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Deniliquin

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Deniliquin
New South Wales
Deniliquin town centre
Population7,781
Postcode(s)2710
Elevation93.0 m (305 ft)
Location
LGA(s)Deniliquin Council
CountyTownsend
State electorate(s)Murray-Darling
Federal division(s)Division of Farrer
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall
23.5 °C
74 °F		 9.2 °C
49 °F		 405.7 mm
16 in

Deniliquin, known locally as "Deni", is a town and Local Government Area (see Deniliquin Council) 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 south west of the state capital, Sydney and 285 kilometres 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 2001 census Deniliquin had a population of 7,781.[1]

History

Prior to European settlement, The aboriginal inhabitants of the Deniliquin area were the Barapa Baraba people.[2]

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.[3] An inn and a punt were established on the site in the period 1845-1847 and the town site surveyed in 1848 and gazetted in 1850.[2]

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. A private railway was constructed in 1879 to connect with Moama, across the Murray River from the busy river port of Echuca, connected by rail to Melbourne.[2]

A water trough on a sheep farm 50 km north of the town

Wool growing quickly became a major industry and the area around Deniliquin was home to several Merino studs.[2] 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 percent of Merinos in Australia are said to be directly descended from these sheep.[4]

In the 1860s, Deniliquin was the centre of a short lived campaign by wealthy pastoralists including Peppin, George Desailly, Robert Landale and William Bodribb 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.[5][6]

The Municipality of Deniliquin was constituted on 19th December 1868 and the first Municipal Election was held on 23rd February 1869. The Council was known as the Council of the Municipality of Deniliquin until the enactment of the 1993 Local Government Act when it changed its name to the Deniliquin Council

[7]

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 lead to the development of water intensive industries such as rice growing.[8]

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.[9] This was later revealed to be eroneous; the photograph was of an unknown channel on a farm within 60km 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 vairous media outlets.[10]

Industry

Waring Gardens in Deniliquin.

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 is the major crop and the largest rice mill in the southern hemisphere is in Deniliquin, producing large packs and bulk rice for export markets.[11]

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.[12]

Sawmills in the area process timber harvested from the River red gum forests lining the Edward and Murray floodplains.[13]

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 Residents

Notable people from Deniliquin include:

Education

Deniliquin has 5 primary schools, and one secondary school

  • Deniliquin South Public School
  • Deniliquin North Public School
  • Deniliquin Christian School
  • Edward Public School
  • St Michael's Catholic Primary School
  • Deniliquin High School

Deniliquin has a TAFE NSW Campus, which is part of the Riverina Institute of TAFE.[14]

Sport

Sport is an important part of the culture of Deniliquin. The town is famous for the sportspeople raised in the area. Notable sporting clubs in the area include:

Australian Rules Football

Rugby Union Football

Play on the Plains Festival

Deniliquin is home to the Play on the Plains Festival held each September/October on the New South Wales Labour Day long weekend which includes the famous 'Deniliquin Ute Muster'..[15]

Music

Deniliquin has many local bands, and attempts have been made to encourage other bands to come to Deniliquin to perform, with varying success.

Deniliquin is home to one of the two official Australian branches of the Metallica fan club, known as For Whom Metallica Tolls.

Deniliquin is also the home of the website Heavy Metal Nation, a place for people to contribute their own opinions on music from the heavier side, including punk, heavy metal, hardcore, emo, rock, goth, death metal, and everything else that fits into that genre. Heavy Metal Nation is responsible for organising Night Of Darkness, a festival of heavy metal music.

Music Festivals

Deniliquin has been home to many music festivals. Of particular note are the following:

The Flat Earth Festival. The Flat Earth Festival was organised by a youth committee under the auspices of South West Music, beginning in 1999 and running until 2003. The aim of the Flat Earth Festival (so named because Deniliqiun is on the Hay Plains, the area with the smallest deviation of elevation on Earth[16]) was to provide a music festival accompanied by other activities (such as motorcross demonstrations) in a drug and alcohol free environment.[17]. The Flat Earth Festival youth committee failed to attract new members as previous members moved on, and the event recessed.

Notable bands attending the Flat Earth Festival included Grinspoon and Sunk Loto.

Shakedown Festival. The Shakedown Festival involves live bands and DJs. It is organised by the Deniliquin Youth Council, a sub-committee of Deniliquin Municipal Council[18], and is held during National Youth Week, on the 14th April 2007.[19] Notable acts appearing at Shakedown include Behind Crimson Eyes and DJLX.

Spring Blues Festival. The Spring Blues Festival had its inaugural year in 2006. The aim of the festival is to expose Deniliquin residents to the talented Blues musicians performing in Australia, as well as providing music workshops and improptu jam sessions. Notable acts appearing at The Spring Blues Festival include The Dutch Tilders and Jeff Lang[20]

Night Of Darkness. The Night Of Darkness Festival is a recurring (three to four times per year) concert event involving Heavy Metal, Hardcore and Rock bands. The purpose is to provide an opportunity for teenagers, young adults, and other fans an opportunity to see these types of bands without needing to travel, in an alcohol and drug free environment. Notable bands appearing at Night Of Darkness include Double Dragon and Uncaged.[21]

References

  1. ^ "Deniliquin (A) (Local Government Area)". 2001 Census QuickStats. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 2006-11-09.
  2. ^ a b c d "Walkabout Australian Travel Guide - Deniliquin". Fairfax. Retrieved 2007-02-04.
  3. ^ Reed, A. W., Place-names of New South Wales: Their Origins and Meanings, (Reed: 1969).
  4. ^ "Merino Sheep in Australia". The Australian Association of Stud Merino Breeders Limited. Retrieved 2007-02-04.
  5. ^ Hogg, Robert (2004). "jas review: Leighton Frappell, Lords of the Saltbush Plains: Fontier Squatters and the Pastoral Independence Movement 1865-1866". API Review of Books. Curtin University of Technology. Retrieved 2007-02-04.
  6. ^ "Peppin, George Hall (1800 - 1872)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University. Retrieved 2007-02-04.
  7. ^ "About Deniliquin Countil". Deniliquin Council. Retrieved 2007-05-17.
  8. ^ Meyer, Wayne (2005). "The Irrigation Industry in the Murray and Murrumbidgee Basins" (PDF). CRC for Irrigation Futures Technical Report No. 03/05. CRC for Irrigation Futures. Retrieved 2007-02-04.
  9. ^ "Country News". McPherson Media. Retrieved 2007-05-17.
  10. ^ "Deniliquin tries to counteract photo bungle". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2007-05-17.
  11. ^ "SuRice Deniliquin". Ricegrowers Limited. Retrieved 2007-02-04.
  12. ^ "Taking up the challenge ~ Responsible irrigation management" (PDF). Murray Irrigation Limited. Retrieved 2007-02-04.
  13. ^ "Managing Murray's mighty river red gums". Bush Telegraph Magazine. New South Wales Department of Primary Industries. Retrieved 2007-02-04.
  14. ^ TAFE NSW, Deniliquin Campus
  15. ^ "Deniliquin Ute Muster Play On The Plains Festival". Deni-Play on the Plains Festival Inc. Retrieved 2007-03-30.
  16. ^ "Visit Hay - Real People, Real Experiences". Hay Tourism & Development Inc. Retrieved 2007-04-01.
  17. ^ "The Music Council Of Australia: Way Out West". The Music Council Of Australia. Retrieved 2007-04-01.
  18. ^ "What's On In Deniliquin". Deniliquin Municipal Council. Retrieved 2007-04-01.
  19. ^ "National Youth Week 2007". Australian Government Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. Retrieved 2007-04-01.
  20. ^ "Deniliquin Spring Blues Festival". Deniliquin Spring Blues Festival. Retrieved 2007-04-02.
  21. ^ "Night Of Darkness". Night Of Darkness Inc. Retrieved 2007-04-02.
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