fort on Battery Point being built in 1892 to protect the island. The fort has not been in operation since 1927, but is today a heritage feature of the island. Local pearling declined steadily up to World War II , partly through competition from

1886-404: The port to the deep anchorage on the south side of Thursday Island. The new port was called Port Kennedy, after Edmund Kennedy , the explorer of Cape York Peninsula, and was established in 1867. The town that developed on the island was also called Port Kennedy, but on 1 June 1962 the town was renamed Thursday Island. In 1877, an administrative centre for the Torres Strait Islands was set up on

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1932-511: The post-amalgamation transfer process. In the 2011 census , the Torrest Strait Island Region had a population of 4,248 people. In the 2016 census , the Torres Strait Island Region had a population of 4,514 people, including the following sub-populations: In the 2021 census , the Torres Strait Island Region had a population of 4,124 people. The council consists of 15 divisions, each of which represents one of

1978-828: The quality of the content. A number of crosses were made to people in remote locations from which live television had never been broadcast. These included the Indian Pacific passenger train on its way through the middle of Australia, a conversation (through a translator) with soviet cosmonauts who were orbiting the Earth, and, perhaps the most outstanding achievement, a live broadcast from the Davis Base in Antarctica . The telecast included pre-recorded messages from world leaders including US President Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher . Australia Live

2024-528: Was held on the same day. In 1984, the Community Services (Torres Strait) Act was enacted by the Queensland Government, allowing community councils to be created to own and administer former reserves or missions under a Deed of Grant in Trust (DOGIT). Each was responsible for local basic utilities and services such as electricity, housing and management of local CDEP programs. They also worked with

2070-783: Was simultaneously broadcast on Channel Nine , ABC and SBS in Australia (as well as all regional stations), on Channel 4 in Britain, and on the A&;E Network in the United States. The broadcast ended with a rendition by Julie Anthony of the Australian national anthem at the Old Parliament House in Canberra with live fireworks displays from all of the Australian capital cities . The ABC later picked up

2116-469: Was used while in deeper water diver's dress , or an abbreviated form of it, with a surface air supply was used. In good times there were three divers to a lugger, a stern diver, one midships, and one diver off the bow. A manual air compressor was used. It looked like a yard-wide cube with two large wheels mounted one on each side. For part of the fleet that operated further from Thursday Island, larger vessels, typically schooners were used as mother ships to

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