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Thursday Island Queensland
View of the township of Thursday Island
Thursday Island
Coordinates	10°35′06″S 142°13′14″E / 10.585°S 142.2205°E / -10.585; 142.2205 (Thursday Island (town centre))
Population	2,805 (2021 census)
• Density	801/km (2,076/sq mi)
Postcode(s)	4875
Elevation	8.0 m (26 ft)
Area	3.5 km (1.4 sq mi)
Time zone	AEST (UTC+10:00)
LGA(s)	Shire of Torres
State electorate(s)	Cook
Federal division(s)	Leichhardt
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall 30.5 °C 87 °F 24.7 °C 76 °F 1,791.6 mm 70.5 in
Localities around Thursday Island: Keriri Island Keriri Island Torres Strait Torres Strait Thursday Island Horn Prince of Wales Prince of Wales Horn

Thursday Island

Native name: WaibenNickname: TI
A map of the Torres Strait Islands showing 'Waiben' in the south-western waters of Torres Strait
Geography
Location	Northern Australia
Archipelago	Torres Strait Islands
Adjacent to	Torres Strait
Area	3.5 km (1.4 sq mi)
Highest elevation	104 m (341 ft)
Administration
Australia
State	Queensland

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 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 the 2021 census, the locality of Thursday Island had a population of 2,805 people.

Geography

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 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.

History

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 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 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 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 the island by the Queensland Government and by 1883 over 200 pearling vessels were based on the island.

Pearl trade

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 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 the harvesting of pearl shell, which was used mainly to make shirt buttons. The local pearl oyster is Golden Lip Oyster, Pinctada maxima.

Shell trade

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 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 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.

Telegraph, trade, and cyclone

The Thursday Island Parish of 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 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 the pearling fleet sheltering there, with huge losses of vessels and lives.

Fort

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.

Twentieth century

Local pearling declined steadily up to World War II, partly through competition from 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 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 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 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 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 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 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.

Demographics

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, the locality of Thursday Island had a population of 2,805 people.

Heritage listings

Thursday Island has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

• Green Hill Fort, Chester Street
• Quetta Memorial Precinct, Douglas Street
• Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church, 120 Douglas Street
• Thursday Island Cemetery (incorporating the Japanese Cemetery and the Grave of the Hon. John Douglas), Summers Street
• Thursday Island Customs House, 2 Victoria Parade

The Gab Titui Cultural Centre (2004) on Thursday Island showcases both heritage and contemporary Islander artworks.

Economy

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 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 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 the most numerous being day-trippers from the cruise ships that call into the island each year.

Climate

Climate data for Thursday Island was sourced from Horn Island, which is 8.7 km ENE of Thursday Island. 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 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.

Language

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 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).

Amenities

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 is in Douglas Street. It is within the Thursday Island Parish of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns.

Education

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) 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 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 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

Notable people who are from or who have lived on Thursday Island include:

• Henry Gibson "Seaman" Dan, award-winning Torres Strait Islander musician.
• John Douglas, Premier of Queensland (1877–79) and Government Resident on Thursday Island (1885-1904).
• Matthew Elliott, Australian professional rugby league football coach and former player
• Tiarna Ernst, professional AFLW and Western Bulldogs Premiership Player.
• Tommy Fujii, mother-of-pearl shell diver as a boy, later businessman
• Scott Harding, AFL player and American Footballer
• Elma Gada Kris, dancer, choreographer, actor, NAIDOC award winner (2019) artist of the year.
• The Mills Sisters, a group of three musical sisters, Rita and twins Cessa and Ina, who performed all over the Pacific and in Europe between the 1950 and late 1990s.
• Danny Morseu, professional basketball player
• Bernard Namok, designer of the Torres Strait Islander flag.
• Peter Ware, WAFL premiership winning footballer with Swan Districts and AFL Queensland Hall of Famer.
• Jesse Williams, born on Thursday Island in 1990, the first indigenous Australian to receive a scholarship to play American football for the Alabama Crimson Tide.
• Ethel May Eliza Zahel (1877–1951), teacher and public servant.

See also

• List of Torres Strait Islands
• HMAS Carpentaria

References

1. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Thursday Island (SAL)". 2021 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
2. "Torres Strait Islander everyday words". State Library Of Queensland. 21 June 2017. Archived from the original on 5 April 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
3. Williamson, Patricia (18 October 2018). "Gab Titui annual art awards". National Museum of Australia. Archived from the original on 30 April 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
4. ^ "Thursday Island – island in the Shire of Torres (entry 34475)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
5. ^ "Thursday Island – town in Shire of Torres (entry 34477)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
6. "Thursday Island – locality in Shire of Torres (entry 41959)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
7. "Rose Hill – town in Shire of Torres (entry 21)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
8. "Thursday Island". Queensland Places. Centre for the Government of Queensland, University of Queensland. Archived from the original on 19 March 2017. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
9. "Port Kennedy (entry 27349)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
10. ^ "Thursday Island - Culture and History". 25 November 2008. Archived from the original on 7 May 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2017 – via Traveller.
11. Anna Shnukal (ed.), Guy Ramsay (ed.), Yuriko Nagata (ed.), 2004: Navigating Boundaries: The Asian Diaspora in Torres Strait. Pandanus Books, Canberra.
12. Regina Ganter (1994). The Pearl-Shellers of Torres Strait: Resource Use, Development and Decline, 1860s-1960s. Melbourne University Press
13. Farwell, George, Cape York to the Kimberleys, Rigby Limited, Adelaide, 1962, chapter 8
14. ^ Pixley, N. S. (1972). "Pearlers of North Australia: the romantic story of the diving fleets" (PDF). Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland. 9 (3): 9–29. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 March 2012.
15. ^ "Thursday Island Parish". Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns. Archived from the original on 18 November 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
16. "John Richard Bradford's Expedition into the Cape". tripod.com. Archived from the original on 7 February 2017.
17. ^ Foley, J C H, 1982: Timeless Isle. Torres Strait Historical Society, Thursday Island.
18. Grimwade, Gordon; Ginn, Geoff (2002). "Strange bedfellows: Green Hill Fort, archaeology, and tourism" (PDF). Australian Historical Archaeology. 20: 83–91. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 July 2011.
19. Wood, C.M. 1972 Pearling off the Aru Islands by Captain C.M Cowling as told to his daughter. The Dog Watch 29:47-58.
20. "Thursday Island Customs House (entry 601527)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
21. "Major Oil Spills in Australia: Oceanic Grandeur, Torres Strait, 3 March 1970". Australian Maritime Safety Authority. Archived from the original on 28 March 2012. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
22. "Mabo/The Border Problem". www.mabonativetitle.com. Archived from the original on 11 February 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
23. Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Thursday Island (State Suburb)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
24. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Thursday Island (SSC)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
25. "Green Hill Fort (Place ID 105419)". Australian Heritage Database. Australian Government. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
26. "Quetta Memorial Precinct (entry 602168)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
27. "Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church (entry 601287)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
28. "Thursday Island Cemetery (incorporating the Japanese Cemetery & the Grave of the Hon. John Douglas) (entry 600875)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
29. "Thursday Island Customs House (entry 601527)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
30. see "Gab Titui - Gab Titui Cultural Centre – Torres Strait Culture and Art, Thursday Island". Archived from the original on 16 February 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2014. Accessed 15 February 2014
31. Craik, Wendy. "Protecting The Great Barrier Reef From an Oil Spill" (PDF). 1995 Oil Spill Conference. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 8 October 2012.
32. Search under "Ports visited" on http://www.cruising.com.au Archived 12 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine to see cruise ships which call at Thursday Island.
33. "Horn Island Climate (1995-2024)". FarmOnline Weather. Archived from the original on 16 July 2024. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
34. "Horn Island Climate Statistics (1995-2024)". Bureau of Meteorology. Archived from the original on 27 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
35. Shnukal, Anna (2001). Brändle, M (ed.). Multicultural Queensland 2001: 100 years, 100 communities, A century of contributions (PDF). Brisbane. p. 6. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2012.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
36. Beckett, Jeremy (1987). Torres Strait Islanders : custom and colonialism (1. paperback ed.). Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. ISBN 052133361X.
37. "Torres Shire Library". Public Libraries Connect. 13 November 2017. Archived from the original on 29 January 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
38. "Queensland Public Library Statistical Bulletin" (PDF). November 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 January 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
39. ^ "State and non-state school details". Queensland Government. 9 July 2018. Archived from the original on 21 November 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
40. "Tagai State College". Archived from the original on 30 August 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
41. ^ "ACARA School Profile 2017". Archived from the original on 22 November 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
42. "Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School". Archived from the original on 14 March 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
43. Lane, Samantha (28 January 2017). "The Western Bulldogs player who delivers four babies in one night". The Age. Archived from the original on 11 February 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
44. Tommy Fujii monument Archived 16 May 2018 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 6 May 2017
45. Media releases for AFL Cape York Kickstart Pacific Toyota Crusaders
46. Nimmo, Julie. "NAIDOC 2019: Elma Gada Kris is the Artist of the Year". NITV. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
47. Pryor, Cathy (8 September 2001). "Northern Delights". The Australian.
48. "Australian Olympic Committee: Danny Morseu". corporate.olympics.com.au. Archived from the original on 23 May 2013. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
49. "Bernard Namok". Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. 3 June 2015. Archived from the original on 17 April 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
50. "2023 Queensland Football Hall of Fame – Peter Ware | AFL Queensland". Archived from the original on 15 July 2024. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
51. Staples, Andy (5 January 2012). "For BCS title game participants LSU and Alabama, two Aussies rule". SI.com. Archived from the original on 11 January 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
52. "ABC Online Indigenous - Local Heroes - Jesse Williams". www.abc.net.au. Archived from the original on 12 May 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
53. Lawrie, Margaret (1990). "Zahel, Ethel May Eliza (1877–1951)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Archived from the original on 22 December 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2018.

Further reading

• Foley, Captain John C. H. (2003). Timeless Isle - An Illustrated History of Thursday Island (4th ed.). Torres Strait Historical Society. ISBN 0959266003.

External links

• Island (Waiben) Thursday Island (Waiben)
• Glover's 1879 watercolour of Thursday Island
• "Thursday Island". Queensland Places. Centre for the Government of Queensland, University of Queensland.
• Town map of Thursday Island, 1982
• Thursday Island and North Queensland photograph album, State Library of Queensland. Digitised photograph album, with photos dated between 1800 and 1900
• Brian Cassey Life in the Torres Strait photographs, State Library of Queensland

v t e List of Torres Strait topics
Torres Strait Islands, islets, and cays	Bellevue group Aipus Cap Kamutnab Keatinge Mabuiag Pulu Subur Warakuikul Talab Widul Bourke group Aukane Aureed Kabbikane Layoak Mimi Roberts Yam Duncan group Kanig Maitak Meth Inner group Port Lihou Yeta Adolphus Channel group Albany Bush Eborac Ida Middle Brother Talbot group Aubussi Boigu Moimi The Three Sisters group Bet Poll Sue Yorke group Keats Marsden Rennel Smith Ungrouped Allison Anchor Arden Badu Barn Barney Bond Booby Bramble Browne Campbell Canoe Castle Coconut Crab Dalrymple Darnley Dauan Dayman Deliverance Dove Dugong Dumaralug East East Strait Entrance Farewell Flat Friday Gabba Getullai Goods Great Woody Green Halfway Hammond Hawkesbury High Horn Kaumag Kerr Lacey Little Adolphus Little Woody Lowry Mai Meddler Moa Morilug Mouinndo Mount Adolphus Mount Ernest Murangi Murray Nepean Nicklin North North Possession North West Obelisk Packe Passage Pearce Phipps Portlock Prince of Wales Quoin Red Red Wallis Roko Saddle Saibai Salter Sassie Spencer Stephens Suarji Thursday Tobin Travers Tree Trochus Tudu Tukupai Turnagain Turtle Head Turtle Turu Twin Underdown Wednesday West Whale Woody Wallis York Yorke Zagai
People, culture, communities and languages	Notable Torres Strait Islanders Christine Anu Seaman Dan Aaron Fa'aoso Josh Hoffman Nathan Jawai Ellen Jose Robert Lui Eddie Mabo Rachael Maza Patty Mills Rita Mills Mills Sisters Danny Morseu Tanu Nona Albert Proud Wendell Sailor Sam Thaiday Brent Webb Jesse Williams Culture Indigenous music of Australia Mabo (film) Taba Naba Communities Bamaga Kaurareg Mabuiag Meriam (people) Seisia Languages Bine Eastern Trans-Fly Gizrra Kalaw Lagaw Ya Meriam Torres Strait Creole Torres Strait English Wipi
Governance and legal matters	Governance Shire of Torres Torres Strait Islander Flag Torres Strait Island Region Torres Strait Regional Authority Legal cases and principles Akiba v Commonwealth Mabo v Queensland No 1 No 2 Terra nullius
Buildings and structures	Boigu Island Airport Booby Island Light Coconut Island Airport Darnley Island Airport Eborac Island Light Goods Island Light Kubin Airport Murray Island Airport Saibai Island Airport Warraber Island Airport Wyborn Reef Light Yam Island Airport Yorke Island Airport
Other	Adolphus Channel Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Birds of Boigu, Saibai and Dauan Islands Endeavour Strait Alfred Cort Haddon Margaret Lawrie Sea Swift Warul Kawa Indigenous Protected Area
Category Commons See also: List of Torres Strait Islands

• Towns in Queensland
• Torres Strait Islands
• Torres Strait Islands communities
• Islands of Far North Queensland
• Aboriginal communities in Queensland
• Thursday Island
• Queensland in World War II
• Populated places in Far North Queensland
• Shire of Torres
• Localities in Queensland