Woleebee, Queensland

Woleebee Queensland
Wandoan South Solar Farm, Woleebee, 2023
Woleebee
Coordinates	26°17′20″S149°49′45″E / 26.2888°S 149.8291°E / -26.2888; 149.8291 (Woleebee (centre of locality))
Population	62 (2021 census) [1]
• Density	0.1057/km2 (0.2738/sq mi)
Postcode(s)	4419
Area	586.5 km2 (226.4 sq mi)
Time zone	AEST (UTC+10:00)
Location	36.7 km (23 mi) WSW of Wandoan 94.5 km (59 mi) NW of Miles 231 km (144 mi) NW of Dalby, Queensland 314 km (195 mi) NW of Toowoomba 442 km (275 mi) WNW of Brisbane
LGA(s)	Western Downs Region
State electorate(s)	Callide Warrego
Federal division(s)	Maranoa
Suburbs around Woleebee: Bundi Wandoan Guluguba Bundi Woleebee Gurulmundi Jackson North Bogandilla Glenaubyn

Woleebee is a rural locality in the Western Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. ^[2] In the 2021 census, Woleebee had a population of 62 people. ^[1]

Geography

Communication tower at Woleebee Creek Village,, 2023

Cherwondah State Forest and Gurulmundi State Forest are in the south-east of the locality. Apart from these protected areas, the land use is predominantly grazing on native vegetation with mining taking place both on the surface and underground. ^[3]

Woleebee Creek Village is a mining camp in the south-east of the locality ( 26°17′04″S149°42′01″E / 26.28451°S 149.70025°E / -26.28451; 149.70025 (Woleebee Creek Village) ) used by fly-in-fly-out workers in the local mining industry. In 2013, it was expanded to accommodate 1700 workers. ^[4]

Wandoan South Solar Farm occupies 500 hectares (1,200 acres) with solar photovoltaic panels and can produce up to 125 megawatts (168,000 hp) of electricity. ^[5]

A thermal coal resource area called Juandah has been identified at 26°14′06″S149°48′58″E / 26.235°S 149.816°E / -26.235; 149.816 (Juandah (drill site)) in the locality. It has estimated reserves of 10 to 100 megatonnes (9,800,000 to 98,400,000 long tons; 11,000,000 to 110,000,000 short tons). ^[6]

History

Sundown Provisional School, circa 1930s

Toby's Knob in the Woleebee district was the site of the hide-out of the Aboriginal bushranger known as Wild Toby during the 1870s and 1880s. ^[7]

Sundown Provisional School was located on Sundown Road. The school opened 2 March 1931 and closed 1 February 1937, due to low enrolment numbers. ^{[8] [9]} Students were later transported to Wandoan State School and Guluguba State School via school bus.^{[ citation needed ]}

Wandoan South Solar Farm was completed in 2023. ^[5]

Demographics

In the 2016 census, Woleebee had a population of 95 people. ^[10]

In the 2021 census, Woleebee had a population of 62 people. ^[1]

Despite the large number of fly-in-fly-out workers that live in the Woleebee Creek Village, these workers are counted at their "usual residence" for census purposes, rather than appearing in the census population data for Woleebee. ^[11]

Education

There are no schools in Woleebee. The nearest government primary schools are Wandoan State School in neighbouring Wandoan to the north, Guluguba State School in neighbouring Guluguba to the north-east, and Dulacca State School in Dulacca to the south. The nearest government secondary schools are Wandoan State School (to Year 10) and Miles State High School (to Year 12) in Miles to the south-west. However, some parts of Woleebee are too distant to attend these secondary schools. The alternatives are distance education and boarding school. ^[12]

References

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Woleebee (SAL)". 2021 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
2. "Woleebee – locality in Western Downs Region (entry 47760)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government . Retrieved 30 May 2019.
3. "Layers: Locality; Protected areas and forests; Land use; Production permits". Queensland Globe. Queensland Government. Archived from the original on 19 December 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
4. Houghton, Des (4 August 2013). "For the 1100 workers at Queensland's newest gas 'township', there are comforts aplenty" . Retrieved 29 December 2024.
5. "Wandoan South Solar 1". Vena Energy. Archived from the original on 19 October 2024. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
6. "Queensland Globe". State of Queensland . Retrieved 4 June 2019.
7. Reid, Gordon (1982). A Nest of Hornets. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
8. "Agency ID 9232, Sundown Provisional School". Queensland State Archives . Retrieved 5 October 2025.
9. "Sundown Provisional School". Picture Western Downs. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
10. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Woleebee (SSC)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
11. "Fly-in Fly-out (FIFO) Workers". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 13 February 2014. Archived from the original on 17 November 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
12. "Layers: Locality; Schools and school catchments". Queensland Globe. Queensland Government. Archived from the original on 19 December 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2024.