North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the state of Queensland in Australia that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and the tropical northern part of it has been historically remote and undeveloped, resulting in a distinctive regional character and identity.
Townsville is the largest urban centre in North Queensland, leading it to be regarded as an unofficial capital. The region has a population of 231,628 and covers 80,041.5 km2 (30,904.2 sq mi).
There is no official boundary that separates North Queensland from the rest of the state. Unofficially it is usually considered to have a southern border beginning south of the Mackay Region southern boundary, but historically it has been as far south as Rockhampton. To the north is the Far North Queensland region, centred on Cairns and out west is the Gulf Country.
A coastal region centred on its largest settlement is the city of Townsville. The city is the location of a major seaport handling exports from mines in Mount Isa and cattle exports from coastal and inland areas. The region also contains a bulk sugar exporting terminal at Lucinda in the region's north. Mackay is Australia's sugar capital and produces the most sugar in Australia and is shipped at Mackay Harbour. Mackay is also one of Australia's biggest coal exporters as it is close to Queensland's major mines. Dalrymple Bay, south of Mackay is another port where coal and sugar is exported. It also contains the inland city of Charters Towers and the coastal towns of Ayr and Ingham.
The North Queensland Cowboys are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, Queensland. They compete in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Since their admission to the competition in 1995, the club has appeared in two grand finals (2005 & 2015), winning in 2015, and reached the finals eight times. The team's management headquarters and home ground, 1300SMILES Stadium, are located in the Townsville suburb of Kirwan.
The Cowboys were admitted to the premiership for the 1995 ARL season. They played in the breakaway Super League competition in 1997 before continuing to compete in the re-unified National Rugby League competition the following year. After running into financial trouble in 2001, the club was taken over by News Limited. In 2007, the team was sold by News Limited to the Cowboys League Club.
In 2015, the Cowboys played in the first all-Queensland grand final, defeating the Brisbane Broncos 17-16 in golden point to win their first premiership.
The 2008 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 14th season in the the club's history. Coached by Graham Murray and captained by Johnathan Thurston, they competed in the National Rugby League's 2008 Telstra Premiership.
On 19 May, Murray resigned as head coach after just three wins from the opening 10 games. He was replaced by assistant coach Ian Millward, who took over as interim head coach until the end of the season. The Cowboys finished the season in 15th place, avoiding the wooden spoon by points differential.
The Cowboys entered the 2008 season optimistic about the finals chances after a preliminary final appearance in 2007. The club got off to the worst possible start, losing three straight games. They would win their next three but it proved to be a false dawn, as the side went on a club record 13-game losing streak. They finished the season with two wins from their final five games, finishing in 15th place and narrowly avoiding the wooden spoon. The season was plagued by injury, with key players Matthew Bowen, Luke O'Donnell, Matthew Scott and Johnathan Thurston all missing considerable playing time due to injuries.
The 1997 North Queensland Cowboys season was the third in the club's history. Coached by Tim Sheens and captained by Ian Roberts, they competed in Super League's 1997 Telstra Cup, finishing in last place, but managed to attract an average of almost 17,000 per home game.
This year the Cowboys also provided their first representative players, when Steve Walters and Owen Cunningham were selected to play for Queensland, Ian Roberts was selected to play for New South Wales and Tyran Smith and John Lomax were selected to play for New Zealand. Walters also represented Australia.
Queensland (abbreviated as Qld) is the second-largest and third-most-populous state in Australia. Situated in the north-east of the country, it is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean. Queensland has a population of 4,750,500, concentrated along the coast and particularly in the state's South East. The state is the world's sixth largest sub-national entity, with an area of 1,852,642 km2. The capital and largest city in the state is Brisbane, Australia's third largest city. Often referred to as the "Sunshine State", Queensland is home to 10 of Australia's 30 largest cities and is the nation's third largest economy.
Queensland was first inhabited by Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders. The first European to land in Queensland (and Australia) was Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon in 1606, who explored the west coast of the Cape York Peninsula near present-day Weipa. In 1770, Lieutenant James Cook claimed the east coast of Australia for the Kingdom of Great Britain. The colony of New South Wales was founded in 1788 by Governor Arthur Phillip at Sydney; New South Wales at that time included all of what is now Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania. Queensland was explored in subsequent decades until the establishment of a penal colony at Brisbane in 1824 by John Oxley. Penal transportation ceased in 1839 and free settlement was allowed from 1842.
Queensland is a 1976 film.
Doug is a factory worker living in Melbourne who dreams of moving from Melbourne to Queensland. He attempts to reconnect with an old flame, Marge, and move to Queensland together.
John Ruane says he was inspired by a newspaper article about a slaughter man who killed his de facto wife and then got drunk for two days. He decided to remove the killing aspect, concentrate on the relationship. Ruane:
The film was made with money from the Experimental Film and Television Fund while John Ruane was a film student at the Swinburne College of Technology in Melbourne.
The movie was released through the co-operative movement.
The 2002 VIP Petfoods Queensland 500 was an endurance race for V8 Supercars staged at Queensland Raceway, Ipswich, Queensland, Australia on 15 September 2002. Race distance was 161 laps of the 3.121 km circuit, totalling 502 km. The event was round nine of the 2002 V8 Supercar Championship Series. It was the fourth and last Queensland 500 to be held for V8 Supercars, although the race name was revived in 2006 for a club level endurance race for Sports and Touring Cars.
The 2002 race was won by David Besnard and Simon Wills driving a Ford AU Falcon.
Top Fifteen Shootout results as follows:
Race results as follows: