Reprinted from ABC Westewrn Queenslandl, January 20, 2005


The Barcoo Shire Council wants to establish an informal tourist route to promote the opal industry in western Queensland.

Chief executive officer Karissa Hooper says the route could include opal shires such as Quilpie and Winton, as well as Barcoo.

She says while the idea is only in the early stages of planning, it is hoped the concept will bring new visitors to the area.

"Good work has been done in that area by other shires such as Quilpie and Charleville, but Jundah especially has a lot of opal miners and it's quite an active industry in the region so we're looking at building on that," she said.

"Really, how we do it is what we're looking at— but we're starting a new information centre in Jundah, so one of the things we can promote there is that we've got an active opal industry in the region."