Central West Queensland (abbreviated CWQ) is a remote region in the Australian state of

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

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, Queensland, Maranoa district and parts o ...

and south of the

Gulf Country The Gulf Country or North West Queensland 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 ca ...

. It has a population of approximately 12,387 people. As of 2018, it is one of 16 Aged Care Planning Regions (ACPR) in Queensland.

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

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 Wangka ...

lies within the region.

Haddon Corner Haddon Corner is a heritage-listed location (geography), site in Tanbar, Queensland, 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 a ...

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 The Northern T ...

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 Braided river, intertwined rivulets that cro ...

. Part of the

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

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 Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in Queensland. Maranoa extends across the Outback, Southern Outback and is Social conservatism, socially conservative. It is the ...

and the

Division of Kennedy The Division of Kennedy is an Electorates of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland. It is the state's second-largest division after the neighbourin ...

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 ph ...

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. It covers an area of , and has existed as a local government entity since 1887. It is named for the Barcoo River which reaches ...

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" nam ...

Shire of Boulia The Shire of Boulia is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Central West Queensland, bordering the Northern Territory. Its administrative centre is in the town of Boulia, Queensland, Boulia.It covers an area of , and has exi ...

Shire of Winton The Shire of Winton is a Local government in Australia, 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 tow ...

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 A ...

Blackall-Tambo Region The Blackall-Tambo Region is a Local government in Australia, 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 ...

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 a statutory agency of the Government of Australia that carries out geoscientific research. The agency is the government's technical adviser on aspects of geoscience, and serves as the repository of geographic and geolo ...

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 e ...

. 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 been found to regularly occur in planetary systems, though the most frequent involve asteroids, comets or meteoroids and have minimal effe ...

, 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 rural town and 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 I ...

, Winton,

Blackall Blackall is a rural town and locality in the Blackall-Tambo Region, Queensland, Australia. The town is the service centre for the Blackall-Tambo Region. The dominant industry in the area is grazing with over 70 homesteads in the locality (as ...

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 wor ...

, 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 Australian bush, the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastli ...

. The building was completed in 1987 and opened by Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

on 29 April 1988. Smaller towns in the region include

Bedourie Bedourie is a town and a Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Shire of Diamantina, Queensland, Australia. It is on the Queensland borders, border with the Northern Territory. In the , the locality of Bedourie had a population of 1 ...

Birdsville Birdsville is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Diamantina, Queensland, Australia. The locality is on the Queensland border with both the Northern Territory and South Australia. The town is situated north of the South Australian bord ...

, Boulia,

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 ...

Ilfracombe Ilfracombe ( ) is a seaside resort and civil parishes in England, 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 towar ...

, Isisford,

Yaraka Yaraka is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Longreach Region of Queensland, Australia. Until 2021, the town of Yaraka was part of the locality of Isisford, Queensland, Isisford. Geography Yaraka is in Centra ...

Jundah Jundah is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Shire of Barcoo, Queensland, Australia. Jundah is the administrative centre of the Shire of Barcoo, Barcoo Shire local government area. In the , the locality of Junda ...

Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric Megalith, megalithic structure 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, to ...

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 , the locality of Windorah had a population of 104 people. Geography Loca ...

Alpha Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ) 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'' , whose name comes from the West Semitic word for ' ...

Aramac Aramac is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Aramac had a population of 372 people. Geography Aramac is located north of Barcaldine, Queensl ...

Jericho Jericho ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and the capital of the Jericho Governorate. Jericho is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It had a population of 20,907 in 2017. F ...

Tambo Tambo may refer to: People * Adelaide Tambo (1929–2007), South African anti-apartheid activist * Dali Tambo (born 1959), South African anti-apartheid activist, TV presenter and also son of Oliver Tambo and Adelaide Tambo * Oliver Tambo (1917� ...

and

Muttaburra Muttaburra is an outback town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia. Muttaburra was the discovery site of the ''Muttaburrasaurus'', one of Australia's most famous dinosaurs. In the , t ...

. The ghost town of Betoota 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 Georg ...

Diamantina River The Diamantina River is a major river 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 Governor of Qu ...

, 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 ...

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, Queensland, Jundah. The park was established in 1994 to protect the biodiversity of the mulga lands, M ...

, 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 ...

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 se ...

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 Landsboro ...

. 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 Sc ...

leads from Boulia to

Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

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'' tra ...

is a long-distance passenger rail service operating from

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

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 i ...

, Winton Airport, Windorah Airport,

Barcaldine Airport Barcaldine Airport is an airport in Barcaldine, Queensland, Australia. Airlines and destinations See also * List of airports in Queensland This is a list of airports in the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queen ...

, Aramac Airport and Blackall Airport.

Media

Through a series of powerful

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

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 Clyde 1 Ayrshire, formerly West FM, is an Independent Local Radio station based in Glasgow, Scotland, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK. It is a part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Ayrshire and South West Scotland. As of ...

, 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 b ...

'', published weekly.

References

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