In a presentation slide during his talk at the APPEA conference on Tuesday, Baulderstone revealed key demographics that made the CSG-benefiting town of Roma in Queensland outshine the CSG hopeful town of Narrabri in New South Wales – which is assisted by coal mining growth despite CSG-related setbacks.

In the population stakes the average age in Roma is 32 years old compared to 39 in Narrabri.

Youth migration had evidently been reversed in Roma, with the population increasing by 9% to 13,562 from 2001 to 2012 while Narrabri had declined 6% to 12,303 in this time.

On the economic front Roma’s local area economy was found to have increased by 120% from the 2006-07 financial year compared to 2010-11.

Narrabri’s economy was only up by 24% in comparison, while Roma’s average weekly household income of $1400 was 36% higher than the average in Narrabri.

The unemployment rate over that timeframe was also a contrasting picture, with Roma’s at just 2% compared to more than 5% for Narrabri.