| Deniliquin New South Wales |
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Deniliquin town centre |
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Deniliquin
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| Population: | 7,431 | ||||||
| Postcode: | 2710 | ||||||
| Elevation: | 93.0 m (305 ft) | ||||||
| Location: | |||||||
| LGA: | Deniliquin Council | ||||||
| County: | Townsend | ||||||
| State District: | Murray-Darling | ||||||
| Federal Division: | Division of Farrer | ||||||
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Deniliquin, ( /dəˈnɪlɨkwɨn/)[1] known locally as "Deni", is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales close to the border with Victoria.
Deniliquin is located at the intersection of the Riverina and Cobb Highway approximately 725 kilometres (450 mi) south west of the state capital, Sydney and 285 kilometres (177 mi) north of Melbourne. The town is divided in two parts by the Edward River, an anabranch of the Murray River, with the main business district located on the south bank.
The town services a productive agricultural district with prominent rice, wool and timber industries. At the 2006 census, Deniliquin had a population of 7,431.[2] In the 2001 census the population of Deniliquin was 7,781.[3]
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Prior to European settlement, The Aboriginal inhabitants of the Deniliquin area were the Barapa Baraba people.[4]
In 1843 the entrepreneur and speculator Benjamin Boyd acquired land in the vicinity of present-day Deniliquin (probably via his agent Augustus Morris). The location was known as The Sandhills, but Boyd (or Morris) named it Deniliquin after 'Denilakoon', a local Aborigine famed for his wrestling prowess.[5] An inn and a punt were established on the site in the period 1845-47 and the town site was surveyed in 1848 and gazetted in 1850.[4] Deniliquin Post Office opened on 1 January 1850.[6]
In 1853, William John Wills of the Burke and Wills expedition worked as a shepherd at the Royal Bank sheep station near Deniliquin.
As Deniliquin was established on the convergence of major stock routes between the colonies of Queensland, New South Wales and the Victorian gold rush centres of Victoria, it soon became an important river crossing and the first bridge was built over the Edward River in 1861. The Deniliquin and Moama Railway Company built a private railway in 1879 to connect with Moama, across the Murray River from the busy river port of Echuca, connected by rail to Melbourne.[4]
Wool growing quickly became a major industry and the area around Deniliquin was home to several Merino studs.[4] In 1861, George Hall Peppin and his two sons, experienced English sheep breeders, established a Merino stud at Wanganella station, north of Deniliquin. There, the brothers developed the Peppin Merino, able to thrive in drier inland regions. Today, as many as 70 per cent of Merinos in Australia are said to be directly descended from these sheep.[7]
In the 1860s, Deniliquin was the centre of a short-lived campaign by wealthy pastoralists including Peppin, George Desailly, Robert Landale and William Brodribb for secession from New South Wales and the creation of a new Riverina colony. This campaign was supported by David Jones, the editor of the local newspaper the Pastoral Times.[8][9]
On 19 December 1868, Deniliquin was constituted as The Municipality of Deniliquin, and the first Municipal Election was held on 23 February 1869. In 1993 the enactment of the Local Government Act (NSW) saw the name of the council changed from the Municipality of Deniliquin to the Deniliquin Council.[10]
Large-scale irrigation schemes came to the Deniliquin area with the establishment of the Deniboota and Denimein Irrigation Districts in 1938 and the Berriquin Irrigation District in 1939, using water diverted from the Murray River at Lake Mulwala through the Mulwala Canal. An ample and reliable water supply led to the development of water intensive industries such as rice growing.[11]
In April 2006 the Herald Sun reported on their front cover that the Edward River was dry, with an accompanying photograph showing a dry creek.[12] This was later revealed to be erroneous; the photograph was of an unknown channel on a farm within 60 kilometres (37 mi) of Deniliquin, while the Edward River is in fact still running. Deniliquin Council and members of the Deniliquin community have since attempted to rectify the damage to local tourism by improving the profile of Deniliquin in various media outlets.[13]
Deniliquin is a service centre for the surrounding agricultural region. The region includes both dryland and irrigated areas. The dryland areas support grazing, in particular beef cattle and wool growing. Deniliquin is home to many famous Merino studs and the saltbush plains produce quality medium class wool.
The irrigated areas produce a range of high yield crops. Rice was a major crop until the recent drought. The largest rice mill in the southern hemisphere is in Deniliquin, producing large packs and bulk rice for export markets.[14] The rice mill closed in December 2007 and will reopen in April 2011.[15][16]
Deniliquin is also the headquarters of Murray Irrigation Limited, an irrigator owned private company and one of the largest privately-owned irrigation supply companies in the world. Murray Irrigation manages the operations of the Berriquin, Deniboota, Denimein and Wakool Irrigation Areas in the Murray Valley. These areas produce 50% of Australia’s rice crop, 20% of NSW milk production, 75% of NSW processing tomatoes and 40% of NSW potatoes.[17]
Sawmills in the area process timber harvested from the River red gum forests lining the Edward and Murray floodplains.[18]
As the largest town in the south western Riverina, there is a range of government and commercial services to residents of the town and the surrounding area.
Notable people from the Deniliquin area include:
Deniliquin is well serviced by the education sector. The town has 3 public primary schools (Deniliquin South PS, Deniliquin North P.S, Edward PS), 1 Catholic primary school (St Michael's PS), 1 public high school (Deniliquin HS) and 1 independent K-10 school (Deniliquin Christian School)
It has a TAFE NSW Campus, which is part of the Riverina Institute of TAFE.[19]
Deniliquin is also the base for the NSW Department of Education South West Riverina regional office.
Sporting clubs in the area include:
Deniliquin is home to the Play on the Plains Festival held each September/October on the New South Wales Labour Day long weekend. The festival includes the famous 'Deniliquin Ute Muster'[20]
The Deni Play On The Plains Festival has set the following world records:[20]
Deniliquin has many local bands, notable bands are The Lincolns, Mannik, Shane McGrath, The Stormtroopers and The Lexies and with attempts been made to encourage other bands to come to Deniliquin to perform, with varying success. There are also several DJ's who play on a regular basis at the local nightclub "barCODEblue" as well as hosting several dance music nights bringing other DJs from NSW and Victoria. These include Wil Young, Mark 'SynergY' Rourke and Daniel 'B33FY187' O' Keefe.
Deniliquin has been home to many music festivals. They include:
The local newspaper is the Deniliquin Pastoral Times. It is published on Tuesdays and Fridays and – on each of these days – has a circulation of 2787, with an estimated readership of 10,260.[26] Other newspapers circulated throughout the Deniliquin region include The Herald Sun, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Daily Telegraph.
There are three local radio stations: 102.5FM (classic rock), 1521 2QN (classic hits) and 106.1FM (country music narrowcast). Other stations broadcasting throughout the region include Radio National, SBS Radio and 2KY Racing Radio.
Locally available TV stations include ABC Television (ABC1), SBS Television (SBS ONE), Prime7, WIN Television, Southern Cross Television, 7Two, 7mate, GO!, GEM, ABC2, ABC3, ABC News 24, SBS HD, SBS Two, One HD and Eleven. WIN Television produces a half-hour long regional news bulletin which screens from Monday to Friday at 6.30pm. Deniliquin also features on Weeknights, which airs at 6:30pm on Southern Cross Television.
In 2008 the thriller, The Clinic, was filmed in Deniliquin. The producers used many of the town’s locations while shooting, including the Peppin Motor Inn, Warbreccan Homestead, Deniliquin abbotoirs and the largest rice mill in the Southern Hemisphere.