St George, Queensland

St George is a town of approximately 2,400 people in Queensland, Australia. The town is 390 km due west of Brisbane and the Gold Coast and sits just inside the region of South West Queensland, Australia. It is the administrative centre for the Shire of Balonne. It was named by Major Thomas Mitchell who crossed the Balonne River on St George's Day, 23 April 1846. At the 2006 census, St George had a population of 2,410. It sits at the junction of several highways including the Castlereagh Highway, the Moonie Highway, the Carnarvon Highway and the Balonne Highway. The only crossing of the Balonne River is the Andrew Nixon Bridge on the Balonne Highway. St George is on the Balonne River which is reputedly an excellent fishing site for fish such as Yellowbelly and Murray Cod.

The town has been affected in low lying areas by severe flooding on at least three occasions from 2010 to 2012.

Industry
The town is a centre for cotton growing, as well as sheep and wheat.

Notable residents
It gained national attention with the election of local accountant Barnaby Joyce to the Australian Senate following the 2004 federal election.

Floods
The town was severely affected by flooding in March 2010, which peaked at 13.5 metres, and again in December 2010 - January 2011.

Flooding once again occurred in February 2012. When there was a possibility of the river reaching 15 metres, about 2000 residents were mandatorily evacuated on 4 and 5 February to evacuation centres in Dalby and Brisbane. A temporary levee was built in St George on the morning of 5 February (Sunday). The Balonne River reached a height of 13.85 metres on Tuesday 7 February.

Facilities
St George has a public library, visitor information centre, cultural centre, swimming pool, showground, bowling and the St George Golf Club. It also has an airport, St George Airport

Local events
The St George show is celebrated every year over the Labour Day long weekend (weekend of the first Monday in May), Everyone is encouraged to go and locals have a great time sharing stories at the bar and watching the rodeo.