The Queensland Government Statistician’s Office (QGSO) provides a break down of current and future projections for Queensland’s population growth among local government areas. Not surprisingly, population growth trends are shown to diminish as distance from major service centers and the coast increases; the fastest growing local government areas thus aggregate along Queensland’s east coast. Among these coastal growth areas are rapidly developing towns that serve primarily to service the coal and gas extraction industry. This industry is constantly expanding and towns surrounding new extraction sites and gas fields are expected to see significant population growth and benefit greatly. However, it is this very resource industry that has historically