Kondinin, Western Australia

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Kondinin
Western Australia
Population: 288
Established: 1900s
Postcode: 6367
Location:
LGA: Shire of Kondinin
State District: Merredin
Federal Division: O'Connor

Kondinin is a town located in the Eastern Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, 279 kilometres (173 mi) east of the state capital, Perth via the Brookton Highway and State Route 40 between Corrigin and Hyden. It is the main town in the Shire of Kondinin.

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[edit] History

The first European known to have visited the Kondinin area was Captain John Septimus Roe, Surveyor General of the Swan River Colony on his 1848-1849 expedition to examine the south coast. He encountered a group of Aborigines 55 kilometres (34 mi) east of Nalyaring (near Brookton) who guided the expedition party to several water sources before leaving the party at Yeerakine (just south-east of Kondinin) as this was the limit of their territory. The lake and well nearby came to be known as Kondinin, although the meaning is unknown.

In the early years, settlers occasionally encountered groups of Aborigines hunting possums. Although artifacts such as grinding stones and stone choppers have been found in the district, no signs of permanent occupation were found by early settlers other than the mia-mias built by "Europeanised" Aboriginal shepherds from Narrogin in the employ of Michael Brown.

Michael Brown, a businessman from Narrogin, took up large pastoral leases in the Kulin/Kondinin area in 1905. These and other leases in the area were terminated in 1909/1910 to allow the government to distribute the land for agricultural purposes.

The town of Kondinin began life as a railway station on the railway line from Yilliminning (near Narrogin) to Kondinin, built from 1911 to 1915. The district around Kondinin was already settled when the government chose to construct a railway line here in 1911. The townsite was gazetted in 1915.[1]

[edit] Present day

Kondinin has a population of about 300 and is a key agricultural centre for a district whose main activities are wheat and sheep farming. It contains a TAFE centre, and in addition, a primary school (the nearest high school being 23 km away in Kulin), National Australia Bank,Bankwest, shopping facilities, accommodation (hotel, motel, caravan park), council offices and a telecentre are located within the town. Every year in March, it hosts Hoonavation, formerly part of the Kondinin Keg and Cork Festival, where burnouts and freestyle motocross events are conducted.

The town is a stop on the Transwa bus service to Esperance.[2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Western Australian Land Information Authority. History of country town names - K. Retrieved on 2007-03-25.
  2. ^ GE2 timetable (1 November 2006). Retrieved on 25 March 2007.
  • Greble, William E (1976). A Bold Yeomanry: Social Change in a Wheat Belt District. Perth: Creative Research.

[edit] External links