Roma, Queensland

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Location of Roma in Queensland (red)

Roma ([26°33′S 148°48′E]) is a town and Local Government Area in the western Darling Downs area of Queensland, Australia, 515 km (318 miles) by rail W.N.W. of Brisbane. It is situated at the junction of the Warrego and Carnarvon highways. It is the centre of a rich pastoral and wheat-growing district, in which oranges and vines are grown and much wine is produced. The town was incorporated in 1867 and is named after Lady Diamantina Roma Bowen, the wife of Sir George Ferguson Bowen, the Governor of Queensland at the time. Beef, grain and wool are its chief industries. It has a population of nearly 7000 people and is in the Maranoa electoral district. It also serves as a centre for the larger Bungil Shire Council area.

Industry

• The greater Maranoa region consists of just under 25,000 people and a land area of 107,727 square km (of which the Roma Town and Bungil shire councils account for 8,450 people and 13,416 square km) [link].

Agriculture

• The Maranoa's agriculture industry is worth approximately $620 Million annually, 64.3% being generated from crops. 58.7% of businesses in the Maranoa are in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector, which employs 32.7% of the region's workforce [link].
• Beef. 2005 was a [record year for Roma saleyards], processing 380,000 head of cattle. Roma is home to Australia's largest cattle saleyards.
• Wool. Traditionally, wool was a bigger industry than beef, but this is no longer the case in recent years. In part this is due to a global 30% over-capacity [link], [link] and fierce competition with Chinese textile manufacturers, forcing the less competitive Australian (and European) wool processors to close down or relocate to China [link]. China remains Australia's biggest buyer of raw wool [link].
• Forestry (Hardwood and Cypress_Pine).
• *Queensland's forestry exports are worth $215 million [link], the two biggest customers being China and Japan.
• *Roma and the Maranoa region is home to Australia's most active native Cypress_Pine sawmilling [link].
• *The central and south-west regions of Queensland account for 8% (4% each) of Queensland's total log processing input [link].

Oil and Gas

In 1906 natural gas was used for lighting in Roma. The industry has expanded as more reserves were discovered.

• [Origin Energy's] [Spring Gully Coal Seam Gas Development] is located about 80km north of Roma and its projects include an 87km gas pipeline to Roma's neighbour town of Wallumbilla, Queensland to connect with the 434km Roma-to-Brisbane gas pipeline hub there [link], [link] (see [portfolio] map of Queensland projects).
• The [Proposed Spring Gully Power Station] is an $870 Million, 1000MW power station that will provide electricity to South-East Queensland. Being based at the Spring Gully CSG site, the power station will have the benefit of being close to the source of gas and will also be able to use the waste-water left over from the other CSG operations [link].

Tourist attractions

• [The Big Rig] Oil and Gas museum
• [Carnarvon Gorge] and Mount Moffatt National Park
• [Roma Villa Winery]
• [Things to do and see in Roma], Meadowbank Museum

External links

• [Walkabout - Roma]
• [Queensland Holidays - Western Downs/Roma]
• [Maranoa Online]
• [Bungil Shire Council]
• [Welcome to Roma]
• [Queensland Natural Gas Transmission Pipelines] (map)
• [Queensland Gas Transmission and Distribution] (government department of energy)

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