Ken O'Dowd (Flynn, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Central Highlands region is part of the Flynn electorate, an area of 60,000 square kilometres and home to 30,000 people. It's a hub for agriculture, mining and tourism.

The Central Highlands is a diverse region and boasts some great towns—13 unique communities: Arcadia Valley, Bauhinia, Blackwater, Bluff, Capella, Comet, Dingo, Duaringa, Emerald, Rolleston, Sapphire Gemfields, Springsure and Tieri. Incidentally, Dingo is the home of the great tennis legend Rod Laver and the NRL star Ben Hunt. Emerald is the largest town, located on the Nogoa River, and home to the Fairbairn irrigation system and Lake Maraboon. The region is a great food bowl and is well known for its production of beef, cotton, wheat, chickpeas, sorghum, citrus and grapes.

The Gemfields district—Anakie, Sapphire, Rubyvale and the Willows—is an excellent tourist destination and offers many gems, with sapphires and activities for tourists. There are plenty of national parks, including Carnarvon Gorge and Blackdown Tableland. I encourage all to visit the Central Highlands region sometime soon.