This structure on the median strip in the centre of Hughenden is in recognition of the role the humble windmill played in allowing outback Queensland to be opened up.
Australia's Great Artesian Basin is a vast underground water supply that covers a third of the continent and supplies the majority of the water for outback pastoral and community needs.
And it was the humble windmill that brought the water to the surface from sub-artesian bores. They have now largely been replaced by solar powered electric pumps.
Interesting detail. It strikes me as the reverse of, but similar to, the position in places like East Anglia and the Netherlands, where they use wind pumps like this to take the water away and reclaim the land.
