Woree

Woree, a residential area, is seven km south-west of central Cairns. The name was thought to mean an Aboriginal child, but later interpreted as meaning shallow water. The mix-up could have come from a reference to a child paddling in shallow water.

With a railway station on the line from Cairns to Babinda (the North Coast railway), Woree was positioned near the Cairns Jockey Club's Cannon Park racecourse, so-named because the site was leased from John Cannon, farmer and landholder. The racecourse was out in the country, but not too far from town. A few kilometres further out the Cairns Golf Club laid out its golf course, and on the other side of the Bruce Highway a drive-in theatre was opened.

By the 1960s housing growth had expanded to adjoining Earlville, and Woree's urbanisation come in the following decade. Primary and high schools were opened in 1980 and 1985, and Catholic secondary and primary schools were opened in 1986 and 1988. Next door, the Coconut Caravan Resort was opened in 1987.

As the Bruce Highway approached Cairns, several motels and caravan parks were built in Woree for southern holiday makers. Woree emerged as a sub-regional centre, with a Council swimming pool and a library. A drive-in shopping centre was opened in neighbouring Earlville.

A sugarcane tramway wends through Woree, passing by built up streets and areas yet to be subdivided. A few kilometres south the tramline ends at Sugarworld, Edmonton.

Woree has a community centre, a library and a bowling club. The lower-lying eastern part is mainly industrial.

Woree's census populations have been: