[1] In 1915 T. J. Ryan's Labor government won office in wartime Queensland on the strength of promises to improve living standards - principally by addressing the problems of high commodity prices, price-fixing and the emergence of monopolies.

The Labor party in general and Ryan and his Treasurer, Ted Theodore, in particular, advocated public ownership of key economic activities, in competition with private enterprise, but at fair prices.

These activities were part of a broader, pragmatic Labor platform which advocated State intervention in the private sector to protect individuals against capitalist exploitation, not as a means of involving workers in the control of production, or of raising wage levels.

Believing that all Queenslanders should have access to meat at fair prices, and needing to maintain a regular supply of cheap meat to the Allied fighting forces, the Ryan government introduced a Statewide system of State-owned butcher's shops which proved to be among the more successful of the numerous State enterprises.

The first State butcher's shop was opened in Roma Street, Brisbane, on 12 November 1915, and soon other shops were established in Brisbane suburbs and in regional centres such as Rockhampton, Gympie, Townsville, Charters Towers, and Mount Morgan, following the railway lines via which frozen meat was distributed to the State butcheries.

It was a substantial town serving a wide pastoral and agricultural district, and functioned as an important distribution centre for meat slaughtered at the State-owned Charleville Meatworks, further west along the railway.

A cottage on this second land parcel was removed to Charleville Meatworks to make room for the construction of the State butcher's shop.

The new building was completed by late October, and opened on 18 September 1919,[2] at which time the leased shops in Arthur and Wyndham Streets were closed.

Some State enterprises had been purchased at an inflated price; others were located in unsuitable areas or were badly managed; others suffered the effects of economic recession, or of the mid-1920s drought.

By 1926, Labor premier William McCormack had declared publicly his intention of disposing of unprofitable State Enterprises, although little action was taken at the time.

[1] In their 14 years of operation, the State butcher's shops sold over £5 million worth of meat and had made an overall profit to the Treasury of £185,000, but when interest and other charges were factored in, they lost about £6,000.

However, this pales by comparison with the combined £2 million loss sustained by the State stations and the State-acquired Chillagoe railway, mines and smelter.

The front (east) elevation has a decorative gable comprising evenly spaced vertical painted timbers on plaster.

There is a cantilevered awning, with a cloth "Dutch style" blind on the south side, beneath which is a modern aluminium shopfront.

The hipped roof wing, originally open, is now partly built in by a brick wall with a window, with the remainder enclosed in vertical metal sheeting.

In particular, the place is illustrative of the highly co-ordinated, statewide system of State butcheries which provided cheaper meat to thousands of Queensland families in the years 1915–1929.

The Roma State Butcher's Shop was considered an important distribution centre for meat supplied from the State-owned Charleville Meatworks, which is illustrated in the construction of a substantial brick building with state-of-the-art butchery equipment and facilities.