Regional Queensland has been proposed as a prime location for the resettlement of some of the 12,000 Syrian refugees Australia says it will accept.
Mackay is considered a candidate, but opinions there are divided -- if it wants them or is ready.
Others see it as great chance to boost the city's flagging economy.
Stefan Armbruster reports.
A refugee success story in Mackay.
Six years after arriving from Liberia, Kay Nyenuh says business is pumping in his gym and personal training club, Muscle Garden, on the main street.
"I think it's great. It has been great for the time I've been here and it still is -- except for the economic downturn we're going through at the moment."
In Mackay, more than two thousand houses stand empty, unemployment is more than seven per-cent -- economic prospects are limited.
Since the end of the decade-long coal mining boom, business has stagnated.
The resettlement of refugees here could provide a much need economic boost, says Mackay Chamber of Commerce's Kylie Porter.
"From an economic perspective, it absolutely makes sense. We genuinely - to be quite frank - just need more bums on seats. It's a numbers game, to resettle 100 people into this region has direct benefits to the local businesses."
The expected federal spend on resettling the 12,000 Syrian refugees is $700 million.
That's about $58,000 each.
Not everyone is convinced, like Mackay's controversial federal Liberal-National Party MP George Christensen.
"If there are no jobs here for locals to fill, where are the jobs going to be for Syrian refugees who probably have less experience, limited English skills, [and] a range of other setbacks they have to overcome in order to get into employment? I don't think it would be conducive. For the region, sure, there might be some short-term benefits."
Mr Christensen has other concerns, too, about the Syrian refugees.
"My stance has changed in the light of the Paris attacks, and I fundamentally believe we should reconsider the intake. The number one duty of government is to protect its citizens, is defence of the nation and the security of its citizens... And if there is any possibility that there could be -- amongst an intake -- just one rogue who is going to commit a terrorist atrocity like we've seen in France, if there is that risk, my view is to suspend it -- don't do it."
South Sea Islanders, Italians, the Maltese -- Mackay's economy was built on the back of overseas labour.
Imam Esfaq Akbaur from the Mackay Islamic Centre says Muslims first arrived from south-east Asia about 130 years ago.
"So, originally they came for the Gold Rush and then they went to the cane fields, with the cane cutting. That's where it started from and today we have people in our communities, basically, in every field and every profession. We have female and male GPs, we have engineers. We have marine surveyors and pilots. Basically, in every field. So, it's quite diverse."
The President of the local Islamic Society, Waheed Haider, says it has been a history of peaceful co-existence.
"In the community of Mackay we have live very peacefully and in harmony, we haven't gone through any serious trouble or any misunderstanding."
The small Muslim community now includes people from Pakistan, Nigeria and Bangladesh, who arrived more recently on 475 skilled visas.
MP George Christensen only has praise for them.
"They've made a great contribution. A lot of those people I know personally. I've celebrated Ramadan with them at the mosque or Islamic centre. They're everyday Australians. In fact, like most people call themselves Sunday Christians, these people are Friday Muslims. You don't see the extremism, the Islamist pro-Sharia sort of bent amongst that portion of the populous."
Mackay has some support services for migrants, but the concern is that much more would be needed for refugees.
Kylie Porter from Mackay's Chamber of Commerce.
"While Mackay has a very long migrant history, we don't have a long history of refugees from crisis situations. We absolutely welcome that economic stimulus. We just want to make sure that the infrastructure is in place to be able to support those people who are coming out of crisis."
Queensland will accept up to 3,500 Syrian refugees.
No settlement locations in the state have been announced yet by the federal government.
Gym owner Kay Nyenuh hopes some will soon arrive in Mackay.
"Any number of refugees will help the economy because those people are going to need education, housing, buy groceries and they're all things local businesses are going to be benefit from. To be honest, I wouldn't mind a few Syrian refugees attending my gym."
