History and things to do around Biloela

Nestled in the arable Callide Valley, Biloela is only an hour’s flight from Brisbane, less than two hours’ drive to Rockhampton (which is only half an hour from the Capricorn Coast), and closer to Gladstone and its nearby beaches.

“Biloela” ('Bil-o-ela' - an Aboriginal word meaning White Cockatoo) is the largest town in the Banana Shire, which is located 596km north of Brisbane, 120km west of Gladstone, 145km south-west of Rockhampton and 173 metres above sea- level. Biloela’s economy is driven by pastoral and agricultural enterprise and by the local coal mines and power station, although the town could never be described as a mining town. Due to its location at the intersection of the Dawson and Burnett Highways, the town is the hub of the Banana Shire and is well supplied with shops, retail outlets, restaurants, services, etc.

Biloela is the administrative hub of the Callide Valley, the region boasts diverse industry and blossoms with potential. Industries in the region include several significant coal mines, two power stations, beef processing works, a large piggery, a gold mine, cotton ginnery, phosphate mines and extensive grazing and farming enterprises. Crops include wheat, mung beans, lucerne, and sorghum.

Small boutique type enterprises have flourished in recent years and include fish and red claw farms, squab farming and processing, and herb industries. Each industry adds another facet of interest to the region and participates actively in the locality’s success and appeal. The town supports one State secondary school and three primary schools with several primary schools in proximate vicinity, pre-schools, prep school, kindergartens and child care centres. In addition an efficient family day care network is available throughout the region.

Biloela offers locals professional services of doctors, dentist, accountants, lawyers and other business providers as well as government services such as Department of Primary Industries and a Queensland Government Agency. We have a quality nursing service supporting our local hospital and an efficient ambulance service. Biloela no longer maintains a permanent fire station but has a capable and enthusiastic group of dedicated volunteers affectionately known as firies.

Rural life offers diverse cultural and lifestyle opportunities, fun and companionship. The Callide Valley is rich with talent in such fields as fine arts, craft, dance, and food and wine appreciation. Our region offers a surplus of skill, talent and produce in a combination that is unique in its diversity.

Local businesses are building and plans to regenerate the township and introduce a cosmopolitan twist to its rural heartland image abound in order to maintain the youth population and attract newcomers to our region. This enthusiastic approach to the future is making the region very attractive to city ‘sea-changers’. Real estate continues to boom and many investors are acquiring property in the town to take advantage of the region’s rapid growth.

Biloela has a resident population of under 6,000 and is the administrative centre for the Banana Shire. You would assume the Banana Shire is named for growing Bananas, but in fact it is named after a famous bullock that was used to roundup cattle in the 1800s.

In 1923 the Queensland Government opened an agricultural demonstration farm near the future town of Biloela as a step towards closer-settlement. Prior to then an area had been used for pastoral purposes, the 'Prairie' pastoral run having been taken up in 1854. There was also considerable prickly pear infestation, some of it classified as dense, along the Callide Creek.

Considerable numbers of Greek immigrants settled in Biloela in the 1930s, starting both farming and town businesses. Russian immigrants, often at first employed as cotton pickers, settled in Biloela and Thangool.

By the early post-war years Biloela's population was about 1000 people, making it the largest town in the shire. A district airport was established at the junction of the Dawson and Burnett Highways in 1939, and the Banana Shire's offices were transferred from Wowan to Biloela in 1946.

The Rockhampton regional power supply was connected in 1951, enabling water to be pumped into a reservoir for a reticulated town supply. A meatworks was opened in 1952, ushering in an industrialisation phase with engineering works, bulk fuel depots and local manufacturing. Chain retailers opened up branches, such as Penney's variety store.

Bushwalking around Biloela is well worthwhile with nearby Kroombit Tops National Park, Cania Gorge National Park, located just south of Biloela on the Burnett Highway.

Biloela has a prominent tourist feature, the Silo, an exhibit recycled from the 1988 Brisbane Expo, forming part of the Primary Industries Museum on the Dawson Highway. The local historical society maintains and occupies the State heritage-listed 'Greycliffe' slab-built homestead, relocated some 37 km in the late 1970s from the pastoral run it once occupied.

The civic infrastructure includes the State primary school and a State high school (1963). Catholic (1939) and Lutheran (1978) primary schools, a hospital, a retirement village, a swimming pool (1963), several sports venues including bowls, golf and tennis, a showground, the shire civic centre (1977) and an active eisteddfod society. The old shopping centre in Callide Street expanded during the 1980s, incorporating a Woolworths and a Fossey's drive in centre. One of the town's major sources of employment comes from the Callide Mine situated about 15 km from town. The open-cut style coal mine, which began production in 1944 on the old Callide Station site, supplies the majority of its product to the local power station. The mine is also a large tourist attraction offering regular tours and a variety of vantage points to view the extraction site.