Royal Hotel, Birdsville linked to pedal generators, the others being placed at 4 head stations in far western Queensland and at the Aboriginal Mission at Mornington Island, with base station VJI established at Cloncurry. For the first 18 months, communication was by Morse code, but the system proved enormously popular, and soon revolutionised outback communications. Importantly, Birdsville became reliably connected to the station properties in the Diamantina district, and with the new Aerial Medical Service, established by Flynn in 1928 under the auspices of the AIM, and based at Cloncurry. In 1934, nursing sisters Edna McLean and Amy Bishop of the AIM's Birdsville
Cloncurry, Queensland Cloncurry, Queensland Cloncurry is a town and locality in the Shire of Cloncurry, Queensland, Australia. It is the administrative centre of the shire. At the 2016 census, Cloncurry recorded a population of 2,719 people. Cloncurry is known as the "Friendly Heart of the Great North West" and celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2017. Cloncurry is situated in the north-west of Queensland, 770 kilometres west of the city of Townsville via the Flinders Highway. The town lies adjacent to the Cloncurry River. Cattle grazing is the significant industry in the region, and a large sale yards is located in the town.