Chinchilla, Queensland

This article is about a town. For alternative meanings, see Chinchilla (disambiguation).

Chinchilla Queensland
Footpath on the main street of Chinchilla
Chinchilla The location of Chinchilla in Queensland
Coordinates	26°44′30″S 150°37′30″E
Population	3,682
Established	1877
Postcode(s)	4413
Location	293 km (182 mi) from Brisbane 169 km (105 mi) from Toowoomba
LGA(s)	Western Downs Region
State electorate(s)	Warrego
Federal division(s)	Maranoa

Chinchilla is a town in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 census, Chinchilla had a population of 3,681.

The town (approximately 300 kilometres NW of Brisbane) was established in 1877. As the railway pushed west across the Darling Downs from Toowoomba and Dalby, the banks of Charley's Creek seemed an ideal place for a town.

Agriculture is the mainstay of the community, with beef and pork production, wool growing, and horticulture traditionally underwriting the local economy. However, with the recent resources boom, the new Kogan Creek Power Project (and other coal and gas projects) have begun to inject welcome cash into the town and Chinchilla is experiencing mass growth and development. House prices in Chinchilla have boomed as a result of the need to house new workers.

Chinchilla is known as the 'Melon Capital of Australia', and plays host to a Melon Festival every second year in February – the next is to be held in 2011.

Education

Chinchilla has four schools (one state high school, one state primary school, and two private primary schools) that cater from prep to year 12:

• Chinchilla State School (450 students)[1]
• The Christian School (130 students)[2]
• St Joseph’s School (170 students)
• Chinchilla State High School (500 students)[3]. The Southern Queensland Institute of TAFE annex is located in the high school grounds and works closely with local business and industries.

Leichhardt House[4] is a hostel that provides accommodation for students from homes in remote areas.

Chinchilla has two childcare facilities, and other home care facilities, that care for children from 6 weeks to 16 years old.

Culture

Annual events

For a small town, Chinchilla has a large variety of events that happen yearly. The Rotary May Day Festival is held on May Day long weekend, and showcases the town’s rural background, with events such as a tug of war, bag-a-sheep, Minties drop out of a plane, a rodeo, fireworks and Woodchip finals. The Chinchilla Grandfather Clock Campdraft is a major event held every October, where entrants compete for the Grandfather Clock prize. Chinchilla also hosts horse races four times a year.

Chinchilla Melon Festival

As Chinchilla produces 25% of Australia’s melons (including watermelon, rockmelon and honeydew), the first Chinchilla Melon Festival[5] was held in 1994 by local producers and businessmen, to lift the town’s spirits after the severe drought experienced in the early 1990s. Estimated numbers at the first Festival were approximately 2,500, and it has been estimated that there were 10,000 visitors on the main day of the last Festival (which was held in February 2009).

In 2009, the Melon Festival won the Queensland Regional Achievement and Community Award for Tourism Event.

The Festival features extremely interactive and unique events, such as Melon Skiing, Melon Bungee, Melon Bullseye, Melon Ironman, Melon Chariot, a pip spitting competition, and melon eating races. A special event held in 2009 saw John Allwood secure the Guinness World Record of Melon Head Smashing - cracking open as many watermelons as possible using only the head. Currently his record is 47 melons in a minute.

Arts and entertainment

War Memorial in front of the Cultural Centre Complex

Chinchilla has a Cultural Centre, which includes a 700-seat auditorium, cinema and function room, outdoor patio, theatrette, plus bar and kitchen facilities. Also included in the complex are the White Gums Art Gallery and the Cypress Pines Library.

The Cultural Center also houses a cinema[6], which differs from normal rural cinemas in that it shows movies that are not delayed, but rather currently showing.

Sport

Chinchilla has excellent sports facilities, and a huge variety of sports clubs. Chinchilla Aquatic Centre houses an indoor 25m heated pool, an outdoor 50m pool and a gymnasium. The Chinchilla Family Sports Centre provides facilities for many sports and clubs. There are also clubs and facilities for touch football, rugby league, cricket, tennis[7], squash, motocross, gymnastics, indoor netball, taekwondo, soccer and lawn bowls. A fishing club, pony club, and shooting range also operate in the area. In addition, there are Polocrosse grounds, a race track, and 9 hole golf course. A Multipurpose Sports Centre Stadium is currently being developed.

Media

Chinchilla News is the local newspaper, published every Thursday. All major television channels are available, including WIN Television, Seven Network, Network Ten, ABC Television and SBS, along with the HDTV versions of these channels, and Austar is also available. Several radio stations broadcast in Chinchilla, such as RebelFM (99.5), BreezeFM (95.5) and Triple J (104.1).

Infrastructure

Health

Chinchilla has its own hospital, with an emergency ward, maternity ward and operating theatre. It can also care for long stay patients, and has other services such as social work, child health, physiotherapy, dietician, speech therapy, occupational therapy, mental health, community health services, a women’s clinic and an x-ray facility.

In town, there is also a private dental practices, along with the public dental hospital. Five general practitioners operate in the area, along with an occupational therapist, optometrist, podiatrist, physiotherapists and chiropractors.

Transport

Chinchilla is connected to Brisbane, Toowoomba and Roma by the Warrego Highway. Greyhound Australia operates 2-3 daily bus services between Brisbane and Mount Isa via Longreach and Charleville, and 3 buses a week between Toowoomba and Rockhampton, along the Dawson Highway. The Westlander train also comes through Chinchilla twice a week, on its way between Brisbane and Charleville. As it is a small town, there is no public transport (besides a taxi), although many coal and gas companies run private buses out to their sites.

Notable locals

• Film producer George Miller.
• Noted Australian folk/country singer Pete Murray grew up in Chinchilla.
• Noted Australian painter Hugh Sawrey spent many years in the Kogan area.
• Noted primary educator Jim Alexander (1930-1997) was born in the Kogan district, and he spent his last years as a teacher in Chinchilla (1985-1988). One of the finest of Jim's many students is the 2004 Queenslander of the Year, Chris Sarra.
• Rugby League player, and Sexiest Man in League 2005; Ben Ross.