Central West Queensland is a remote region in the Australian state of

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

which covers 396,650.2 km². The region lies to the north of

South West Queensland South West Queensland is a remote region in the Australian state of Queensland which covers . The region lies to the south of Central West Queensland and west of the Darling Downs and includes the Maranoa district and parts of the Channel Countr ...

and south of the

Gulf Country The Gulf Country is the region of woodland and savanna grassland surrounding the Gulf of Carpentaria in north western Queensland and eastern Northern Territory on the north coast of Australia. The region is also called the Gulf Savannah. It ...

. It has a population of approximately 12,387 people.

History

The first exploration by Europeans was by Major Thomas Mitchell who passed through the area in 1846. Mitchell was near Isisford on the Barcoo River when his party was lacking supplies and threatened by Aboriginals. He then decided to return to Sydney, completing a successful expedition which had explored a large area of unknown country.

Geography

$Farming equipment, Ilfracombe, Queensland$ Scrammy Gorge Winton

The eastern extent of the

Simpson Desert The Simpson Desert is a large area of dry, red sandy plain and dunes in the Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland in central Australia. It is the fourth-largest Deserts of Australia, Australian desert, with an area of . The desert ...

lies within the region.

Haddon Corner Haddon Corner is a heritage-listed site in Tanbar, Shire of Barcoo, Queensland, Australia. It is in outback Channel Country at South-West Queensland, on the border corner with South Australia. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register ...

and

Poeppel Corner Poeppel Corner (known as Poeppel's Corner in Queensland) at latitude 26° S and longitude 138° E is a corner of state boundaries in Australia, where the state of Queensland meets South Australia and the Northern Territory. Geography Poeppel ...

on the Queensland border are also located here. Bioregions in the area include the

Channel Country The Channel Country is a region of outback Australia mostly in the state of Queensland but also in parts of South Australia, Northern Territory and New South Wales. The name comes from the numerous intertwined rivulets that cross the region ...

. Part of the

Cooper Basin The Cooper Basin is a Permian-Triassic sedimentary geological basin in Australia. The basin is located mainly in the southwestern part of Queensland and extends into northeastern South Australia. It is named after the Cooper Creek which is an ...

is located in the region. The basin contains the most significant on-shore petroleum and natural gas deposits in Australia. At the federal level the region partly falls in the

Division of Maranoa The Division of Maranoa is an Australian electoral division in Queensland. Maranoa extends across the Southern Outback and is socially conservative. In the 2016 and 2019 federal elections, Pauline Hanson's One Nation finished ahead of Labor ...

and the

Division of Kennedy The Division of Kennedy is an Australian electoral division in the state of Queensland. History The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first federal election. It is named after ...

Local government areas A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a state, province, division, or territory. The phrase i ...

included in the region are

Shire of Barcoo The Shire of Barcoo is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Central West Queensland, Australia. In June 2018, the shire had a population of 267 people. It covers an area of , and has existed as a local government entity sin ...

Shire of Diamantina The Shire of Diamantina is a local government area in Central West Queensland, bordering South Australia and the Northern Territory. Its administrative centre is in the town of Bedourie. Like most places in Queensland with the "Diamantina" na ...

Shire of Boulia The Shire of Boulia is a local government area in Central West Queensland, bordering the Northern Territory. Its administrative centre is in the town of Boulia.It covers an area of , and has existed as a local government entity since 1887. The ...

Shire of Winton The Shire of Winton is a local government area in Central West Queensland, Australia. It covers an area of , and has existed as a local government entity since 1887. Its administrative centre is located in the town of Winton. It is named aft ...

Longreach Region The Longreach Region is a local government area in Central West Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it superseded three previous local government areas that had existed for more than a century. It has an estimated operating budget of ...

Blackall-Tambo Region The Blackall-Tambo Region is a local government area in Central West Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by two previous local government areas dating from the 1870s. For the financial year 2010/11 it had an approximate ...

and

Barcaldine Region The Barcaldine Region is a local government area in Central West Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by three previous local government areas which had existed for over a century. It has an estimated operating budget of ...

Geology

The Diamantina River's hook-shaped upper reaches have drawn scientific attention. In March 2015,

Geoscience Australia Geoscience Australia is an agency of the Australian Government. It carries out geoscientific research. The agency is the government's technical adviser on all aspects of geoscience, and custodian of the geographic and geological data and knowl ...

reported that the river's course at and near its headwaters flows along the edge of a roughly circular crustal anomaly that might well be an

impact structure An impact structure is a generally circular or craterlike geologic structure of deformed bedrock or sediment produced by impact on a planetary surface, whatever the stage of erosion of the structure. In contrast, an impact crater is the surface ...

. It is 130 km in diameter and lies some 60 km west of Winton; Middleton and

Dagworth Station Dagworth Station is a cattle station located north-west of Winton in central west Queensland in Australia. It was established in 1876 by Messrs Hunter and Urquhart who were living in a grass hut on the property in 1878 when they were still bui ...

lie right in it. The

asteroid impact An impact event is a collision between astronomical objects causing measurable effects. Impact events have physical consequences and have been found to regularly occur in planetary systems, though the most frequent involve asteroids, comets or me ...

, if indeed this is the explanation for the anomaly, would have happened roughly 300 million years ago.

Settlements

Major towns of Central West Queensland include

Longreach Longreach is a town and a locality in the Longreach Region, Queensland, Australia. It is the administrative centre of the Longreach Regional Council, which was established in 2008 as a merger of the former Longreach, Ilfracombe, and Isisford s ...

, Winton,

Blackall Blackall is a rural town and locality in the Blackall-Tambo Region, Queensland, Australia. In the the locality of Blackall had a population of 1,416 people. The town is the service centre for the Blackall-Tambo Region. The dominant industry ...

and Barcaldine. Barcaldine was the location for the

1891 Australian shearers' strike The 1891 shearers' strike is one of Australia's earliest and most important industrial disputes. The dispute was primarily between Trade union, unionised and non-unionised wool workers. It resulted in the formation of large camps of striking work ...

, one of Australia's earliest and most important industrial disputes. The

Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame The Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame is a museum located in Longreach, Queensland, Australia, which pays tribute to pioneers of the Australian outback. The centre is also dedicated to Australian stockmen who have shown bravery and courage. ...

is a museum located in Longreach which pays tribute to pioneers of the Australian

outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a n ...

. The building was completed in 1987 and opened by Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

on 29 April 1988. Smaller towns in the region include Bedourie,

Birdsville Birdsville is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Diamantina, Queensland, Australia. In the the locality of Birdsville had a population of 110 people. It is a popular tourist destination with many people using it as a starting point acro ...

Boulia Boulia () is an outback town and locality in the Shire of Boulia, Queensland, Australia. In the , Boulia had a population of 301 people. Boulia is the administrative centre of the Boulia Shire, population approximately 600, which covers an area ...

Urandangi Urandangi (formerly also spelled Urandangie) is an outback town in the locality of Piturie in the Shire of Boulia, Queensland, Australia. Geography The town is located on the banks of the Georgina River in Central West Queensland, north west ...

Ilfracombe Ilfracombe ( ) is a seaside resort and civil parish on the North Devon coast, England, with a small harbour surrounded by cliffs. The parish stretches along the coast from the 'Coastguard Cottages' in Hele Bay toward the east and along t ...

Isisford Isisford is a rural town and locality in the Longreach Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Isisford had a population of 218 people. Geography The locality is in Central Western Queensland. The town of Isisford is in the no ...

, Yaraka,

Jundah Jundah is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Barcoo, Queensland, Australia. Jundah is the administrative centre of the Barcoo Shire local government area. In the , the locality of Jundah had a population of 106 people. Geography The t ...

Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connectin ...

Windorah Windorah is a town and a locality in the Shire of Barcoo, Queensland, Australia. It is one of only three towns in the Shire of Barcoo in Central West Queensland. In the , Windorah had a population of 115 people. Geography Located downstream fr ...

Alpha Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἄλφα, ''álpha'', or ell, άλφα, álfa) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter aleph , whic ...

, Aramac,

Jericho Jericho ( ; ar, أريحا ; he, יְרִיחוֹ ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. It is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho Gove ...

, Tambo and

Muttaburra Muttaburra is an outback town and locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia. Muttaburra was the discovery site of the ''Muttaburrasaurus'', one of Australia's most famous dinosaurs. Geography Muttaburra is in the central west ...

. The ghost town of

Betoota Betoota is a ghost town within the locality of Birdsville, in the Shire of Diamantina, in the Channel Country of Central West Queensland, Australia. The last permanent resident, Sigmund Remienko, died in 2004. Betoota is situated on a gibber pla ...

has been designated as Australia's smallest town. Other ghost towns in the region include Scarrbury and Collingwood, both of which have vanished without a trace. There is also the depopulated town of Middleton, with only a handful of inhabitants.

Rivers

Waterways coursing through Central West Queensland include the

Barcoo River The Barcoo River in western Queensland, Australia rises on the northern slopes of the Warrego Range, flows in a south-westerly direction and unites with the Thomson River to form Cooper Creek. The first European to see the river was Thomas ...

Georgina River The Georgina River is the north-westernmost of the three major rivers of the Channel Country in Central West Queensland, that also flows through a portion of the Northern Territory, in central Australia. Part of the Lake Eyre basin, the Georgin ...

Diamantina River The Diamantina River is a major river located in Central West Queensland and the far north of South Australia. The river was named by William Landsborough in 1866 for Lady Diamantina Bowen (née Roma), wife of Sir George Bowen, the first Govern ...

, Thomson River, Burke River, Hamilton River and

Cooper Creek The Cooper Creek (formerly Cooper's Creek) is a river in the Australian states of Queensland and South Australia. It was the site of the death of the explorers Burke and Wills in 1861. It is sometimes known as the Barcoo River from one of its t ...

Protected areas

A number of national parks have been declared in the region, including Simpson Desert National Park, Cudmore National Park,

Diamantina National Park Diamantina National Park is a national park in the Channel Country of South West Queensland, Australia, west of Brisbane. Like the Diamantina River that flows through it, it is named for Lady Diamantina Bowen, wife of Sir George Bowen, the firs ...

Astrebla Downs National Park Astrebla Downs is a national park in Shire of Diamantina, Queensland, Australia. Geography Astrebla Downs is located in the Channel Country of outback Queensland, 1298 km west of Brisbane. The landscape is flat and barren with few trees. ...

Welford National Park Welford is a national park in Central West Queensland, Australia, 991 km west of Brisbane. It is located 30km to the South-east of Jundah. The park was established in 1994 to protect the biodiversity of the Mulga Lands, Mitchell Grass Downs ...

, Goneaway National Park,

Lochern National Park Lochern is a national park in Longreach, Central West Queensland, Australia, 1,047 km west of Brisbane. Eastern parts of the national park are interspersed with numerous channels of the Thomson River. The park is sprawled over an area of 24 ...

and

Bladensburg National Park Bladensburg is a national park in Shire of Winton, Queensland, Australia. It includes an area once occupied by a sheep station called Bladensburg Station. History Bladensburg lies in the area of what was once Koa tribal territory and, on white s ...

Transport

Major roads in the region include the

Capricorn Highway The Capricorn Highway is located in Central Queensland, Australia, and links the city of Rockhampton with western Queensland. The highway is long, and joins the Landsborough Highway at Barcaldine. Formerly National Route 66, Queensland began ...

and the

Landsborough Highway Landsborough Highway is a highway in western Queensland, Australia, running in the northwest–southeast direction from Morven to Cloncurry. The Landsborough Highway runs through vast tracts of land that was once occupied by William Landsborou ...

. In the north of the region, the

Kennedy Highway The Kennedy Highway is a highway in northern Queensland, Australia. It runs as National Route 1 for approximately 243 km from Smithfield, on the northern outskirts of Cairns, to the Gulf Developmental Road in the vicinity of Forty Mile S ...

leads from Boulia to

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

on the eastern coast of Australia. The Central railway line reached Longreach in 1892. Today, the

Spirit of the Outback The Spirit of the Outback is a long-distance passenger rail service in Queensland, Australia, operated by Queensland Rail's Traveltrain division. Route Debuting in November 1993 by combining the former ''Capricornian'' and '' Midlander'' trai ...

is a long-distance passenger rail service operating from

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

to Longreach. The region is serviced by six airports, including

Longreach Airport Longreach Airport is situated in Longreach, Queensland, Australia. The airport is northeast of the city. The Royal Flying Doctor Service has one of its nine Queensland bases at Longreach Airport. History Longreach has played a major part ...

Winton Airport Winton Airport is an airport serving Winton, Queensland, Australia. It is located northeast of Winton and operated by the Winton Shire Council. Facilities The airport is at an elevation of above sea level. It has two runways: 14/32 with ...

Windorah Airport Windorah Airport is an airport serving Windorah, Queensland, Australia. It is operated by the Barcoo Shire Council. The airport received $183,578 in funds for security upgrades from the Australian Government in 2006. Facilities The airport i ...

, Barcaldine Airport, Aramac Airport and

Blackall Airport Blackall Airport is an airport located west southwest of Blackall, Queensland, Australia. Airlines and destinations See also * List of airports in Queensland This is a list of airports in the Australian state of Queensland. __TO ...

Media

Through a series of powerful

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...

s and less powerful repeater stations located throughout the vast region, Central West Queensland is serviced by the local ABC radio station

ABC Western Queensland ABC Western Queensland is an ABC Local Radio station based in Longreach broadcasting to the Central West, South West and Gulf regions of Queensland. It covers a wide area stretching as far as the towns of Charleville, Winton and Birdsville ...

along with commercial stations 4LG and West FM, both owned by

Resonate Broadcasting Resonate Broadcasting is an Australian media company, operating radio stations across various centres across regional Queensland, as well as Hawaii. Formed in 2008, it currently operates 16 radio stations across Australia and the United States. ...

. The Central West's local newspaper is ''

The Longreach Leader ''The Longreach Leader'' is a newspaper published in Longreach, Queensland, Australia. History The first issue was published on 5 January 1923. In early October 2021 the owners of the paper advised that production of the weekly paper would be ...

'', published weekly.

References

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