TULLY residents are about to stick a big boot into the long running debate over which is the wettest town in Australia.
The soggy town will erect an eight-metre high Golden Gumboot next week to commemorate an Australian annual rainfall record of 7.9 metres (311 inches) that drenched Tully in 1950.
Designed by Millaa Millaa artist Brian Newell, the boot is made of sealed gold fibreglass with a green fibreglass tree frog hanging from the top.
The $30,000 structure will feature an 8m mechanical rain gauge mounted from the heel to the top and an internal staircase will lead to a viewing platform for visitors.
The brains behind this big boot concept see it as a step forward for the local tourism sector, but residents of rainfall rival Babinda are treating it with contempt.
"It's a ridiculous waste of ratepayers' money," joked the unofficial mayor of Babinda Warren Maher.
Staking a claim for being the Australia's wettest town is hotly contested each year between the three towns of Tully, Babinda and Innisfail.
Accusations of 'rigging the gauge' are bandied around each year, but it has been said that any cheating is fair and honest cheating.
Tully took the title from Babinda in 2002 with a narrow margin of 98mm. The town's official rain gauge in McQuillan St recorded 2255mm, while Babinda measured 2157mm for the year.
"We very much doubt the veracity of their rainfall measurements," Mr Maher told the North Queensland Register.
"They take it from whichever gauge in Tully has the highest reading. We too could manufacture a reading from a different gauge in Babinda."
"That Tip Byrne (Cardwell Shire Mayor) is a devious character."
Mr Maher said Babinda would fight back with plans already afoot to erect a giant umbrella on the Bruce Highway.
Tully Rotary community services director Ron Hunt said the giant boot was not being erected to stamp out any future highest annual rainfall claims by Babinda.
Mr Hunt said it's purpose was to attract the tourist dollar and to kick home the fact that Tully boasts the Australian annual rainfall record and a whopping average yearly rainfall of 4m-plus.
He said Tully also has the record for the most rainfall in one day, with 1140mm recorded in one 24-hour period.
"We felt there was a need to entice the passing tourist traffic into town to spend a dollar and maybe stay awhile," Mr Hunt said.
"It was generally agreed that a big icon would generate that interest."
Mr Hunt said media interest in the Golden Gumboot has been "mind boggling".
He said newspaper articles have appeared in London, Los Angeles and Wellington and the boot is set to appear in a documentary on Australia's 'big icons'.
Warren Maher and Cardwell Shire Mayor have even debated the rainfall capital topic on BBC radio in London.
The Golden Gumboot will arrive in Tully next week and is to be erected at Banyan Park. An official opening ceremony will be held towards the end of February.
"I wonder if I'll get an invitation to the opening," Mr Maher queried.
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