- Atherton, Queensland
Infobox Australian Place | type = town
name = Atherton
state = qld
caption = The main street of Atherton
lga =Tablelands Regional Council
postcode = 4883
pop = 5800
est =
rainfall = 1360
elevation = 700
stategov =Electoral district of Tablelands
fedgov =Division of Kennedy Atherton is a town on the
Atherton Tablelands of Far NorthQueensland ,Australia .Average temperatures
*Summer 17–35 °C
*Winter 5–22 °CTransport
Roads
Atherton is joined by the
Gilles Highway toYungaburra , theKennedy Highway north to Mareeba and south toRavenshoe andMount Garnet , theMalanda Road to Malanda and theHerberton Road toHerberton .Public Transport
*Trans North offers a number of return services during a seven day week between Atherton, Tolga, Walkamin, Mareeba, Kuranda, and Cairns including drop-offs to airport, railway station, hospitals and bus depots. There are connections available between Ravenshoe and Herberton and along the Wheelbarrow Way to Chillagoe.
*There is an Atherton taxi service.Economy
The land around Atherton is used to grow a variety of crops, including
sugar cane ,peanut s,mango es, maize (corn),potato es,avocado s and macadamia nuts.Dairy andbeef cattle are also reared in the area.Culture
Each year towards the end of August, Atherton celebrates the
Maize festival , which features aparade with decoratedfloats , the Maize Queen pageant, some children's amusement rides and some activities such astug of war andwood chopping . There are also shop window display and artwork competitions as well as a prize given to the best float.Education
Atherton has two
primary schools , onesecondary school , one independent Prep - Grade 12 school and aTAFE campus. There are also severalday care centres in the town.*
Atherton State High School
* Atherton State School
*Jubilee Christian College
* St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School
* Tropical North Institute of TAFEGovernment
Atherton is in the
Australian House of Representatives Division of Kennedy and theQueensland Legislative Assembly Electoral district of Tablelands .Health
Atherton Hospital is in the Tablelands Health District. It hospital provides obstetric, medical, surgical, operating theatre, accident and emergency services.
Notable people from Atherton
*
Peter Beattie , Former Premier ofQueensland
*Ron Grainer , composer
*Dallas Johnson ,Melbourne Storm lock forward andQueensland State of Origin representative.
*Rod Jensen , formerNorth Queensland Cowboys player, now playing forHuddersfield Giants in the UK.External links
* [http://www.health.qld.gov.au/hospitals/community_profiles/profile.asp?ProfileName=Atherton Queensland Government Profile of Atherton]
* [http://www.athertontableland.com/Atherton.html Travel Guide]
* [http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=200130 Historical weather of Atherton]
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