THE giant state electorate of Cook, much of which is under the guardianship of Cook Shire Council, will remain largely unchanged under proposed electoral boundary redistributions released on Friday.

The next Queensland state election is scheduled to be held in or before 2018 to elect all 93 members to the unicameral Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The first-term incumbent Labor government, currently led by Premier of Queensland Annastacia Palaszczuk, will attempt to win a second term and will be challenged by the Liberal National opposition, currently led by Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls.

There has been speculation, however, that the election will be held this year.

While many other electorates had significant changes proposed under the State Government redistributions, linked with changing population figures, Cook Shire Mayor Peter Scott said Cook remained unchanged due to its relatively static resident population base.

“The redistribution maps again highlight the incredible geographic, environmental, social and cultural diversity of the Cook electorate,” Cr Scott said.

“The electorate stretches from the Torres Strait down to Mareeba and Cairns and across to the Gulf, covering almost 200,000 square kilometres, but has only 24,000-odd on the electoral roll,” Cr Scott said.

“This is compared to the electorate of Barron River, which is only 600 square kilometres but has 27,000 plus on the roll.”

Cook Shire, which is already a member of the Far North Queensland Regional Organisation of Councils, had recently been accepted into the Torres and Cape Indigenous Mayors Alliance (TCIMA), Cr Scott said, and the council was looking forward to working more closely with neighbouring local governments.

“We are looking forward to building further on our relationships with our fellow councils and their respective State Government ministerial champions to ensure the Cook electorate as a whole has the attention and support of the State Government.”

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IT'S PANCAKE DAY TODAY!

IT’S the one day a year where it’s perfectly acceptable to eat nothing but pancakes and crépes.

Pancake Day arrives on Tuesday 28th February and it’s serious business, from the recipe, to the flipping technique, to the topping. So we’re here to guide you through this treacherous process and make sure every pancake is flippin’ great (pun intended).

Get your pancake fix at Taste on Macrossan this Tuesday with their exclusive Pancake Day special. Indulge in their delicious Daintree Stacker, topped with local fruit and Daintree vanilla syrup, paired with a local Skybury tea or coffee for only $16!

If you intend on making your own pancakes this Tuesday, make sure you do it properly with a Crépe pan from Port Douglas Hospitality Supplies. The perfect non-stick, low brim crépe pan is designed to make the perfect pancake every time. For only $19.95 for a 260mm crépe pan, you can’t really go wrong!

Whether you’re a sweet of savoury kind of person, we have a simple recipe for you, perfect for the topping of your choice:

300g self-raising flour
Pinch of salt
500ml milk
2 eggs
60g butter, melted

Love pancakes? Celebrate Pancake Day in Bazaar QT Port Douglas with even more pancakes than usual. Will you have them sweet or sour? Decorate these versatile treats with all your favourite toppings like Nutella, bananas, strawberries, zesty lemon and crispy bacon with maple syrup. Open from 6.30am – 10.30am.

4 Fun Facts about Pancakes

1. Pancake Day itself came about as a way to use up the ingredients in the pantry before the 40 days of fasting for Lent, in the run up to Easter.

2. The most tosses of a pancake in 60 seconds was achieved by Australian celebrity chef Brad Jolly, completing a grand total of 140 flips in 60 seconds back in 2012.

3. In 2012, a Melbourne chef won the World Record for the Largest Stack of Pancakes (76cms) however this was beaten by two British chef’s in 2016 (101.8cms).

4. The largest pancake ever made was in 1994, in the UK. Measuring 15.01 metres in diameter and 1 inch thick, the pancake weighed almost 3 tonnes!