The Burdekin Dry Tropics region is located in north eastern
Queensland, covering an area of approximately 138,000 square
kilometres (almost 8 per cent of the State), and is primarily
defined by the catchment area of the Burdekin River plus the
associated coastal and marine areas. The region extends into marine waters
and includes Magnetic Island and the Palm Islands.
The economy of the region is
heavily reliant upon natural resource-based industries,
particularly agriculture. Agriculture is by far the most important
employer in the rural areas of the region. Other major industries
include mining and tourism.
At present there are five subregions within the region. These
sub-regions are mostly defined by sub-catchment areas and are
distinct in environmental, economic and social characteristics and
have issues specific to these characteristics. They are:
- Townsville Coastal Plains;
- Lower Burdekin-Bowen Floodplains;
- Burdekin Rangelands;
- Belyando-Suttor/Bowen-Broken;
- Eastern Desert Uplands.
There are three
bioregions including the Einasleigh Uplands, the Desert Uplands
and, the Brigalow Belt North.
The Burdekin Dry Tropics region covers an
area of 140,000 square kilometres with about 210,000 residents. The
majority of those people live in Townsville (over 160,000) and
other rural centres such as Charters Towers, Ayr, Home Hill, Bowen,
the lower Burdekin towns, Collinsville, as well as the Alpha and
Clermont districts. Away from the major centres the region is very
sparsely populated.
Approximately 5 per cent of the population in the region is
Indigenous. It includes the largest Torres Strait Islanders
population outside of the Torres Strait, located primarily
in the Townsville area.
