Paget, Queensland


Paget is a coastal suburb of Mackay in the Mackay Region, Queensland, Australia.

Geography

Paget is bounded to the east by the Coral Sea, to the west by the Bruce Highway, and to the south by Bakers Creek. The suburb is principally used for industrial purposes. The North Coast railway line passes from south to north through the suburb with the Mackay railway station located in Paget.
The land is flat and low-lying. The western part of the suburb is principally used for industrial purposes benefitting from the proximity of road and rail access while the eastern oceanside part of the suburb is much less developed. Paget Junction to the north of Mackay railway station was the intersection of the North Coast railway line with the now-closed Mackay railway line.
The Bakers Creek Conservation Park occupies the south-east headland created by Bakers Creek entering into the Coral Sea. It is a protected area due to the need to preserve the shorebird habitat consisting of intertidal zones and mangroves; it has been declared a nationally important area for shorebirds. It has a population of the vulnerable species Eracus neglectus. It is considered of internationally significant for migrating shorebirds such as the Charadrius mongolus, Numenius madagascariensis, Calidris tenuirostris and Haematopus fuliginosus.

History

The suburb takes its name from the Paget Junction railway station, which, in turn, was named by Queensland Railways Department on 30 October 1913, in honour of politician Walter Trueman Paget who was the Secretary for Railways 1908 to 1915. In 1943, Paget Junction was shortened to Paget.