A man has been charged with murder after a violent confrontation at a Far North Queensland taxi rank.

Police allege an argument broke out between two men, aged 28 and 30, on Edith Street at Innisfail in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Detective Inspector Kevin Goan said the 28-year-old man was punched repeatedly in the head until he was knocked to the ground.

Emergency services attempted CPR but he could not be revived.

“Our investigations show that the offender appears intent on having an altercation of some sort with his victim,” Detective Inspector Goan said.

“A volley of punches was thrown.

“The deceased has stood up from that first onset and then has succumbed to further blows.”

Detective Inspector Goan said the victim did “very little to either defend himself or retaliate for the assault”.

“It’s resulted in a catastrophic outcome and, of course, at this time of year it’s even more tragic,” he said.

The 30-year-old man has been charged with one count of murder and appeared in the Innisfail Magistrates Court on Saturday morning.

He was remanded in custody and is due to face court again in January.

Police are investigating what other contact the two men had during the night, including at the nearby Crown Hotel.

“It’s difficult to say what the level of intoxication was, certainly that will feature in our inquiries,” Detective Inspector Goan said.

Several witnesses at the taxi rank have been assisting police.

Detective Inspector Goan urged anyone else with information to come forward.

“Any incident where people go out for a good time, to celebrate various things such as the Christmas period, that ends up with the death of an individual is clearly tragic,” he said.

-ABC