Ooralea
On Mackay's southern outskirts, the suburb of Ooralea is located on Yuwibara country southwest of the intersection where the Peak Downs Highway meets the Bruce Highway. While the suburb is partly residential, it includes the Mackay Turf Club's racecourse, Central Queensland University's Mackay campus and substantial areas where sugar cane is still grown.
The area was originally known as Planlands, after the Planlands railway station on the now-defunct railway line to Marian and Finch Hatton, which ran parallel to the Peak Downs Highway. Since the former station was opposite the Ooralea racecourse entrance, the locality was formally renamed in 1999.
While the Mackay Turf Club has operated the Ooralea racecourse since June 1867 (the club received a land grant for a course the previous year), the origin of the name is unrecorded.
The racecourse's most notorious event was the 1883 Boxing Day riot between South Sea Islander plantation workers and European residents.
Links:
Peak Downs Highway
Central Queensland University
Planlands
Marian
Finch Hatton
1883 Boxing Day Riot
