In general, an imaginary line is usually any sort of geometric line (more generally, curves ) that has only an abstract definition and does not physically exist. They are often used to properly identify places on a map .
111-481: The Barassi Line is an imaginary line in Australia which approximately divides areas where Australian rules football or rugby league is the most popular football code . The term was first used by historian Ian Turner in his 1978 Ron Barassi Memorial Lecture. Crowd figures, media coverage, and participation rates are heavily skewed in favour of the dominant code on either side. Most other sports are unaffected by
222-639: A "powerhouse club" in terms of support drawing from a potential supporter base of over 2 million people. The league helped secure AFL legend coach Kevin Sheedy to help initially establish the club. As part of its effort to win over rugby league followers in Sydney, the AFL recruited rugby league star Israel Folau , who had not even heard of the sport, using a promotional salary of more than $ 6 million over four years. Folau broke his AFL contract after just one season and his conversion
333-663: A deal with Edmund Barton , leader of the NSW Protectionist Party, whereby they would work together for federation and leave the question of a protective tariff for a future Australian government to decide. In early 1893 the first citizens' Federation League was established in the Riverina region of New South Wales and many other leagues were soon formed in the colony. The leagues organised a conference in Corowa in July 1893 which developed
444-517: A debt crisis after the onset of the Great Depression in 1929. New South Wales was hit harder by the depression than other states, and by 1932 one third of union members in the state were unemployed, compared with 20 per cent nationally. Labor won the November 1930 NSW elections and Jack Lang became premier for the second time. In 1931 Lang proposed a plan to deal with the depression which included
555-451: A diverse set of understory shrubs and fungi. One of the widespread fungi is Witch's Butter ( Tremella mesenterica ). The western slopes and plains fill a significant portion of the state's area and have a much sparser population than areas nearer the coast. Agriculture is central to the economy of the western slopes, particularly the Riverina region and Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area in
666-493: A generation of children to the sport; however, the success of this strategy has been criticised. The AFL commissioned a study in 2012 by David Lawson, a Melbourne University academic, that found that contrary to reports by the league, club participation rates in Sydney had actually stalled, and that the AFL was masking low figures by using short-term, non-club-affiliated Auskick participants and comparing them to competitive junior club participation numbers in other sports. The league
777-564: A gift of a bottle of wine. The Liberal Party then elected Treasurer Mike Baird as party leader and Premier. Baird resigned as Premier on 23 January 2017, and was replaced by Gladys Berejiklian . On 23 March 2019, Berejiklian led the Coalition to a third term in office. She maintained high personal approval ratings for her management of a bushfire crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic . However, Berejiklian resigned as premier on 5 October 2021, following
888-632: A hereditary upper house was widely ridiculed and subsequently dropped. The property qualification for voters had been reduced in 1851, and by 1856 95 per cent of adult males in Sydney, and 55 per cent in the colony as a whole, were eligible to vote. Full adult male suffrage was introduced in 1858. In 1859 Queensland became a separate colony. In 1861 the NSW parliament legislated land reforms intended to encourage family farms and mixed farming and grazing ventures. The amount of land under cultivation subsequently increased from 246,000 acres in 1861 to 800,000 acres in
999-644: A huge victory for Holman's pro-conscription Nationalists in the elections of March 1917, a second referendum on conscription held in December that year was defeated in New South Wales and nationally. Following the war, NSW governments embarked on large public works programs including road building, the extension and electrification of the rail network and the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The works were largely funded by loans from London, leading to
1110-572: A majority of one seat. The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 saw more NSW volunteers for service than the federal authorities could handle, leading to unrest in camps as recruits waited for transfer overseas. In 1916 NSW premier William Holman and a number of his supporters were expelled from the Labor party over their support for military conscription. Holman subsequently formed a Nationalist government which remained in power until 1920. Despite
1221-582: A military outpost on King George Sound in Western Australia in 1826 which was later transferred to the Swan River colony. In 1839, the UK decided to formally annex at least part of New Zealand to New South Wales. It was administered as a dependency until becoming the separate Colony of New Zealand on 3 May 1841. From the 1820s, squatters increasingly established unauthorised cattle and sheep runs beyond
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#17328519245891332-477: A more nationally balanced competition in 2005. However, its current composition reflects association football's participation and growth per capita, which is by far strongest in the east (where it faces less competition with Australian rules). Australian rules football is now the most popular football code to the west and south, including the capitals of Melbourne , Perth, Adelaide , Hobart , and Darwin while rugby league and rugby union are more popular on
1443-540: A number of Australian rules football games for Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL) before enlisting to fight in World War II and subsequently dying in action at Tobruk . The Barassi Line itself was named after Ron Barassi Jr. , the elder Barassi's son, who was a star player for Melbourne and Carlton and a premiership-winning coach with Carlton and North Melbourne . He believed in spreading
1554-510: A period of professionalism and expansion, forming the basis of today's Australian Football League (AFL) and National Rugby League (NRL). The Australian Capital Territory found itself isolated behind the line and it wasn't until the introduction of the Canberra Raiders in 1982 that it also began to fall into line. The result is the development of a regional dichotomy with strongly ingrained generational football cultures on either side. Given
1665-507: A plan for federation. The new NSW premier, George Reid , endorsed the "Corowa plan" and in 1895 convinced the majority of other premiers to adopt it. A constitutional convention held sessions in 1897 and 1898 which resulted in a proposed constitution for a Commonwealth of federated states. However, a referendum on the constitution failed to gain the required majority in New South Wales after that colony's Labor party campaigned against it and premier Reid gave it such qualified support that he earned
1776-618: A planner to design the street layout of Sydney. A road across the Blue Mountains was completed in 1815, opening the way for large scale farming and grazing in the lightly wooded pastures west of the Great Dividing Range . In 1825 Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) became a separate colony and the western border of New South Wales was extended to the 129th meridian east (now the West Australian border). New South Wales established
1887-423: A ship, and sail to freedom. Poorly armed, and with their leader Philip Cunningham captured, about 100 troops and volunteers routed the main body of insurgents at Rouse Hill . At least 39 convicts were killed in the uprising and subsequent executions. Lachlan Macquarie (governor 1810–1821) commissioned the construction of roads, wharves, churches and public buildings, sent explorers out from Sydney, and employed
1998-677: A sign located nearby explaining the site. The set of goal posts were installed in 2005 as part of work associated with the Centenary of Federation funded bridge and bypass road, and was opened on 5 April 2005 by the Federal Member for Farrer, Sussan Ley on behalf of Prime Minister John Howard . Barassi himself visited the site in October 2012 on the occasion of installation of new signage by the Indigo Shire . The pursuit of national exposure for sports
2109-490: A sports club of choice for Sydney's wealthy. The AFL began zone and academy recruitment programs, fostering talented young players from clubs in the Riverina (where the code retains a strong following) to Sydney and helping the code to recruit talented athletes from metropolitan areas. In addition to the growth of the game in Sydney, this grassroots expansion has contributed to the Barassi Line moving slightly further north of
2220-502: A suspension of interest payments to British creditors, diverting the money to unemployment relief. The Commonwealth and state premiers rejected the plan and later that year Lang's supporters in the Commonwealth parliament brought down James Scullin's federal Labor government. The NSW Lang government subsequently defaulted on overseas interest payments and was dismissed from office in May 1932 by
2331-428: Is a nautical term for a line down the center of a vessel lengthwise. As a geographical concept, an imaginary line may serve as an arbitrary division, such as This cartography or mapping term article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW ) is a state on the east coast of Australia . It borders Queensland to
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#17328519245892442-472: Is influenced by the ratings systems used by Australian television. By the late 1980s, the main football codes in Australia realised that in order to garner the desired high national ratings, and increase the value of their product for television broadcast deals and corporate sponsors, they needed to maximise their national exposure. This meant heavy investment in grassroots development and in the support of clubs on
2553-520: The 1997 AFL season , six of sixteen AFL clubs ( Sydney , Brisbane Lions , West Coast , Adelaide , Fremantle and Port Adelaide ) were based outside Victoria, with two (Sydney and Brisbane) on the rugby league side of the Barassi Line. Barassi's prophecy of a national Australian rules football league with four teams in New South Wales and Queensland has since been fulfilled with the establishment of Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney in 2011 and 2012 respectively. "Canberra have their own [AFL] team,
2664-640: The 2024 AFL season . The AFL is now challenging rugby union's Brumbies for popularity. but is facing continued growth in popularity of rugby league and soccer. Inadequate ageing infrastructure continues a significant deterrent to any future AFL expansion there. "The NRL is stronger here now than when the Giants started. As someone who worked in head office in Docklands for 15 years I thought I understood Sydney. I had national responsibility for game development, but I didn’t realise how naive I was." Dave Matthews, head of
2775-565: The Australian Football League (AFL), and two rugby football clubs across the National Rugby League (NRL) and Super Rugby Pacific competitions. However the majority of these clubs would not be viable without ongoing financial support from their parent competitions, with the AFL alone providing over AUD $ 70 million a year in total financial assistance in 2023 to its four northern clubs. Teams that no longer compete include
2886-519: The Brisbane Bears (1987–1995), Western/Perth Reds (1992–1997), Adelaide Rams (1995–1997) and Melbourne Rebels (2009–2024). Active expansion bids include the Western Bears (NRL) and Cairns (AFL). The Ron Barassi Memorial Lecture was a series of lectures named after Ron Barassi Sr. given between 1966 and 1978 by Ian Turner , a professor of history at Monash University . Barassi Sr. played
2997-549: The First Fleet of 11 vessels, which carried over a thousand settlers, including 736 convicts. A few days after arrival at Botany Bay , the fleet moved to the more suitable Port Jackson , where Phillip established a settlement at the place he named Sydney Cove (in honour of the Secretary of State, Lord Sydney ) on 26 January 1788. This date later became Australia's national day, Australia Day . Governor Phillip formally proclaimed
3108-633: The Greater Western Sydney Giants signed a 10-year deal with the ACT Government worth $ 23 million, which resulted in the club playing four home games in Canberra each season. The Giants draw higher average attendances at Manuka Oval in Canberra than at their home ground, Giants Stadium in Sydney. In 2015, in response to questions relating to a proposed Canberra team, then AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan stated that "Canberra have their own team,
3219-526: The Mid North Coast and Northern Rivers regions reaching northwards to the Queensland border. Tourism is important to the economies of coastal towns such as Coffs Harbour , Lismore , Nowra and Port Macquarie , but the region also produces seafood, beef, dairy, fruit, sugar cane and timber. The Great Dividing Range extends from Victoria in the south through New South Wales to Queensland, parallel to
3330-577: The Southern Rugby Football Union , the colony's governing football body introduced a ban on the Victorian code as early as 1874 to prevent its spread across the Victorian border. While it was not able to halt the Australian code, it severely impaired its growth until the turn of the century. In the 1890s Australian rules began to surpass rugby union as the dominant code in Western Australia by
3441-482: The "other" side of the Barassi Line. In 1990, the Victorian Football League changed its name to the Australian Football League (AFL) to pursue a more national focus. A major reason for the expansion into these non-traditional areas has been to increase both the number of games played each week, and the potential television audience. This resulted in income from television rights rising dramatically. From
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3552-769: The 1820s. These games were poorly documented but appear to have been informal, one-off affairs. In 1858, cricketers , sports' enthusiasts and school students began to regularly play variants of English public school football in the parklands of Melbourne. The following year, four members of the newly formed Melbourne Football Club codified the laws which was later known as Victorian rules and Australian rules football. The code reached New South Wales as early as 1861, Queensland by 1866 and had been played in other colonies by 1868. However despite an explosion in popularity in Victoria, it struggled to gain acceptance outside of its home colony. Rugby union's initial organisation in Australia
3663-566: The 1880s. Wool production also continued to grow, and by the 1880s New South Wales produced almost half of Australia's wool. Coal had been discovered in the early years of settlement and gold in 1851, and by the 1890s wool, gold and coal were the main exports of the colony. The NSW economy also became more diversified. From the 1860s, New South Wales had more people employed in manufacturing than any other Australian colony. The NSW government also invested strongly in infrastructure such as railways, telegraph, roads, ports, water and sewerage. By 1889 it
3774-451: The 19th century, most of the colony's area was detached to form separate British colonies that eventually became the various states and territories of Australia . The Swan River Colony (later called the Colony of Western Australia ) was never administered as part of New South Wales. Lord Howe Island remains part of New South Wales, while Norfolk Island became a federal territory , as have
3885-421: The 40-hour working week was implemented by 1947. The post-war economic boom brought near-full employment and rising living standards, and the government engaged in large spending programs on housing, dams, electricity generation and other infrastructure. In 1954 the government announced a plan for the construction of an opera house on Bennelong Point . The design competition was won by Jørn Utzon . Controversy over
3996-448: The AFL has gained market share in the major cities, the Barassi Line has barely moved in Queensland. A notable exception is the expansion of AFL Mount Isa in the state's west to include the outback Dajarra Rhinos team in 2018, the only senior club of any code within hundreds of kilometres of the state border. Rugby league remains otherwise entrenched at the grassroots across the state. The Lions and Suns generally only receive support from
4107-455: The AFL intervened and forced a merger with the historic Melbourne-based club Fitzroy in 1996. The newly formed Brisbane Lions were vastly more successful, becoming the first triple-premiership winner in 46 years, winning back-to-back in 2001, 2002 and 2003. The success of the Lions contributed to a boom in the sport across the major Queensland cities. On the back of the code's subsequent growth,
4218-603: The AFL pushed heavily for a permanent presence on the Gold Coast , and despite failed attempts to relocate an existing club, granted a new license to the Gold Coast Football Club in 2009. As part of its effort to win over rugby league followers in Queensland, the AFL recruited rugby league star Karmichael Hunt using a promotional salary of more than $ 3.2 million. The AFL considered Hunt's promotional recruitment "a good investment" despite his return to rugby league. While
4329-418: The AFL's 20th license with a team based out of a redeveloped Cazaly's Stadium , vying with a Darwin -based club for entry by 2030. The stadium has hosted at least one AFL premiership match every year since 2011, with an average attendance of 7,120. While Cairns' population is higher than Darwin's, AFL attendances and overall participation are lower and a Cairns-based club would also compete for market share with
4440-671: The AFL's growth in popularity in Queensland After existing in the shadow of rugby football for almost a century, interest in Australian rules and the Queensland Australian Football League grew substantially in the 1970s and 1980s, aided by significant interstate migration. The Brisbane Bears were founded as the VFL's first privately owned expansion team in 1986, initially based on the Gold Coast. It suffered enormously with
4551-642: The GWS Giants in April 2023. Encouraged by the VFL, the South Melbourne Football Club relocated to Sydney and became the Sydney Swans in 1982. The club endured limited success and a series of wooden spoons in their first decade in Sydney before turning a corner in the mid-1990s, culminating in premierships in 2005 and 2012 . The lack of public support in Sydney caused significant financial losses to
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4662-559: The GWS Giants. They play a number of games down here." AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan , 2015, responding in Canberra to the questions from the media on why Canberra doesn't have an AFL team. The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) was once seen as one of the dividing points of the Barassi Line. In 1981, the Australian Capital Territory Australian Football League had just begun to edge out rugby league in popularity with an increase in participation, and
4773-521: The Giants". The AFL also claimed that Manuka Oval needed to be upgraded in order for the league to commit further to the market. After a failed $ 800 million stadium upgrade proposal, the AFL stated that the Giants–Canberra deal would continue regardless of if the redevelopment occurs. A significant share of Giants members are from the ACT; the figure was 5,800 in 2022. In 2015, the Giants set a target to overtake
4884-413: The New South Wales government to ban Australian rules in public schools in an effort to oust it from the Riverina, which resulted in schools previously playing the code in its major heartlands of Albury and Wagga switching to Rugby league. While it did not succeed in extinguishing the Australian code there entirely, it usurped the Australian code's premier status in these places, allowing Rugby League to halt
4995-560: The Queensland public when they are performing well, and as such require significant concessions from the AFL to remain viable. The Lions, in particular, in 2023 had the competition's highest level of debt requiring more than $ 18 million a year in assistance from the AFL, while the Suns receive the highest amount of assistance - $ 25 million a year - to stay solvent. In 2023, the Far North Queensland city of Cairns entered an official bid for
5106-494: The Raiders membership and have more than 10,000 members by 2018. However, this failed, and the Raiders membership has rapidly outpaced it. Despite this, the deal was extended by the ACT government and the AFL to 2032 for three AFL matches and one AFLW match. According to Tweedie's 2022 study, the ACT remains behind the Barassi Line, though participation has increased substantially since 2016 and GWS sold out three successive games during
5217-496: The Swans and GWS financially viable. In 2023 GWS received the highest amount of assistance - $ 25 million a year, while the Swans receive $ 5 million a year. "The AFL is doing a great job, no doubt, and I take my hat off to them, but competition lifts all ships and their competition has lifted us. We now have the momentum in Queensland. We have reversed the momentum." Australian Rugby League Commission chair Peter V'landys in 2023 on
5328-564: The Townsville-based North Queensland Cowboys and would likely require a similar AFL assistance package to the Lions and Suns. "The fabric of rugby league is built on tribalism and rivalry. That’s why we can’t rule out [a second Melbourne team]. The other reason why a second Melbourne team is good for us, is that our junior base in Victoria has expanded considerably" Australian Rugby League Commission chair Peter V'landys in 2023 on NRL expansion in Victoria and
5439-779: The addition of a second team Apart from occasional visiting teams and false starts the Rugby league's local presence was virtually nonexistent behind the Barassi line until 1950 when the Northern Territory Rugby Football League Association was founded in Darwin, followed by the South Australian Rugby League in Adelaide in 1976. Rugby league's expansion across the Barassi line has been driven primarily from
5550-686: The areas now known as the Australian Capital Territory and the Jervis Bay Territory . The original inhabitants of New South Wales were the Aboriginal tribes who arrived in Australia about 40,000 to 60,000 years ago. Before European settlement there were an estimated 250,000 Aboriginal people in the region. The Wodi wodi people, who spoke a variant of the Dharawal language, are the original custodians of an area south of Sydney which
5661-517: The border. However, the long campaign to lift the sport's popularity in Sydney and New South Wales has been hindered by deep rooted cultural barriers, which even an Australian Senate inquiry has described as insurmountable. In 2023 and 2024, despite strong performances from the Giants and Swans, junior numbers are rapidly declining in Western Sydney with numerous junior clubs forced to fold or merge. The AFL provides an assistance package to keep both
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#17328519245895772-616: The centre of a narrow coastal strip extending from cool temperate areas on the far south coast to subtropical areas near the Queensland border. Gulaga National Park in the South Coast features the southernmost subtropical rainforest in the state. The Illawarra region is centred on the city of Wollongong, with the Shoalhaven , Eurobodalla and the Sapphire Coast to the south. The Central Coast lies between Sydney and Newcastle, with
5883-469: The club and league during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Excluding a period of privatisation, despite significant loans and writedowns to the club, the league declared the Sydney Swans insolvent in 1984 and again in 1988. In 1992, the 15 other AFL clubs were asked to vote on expelling the Swans due to its inability to survive in Sydney. AFL clubs were left with little other option but to commit to subsidising
5994-476: The club to maintain an audience in Sydney. These subsidies were increased until the Swans became viable in the long term. This long-term sustainability was initially aided by a grand final appearance in 1996 and fallout from the Super League war on rugby league. In addition to promoting the Swans, the AFL attempted to use Auskick participation as a tool to increase awareness in the Sydney market by introducing
6105-567: The clubs in Perth and Adelaide. The Storm continued with success in the new competition, achieving their first premiership win in 1999 . When a Melbourne NRL side was proposed in 1997, Barassi stated to the media, "I've always thought rugby league would be a success in Melbourne. They've got to start down here sometime and the earlier the better. Melburnians love their sport and I'm sure they'd get behind rugby league. But they won't accept rubbish and that's
6216-473: The code of Australian rules football around the nation with an evangelical zeal, and became coach and major supporter of the relocated Sydney Swans . He foresaw a time when Australian rules football clubs from around Australia, including up to four from New South Wales and Queensland , would play in a national football league with only a handful of them based in Melbourne , but his ideas were largely ridiculed at
6327-563: The collapse of the code by there by the end of that decade. By the 1890s, Australian rules was extinct in Sydney and Brisbane with rugby spreading virtually unopposed throughout the respective colonies of New South Wales and Queensland. In Queensland, the Northern Rugby Football Union successfully banned the Australian code and rugby's popularity rose through success in intercolonial matches with New South Wales. As Australian rules gradually recovered its position in New South Wales,
6438-457: The colony on 7 February 1788 at Sydney. Phillip, as Governor of New South Wales , exercised nominal authority over all of Australia east of the 135th meridian east between the latitudes of 10°37'S and 43°39'S, and "all the islands adjacent in the Pacific Ocean". The area included modern New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania. He remained as governor until 1792. The settlement
6549-462: The colony's exports and by 1850 most of the eastern third of New South Wales was controlled by fewer than 2,000 pastoralists. The transportation of convicts to New South Wales ended in 1840, and in 1842 a Legislative Council was introduced, with two-thirds of its members elected and one-third appointed by the governor. Former convicts were granted the vote, but a property qualification meant that only one in five adult males were enfranchised. By 1850
6660-542: The corporatisation of government agencies and the privatisation of some government services. An Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) was created. Greiner called a snap election in 1991 which the Liberals were expected to win. However the ALP polled extremely well and the Liberals lost their majority and needed the support of independents to retain power. In 1992, Greiner was investigated by ICAC for possible corruption over
6771-550: The cost of the Sydney Opera House and construction delays became a political issue and was a factor in the eventual defeat of Labor in 1965 by the conservative Liberal Party and Country Party coalition led by Robert Askin . The Askin government promoted private development, law and order issues and greater state support for non-government schools. However, Askin, a former bookmaker, became increasingly associated with illegal bookmaking, gambling and police corruption. In
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#17328519245896882-530: The country. These "insurmountable cultural barriers" have created a significant challenge for each code's national development. The Barassi Line is symbolically marked on Federation Way between the towns of Corowa and Wahgunyah near the New South Wales—Victoria state border at the Murray River . Two sets of Australian rules football goal posts are aligned diagonally on either side of the road, with
6993-516: The decades since it was first proposed. A 2022 study of grassroots support found that just 15% of Australian rules football clubs (243 of 1616) and 13% of rugby league clubs (109 of 863) are located across the line. Professional teams that compete across the line in national competitions include: Sydney Swans (1982), Brisbane Lions (1996), Melbourne Storm (1997), Western Force (2005), Gold Coast Suns (2009) and Greater Western Sydney Giants (2010). That is, four Australian rules football clubs in
7104-489: The dichotomy; Australian cricket , for example, has maintained consistent national interest throughout its history, though soccer faces more competition for participation in areas where Australian rules is more popular. Roughly speaking, the line follows Queensland 's western border, drops southeast through western New South Wales , and ends at the Pacific Ocean at Cape Howe on the border of New South Wales and Victoria . It divides New South Wales, with rugby dominating in
7215-409: The dominance of Australian rules and rugby on either side, other codes have also been slow to establish sustainable national competitions. The multinational body SANZAAR , which organises the Super Rugby competition in rugby union, expanded their domestic competitions in 1996 to include teams from both sides. Football Federation Australia revamped its flagship competition, the A-League , to focus on
7326-441: The eastern side, including the capitals of Sydney , Brisbane and Canberra . Each side represents roughly half of the Australian population due to the concentration of the population on the east coast . In many areas the other side's sport remains virtually unknown, lacking any meaningful media profile or awareness. The football culture is significantly ingrained such that it even has an influence on Australians' movement throughout
7437-406: The expanding stadium which ultimately resulted in its conversion into a rectangular field in 1997, effectively putting an end to any future ACT AFL bids. Following this setback, the AFL preferred its existing clubs—most notably North Melbourne —to sell their home games to Manuka Oval . AFL clubs have done so since 2002; however, they have refrained from committing to the market long-term. In 2012,
7548-421: The first calls were made for the VFL to become a national competition. Under significant pressure from rugby league junior development in the territory and fearing the impact on its strong local competition of entry of a Sydney team, a formal bid for a license to enter a Canberra team into the VFL was made. The VFL dismissed it, stating it would consider Canberra for a license "within the next 10 years". The league
7659-410: The football codes. Subsequent bids for a Canberra team were rejected by the VFL in 1981, 1986 and 1988, and then by the AFL in 1990 and 1993. The AFL began playing matches at the newly developed Bruce Stadium as 1990 with a view of it being the future home of the sport. However, politician and former Canberra Raiders rugby league player Paul Osborne began a successful campaign to exclude the AFL from
7770-439: The governor, Sir Phillip Game . The following elections were won comfortably by the United Australia Party in coalition with the Country Party. Bertram Stevens became premier, remaining in office until 1939, when he was replaced by Alexander Mair . A contemporary study by sociologist A. P. Elkin found that the population of New South Wales responded to the outbreak of war in 1939 with pessimism and apathy. This changed with
7881-431: The introduction of the Brisbane Broncos , a rugby league expansion club based in the state's capital specifically created to deny the Bears and the VFL a market. The Bears performed poorly on-field, including back-to-back wooden spoons in 1990 and 1991. Poor support for the club in both Gold Coast and Brisbane saw it run into financial difficulties despite significant AFL subsidies and concessions. With their demise imminent,
7992-599: The key to it." In the aftermath of the Super League war , the NRL became very reluctant to expand. Commissioner chairman Peter V'landys signalled that the competition was focused on creating a second team in Brisbane (which became the Dolphins ), instead of investing money into AFL states such as Western Australia , which "don't have a huge audience" for rugby league. Imaginary line Some outside geography do exist. A centerline
8103-502: The largest and most influential city. intercolonial rivalry was strong and most colonies saw Melbourne's rise as not only an economic threat, but a cultural one to their British colonial status . As such the media of the capitals of the Colony of New South Wales , Colony of Western Australia and Colony of Queensland began to promote the "old English game of football" (rugby union) from 1869 which had begun to become organised in England in
8214-449: The late 1870s, adopted the code to facilitate through representative matches against Victoria. The decision was made easier given the similarities to their own code and the Victorian code would grow there virtually unopposed. While slow to grow initially, rugby by the 1880s had become firmly established in Sydney, Perth and Brisbane. Queensland followed Sydney in 1884 when the colony's largest schools there voted to switch to rugby, causing
8325-482: The late 1960s, a secessionist movement in the New England region of the state led to a 1967 referendum on the issue which was narrowly defeated. The new state would have consisted of much of northern NSW including Newcastle . Askin's resignation in 1975 was followed by a number of short-lived premierships by Liberal Party leaders. When a general election came in 1976, the ALP under Neville Wran came to power. Wran
8436-597: The line at Wagga. At the time the term was first used, existing club competitions were semi-professional and state-based. The first national club football competitions emerged in the late 20th century: the Championship of Australia , the NFL Night Series and the National Soccer League . However, these struggled for national interest. In the 1980s, the VFL and New South Wales Rugby League premiership began
8547-645: The major cities to the remote areas of the state mainly through school football. Rugby league's spread however met resistance in areas where Australian rules remained strong, such as the Riverina and Broken Hill in New South Wales as well as the Northern Territory which had developed a strong Australian rules following after the war. In the newly declared territories of the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory both codes would at times compete for marketshare, though Australian rules would continue to prove dominant. In 1946, Rugby league authorities convinced
8658-415: The mid 1860s as a viable alternative. The Colony of South Australia and Colony of Tasmania where Harrow football which had similarities to both games was popular, showed general apathy to the their rises in popularity. The demise of Australian rules in Sydney began in 1869 when the largest schools, under pressure from the local media, switched to rugby. Intercolonial rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne
8769-476: The more fertile lands surrounding Paramatta , Windsor and Camden , and by 1803 the colony was self-sufficient in grain. Boat building was developed to make travel easier and exploit the marine resources of the coastal settlements. Sealing and whaling became important industries. In March 1804, Irish convicts led around 300 rebels in the Castle Hill Rebellion , an attempt to march on Sydney, commandeer
8880-678: The narrow coastal plain. This area includes the Snowy Mountains , the Northern , Central and Southern Tablelands , the Southern Highlands and the South West Slopes . Whilst not particularly steep, many peaks of the range rise above 1,000 metres (3,281 ft), with the highest Mount Kosciuszko at 2,228 m (7,310 ft). Skiing in Australia began in this region at Kiandra around 1861. The relatively short ski season underwrites
8991-608: The necessary enabling legislation in 1900 and Western Australia subsequently voted to join the new federation. The Commonwealth of Australia was inaugurated on 1 January 1901, and Barton was sworn in as Australia's first prime minister. The first post-federation NSW governments were Progressive or Liberal Reform and implemented a range of social reforms with Labor support. Women won the right to vote in NSW elections in 1902, but were ineligible to stand for parliament until 1918. Labor increased its parliamentary representation in every election from 1904 before coming to power in 1910 with
9102-457: The nickname "yes-no Reid". The premiers of the other colonies agreed to a number of concessions to New South Wales (particularly that the future Commonwealth capital would be located in NSW), and in 1899 further referendums were held in all the colonies except Western Australia. All resulted in yes votes, with the yes vote in New South Wales meeting the required majority. The Imperial Parliament passed
9213-509: The north, Victoria to the south, and South Australia to the west. Its coast borders the Coral and Tasman Seas to the east. The Australian Capital Territory and Jervis Bay Territory are enclaves within the state. New South Wales' state capital is Sydney , which is also Australia's most populous city. In December 2023 , the population of New South Wales was over 8.3 million, making it Australia's most populous state. Almost two-thirds of
9324-504: The offer of a public service position to a former Liberal MP. Greiner resigned but was later cleared of corruption. His replacement as Liberal leader and Premier was John Fahey , whose government narrowly lost the 1995 election to the ALP under Bob Carr , who was to become the longest serving premier of the state. The Carr government (1995–2005) largely continued its predecessors' focus on the efficient delivery of government services such as health, education, transport and electricity. There
9435-497: The official limits of the settled colony. In 1836, an annual licence was introduced in an attempt to control the pastoral industry, but booming wool prices and the high cost of land in the settled areas encouraged further squatting. The expansion of the pastoral industry led to violent episodes of conflict between settlers and traditional Aboriginal landowners, such as the Myall Creek massacre of 1838. By 1844 wool accounted for half of
9546-579: The opening of an ICAC investigation into her actions between 2012 and 2018. She was replaced by Dominic Perrottet . New South Wales is bordered on the north by Queensland, on the west by South Australia, on the south by Victoria and on the east by the Coral and Tasman Seas . The Australian Capital Territory and the Jervis Bay Territory form a separately administered entity that is bordered entirely by New South Wales. The state can be divided geographically into four areas. New South Wales's three largest cities, Sydney , Newcastle and Wollongong , lie near
9657-473: The opposite side of the line. The Adelaide Rams and the Melbourne Storm were due to start in the 1998 Super League season, but in the meantime, the opposing leagues made restitution and established the National Rugby League (NRL). Part of the agreement to form a new league included a reduction of clubs in the league, especially those recently established in difficult markets, resulting in the disbanding of
9768-442: The settler population of New South Wales had grown to 180,000, not including the 70,000 living in the area which became the separate colony of Victoria in 1851. In 1856 New South Wales achieved responsible government with the introduction of a bicameral parliament comprising a directly elected Legislative Assembly and a nominated Legislative Council . William Charles Wentworth was prominent in this process, but his proposal for
9879-493: The state's eastern population centres but enjoying less popularity in the southwest and west; the Riverina region and western mining city of Broken Hill both fall on the Australian rules football side. The line also runs through the Australian Capital Territory , where each sport has had similar prominence at different times throughout history – although the rugby codes have established greater prominence there in
9990-527: The state's population, 5.3 million, live in the Greater Sydney area. The Colony of New South Wales was founded as a British penal colony in 1788. It originally comprised more than half of the Australian mainland with its western boundary set at 129th meridian east in 1825. The colony then also included the island territories of Van Diemen's Land , Lord Howe Island , and Norfolk Island . During
10101-439: The state's south-west. Regional cities such as Albury , Dubbo , Griffith and Wagga Wagga and towns such as Deniliquin , Leeton and Parkes exist primarily to service these agricultural regions. The western slopes descend slowly to the western plains that comprise almost two-thirds of the state and are largely arid or semi-arid. The mining town of Broken Hill is the largest centre in this area. One possible definition of
10212-498: The threat of invasion by Japan, which entered the war in December 1941. In May 1942 three Japanese midget submarines entered Sydney harbour and sank a naval ship, killing 29 men aboard. The following month Sydney and Newcastle were shelled by Japanese warships. American troops began arriving in the state in large numbers. Manufacturing, steelmaking, shipbuilding and rail transport all grew with the war effort and unemployment virtually disappeared. A Labor government led by William McKell
10323-502: The time. Despite Australian culture 's relatively homogeneous nature, a strong dichotomy exists in the country's football sporting culture. The divide has existed since Australian rules football and rugby union developed their identities as distinct codes, before rugby league overtook the latter as the dominant sport on the Eastern Seaboard. There is documentary evidence of "foot-ball" being played in Australia as early as
10434-553: The top down by professional franchises and benefited in part from its familiarity with rugby union. In 1995, the Australian Rugby League (ARL) created four new expansion teams including one in Perth, resulting in the first major rugby league club based on the Australian rules football side of the Barassi Line, the Western Reds . By the time the breakaway Super League started in 1997, it had begun establishing more clubs on
10545-426: The tourist industry in the Snowy Mountains . Agriculture, particularly the wool industry, is important throughout the highlands. Major centres include Armidale , Bathurst , Bowral , Goulburn , Inverell , Orange , Queanbeyan and Tamworth . There are numerous forests in New South Wales, with such tree species as Red Gum Eucalyptus and Crow Ash ( Flindersia australis ), being represented. Forest floors have
10656-449: The turn of the 20th Century and clear north-east/west divide between Australian rules and rugby territory had begun to form. Australian rules experienced a national resurgence at the turn of the century however Rugby League's introduction in 1908 ushered in professionalism which after World War I firmly established the code over rugby union in Sydney and Brisbane respectively, with the governing bodies assisting to spread this code through
10767-549: The unmapped eastern coast of the continent of New Holland , now Australia, and claimed the entire coastline that he had just explored as British territory. Contrary to his instructions, Cook did not gain the consent of the Aboriginal inhabitants. Cook originally named the land New Wales , however, on his return voyage to Britain he settled on the name New South Wales . In January 1788 Arthur Phillip arrived in Botany Bay with
10878-470: Was able to transform this narrow one seat victory into landslide wins (known as Wranslides) in 1978 and 1981. After winning a comfortable though reduced majority in 1984, Wran resigned as premier and left parliament. His replacement Barrie Unsworth struggled to emerge from Wran's shadow and lost a 1988 election against a resurgent Liberal Party led by Nick Greiner . The Greiner government embarked on an efficiency program involving public sector cost-cutting,
10989-481: Was also accused of faking registration figures in an attempt to gain access to Sydney playing fields. The AFL introduced a second New South Wales team, the Greater Western Sydney Giants , in 2012, subsidised with millions of dollars of investment and a generational vision to grow into the Greater Western Sydney region. AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou predicted that it would take "20 to 30 years" for GWS to become
11100-529: Was an increasing emphasis on public-private partnerships to deliver infrastructure such as freeways, tunnels and rail links. The Carr government gained popularity for its successful organisation of international events, especially the 2000 Sydney Olympics, but Carr himself was critical of the federal government over its high immigration intake, arguing that a disproportionate number of new migrants were settling in Sydney, putting undue pressure on state infrastructure. Carr unexpectedly resigned from office in 2005 and
11211-544: Was approximately bounded by modern Campbelltown , Shoalhaven River and Moss Vale and included the Illawarra . The Bundjalung people are the original custodians of parts of the northern coastal areas . There are other Aboriginal peoples whose traditional lands are within what is now New South Wales, including the Wiradjuri , Gamilaray , Yuin , Ngarigo , Gweagal , and Ngiyampaa peoples. In 1770, James Cook charted
11322-427: Was by far the strongest with the Victorian colony surpassing it as Australia's most prominent city just a decade after its separation. While Australian rules remained dominant in Queensland, rugby began to prove a strong competitor in its capital Brisbane as interest in intercolonials against New South Wales began to grow. However Victorian rules began to increase its southern footprint with South Australia and Tasmania in
11433-473: Was criticised by the media as a failed promotional exercise. The strategic success of the Giants franchise has been widely questioned. Despite a grand final appearance in 2019 , the club's Sydney audience failed to grow, especially among working class rugby league fans. Though in 2021, a fall in the popularity of rugby union and the NSW Waratahs saw many union fans switch to the Swans, further establishing it as
11544-424: Was elected in May 1941. The McKell government benefited from full employment, budget surpluses, and a co-operative relationship with John Curtin's federal Labor government. McKell became the first Labor leader to serve a full term and to be re-elected for a second. The Labor party was to govern New South Wales until 1965. The Labor government introduced two weeks of annual paid leave for most NSW workers in 1944, and
11655-426: Was formed in 1885 but New South Wales declined to join. A major obstacle to the federation of the Australian colonies was the protectionist policies of Victoria which conflicted with the free trade policies dominant in New South Wales. Nevertheless, the NSW premier Henry Parkes was a strong advocate of federation and his Tenterfield Oration in 1889 was pivotal in gathering support for the cause. Parkes also struck
11766-406: Was initially planned to be a self-sufficient penal colony based on subsistence agriculture. Trade and shipbuilding were banned to keep the convicts isolated. However, after the departure of Governor Phillip, the colony's military officers began acquiring land and importing consumer goods obtained from visiting ships. Former convicts also farmed land granted to them and engaged in trade. Farms spread to
11877-481: Was insistent that the license should go to Sydney , which it believed had a much larger potential broadcast audience. The following year, the New South Wales Rugby League entered the Canberra market with a new club, the Canberra Raiders . The long-term impact of the lack of an AFL club and the introduction of the Raiders saw Australian rules football fall from marginally most popular to least popular of
11988-477: Was mainly as a reaction to the expansion of Victorian code outside of its home colony. With the exception of South Australia and Tasmania which had been playing under their own football codes, the colonies of Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia had all organised Victorian rules clubs and competitions by the late 1860s. Following the Victorian Gold Rush , Melbourne in the 1860s had become
12099-598: Was one of the factors leading the Trades and Labor Council to form a political party. The Labor Electoral League won a quarter of seats in the NSW elections of 1891 and held the balance of power between the Free Trade Party and the Protectionist Party . The suffragette movement was developing at this time. The Womanhood Suffrage League of New South Wales was founded in 1891. A Federal Council of Australasia
12210-402: Was possible to travel by train from Brisbane to Adelaide via Sydney and Melbourne. The extension of the rail network inland also encouraged regional industries and the development of the wheat belt . In the 1880s trade unions grew and were extended to lower skilled workers. In 1890 a strike in the shipping industry spread to wharves, railways, mines, and shearing sheds. The defeat of the strike
12321-611: Was replaced by Morris Iemma , who remained premier after being re-elected in the March 2007 state election , until he was replaced by Nathan Rees in September 2008. Rees was subsequently replaced by Kristina Keneally in December 2009, who became the first female premier of New South Wales. Keneally's government was defeated at the 2011 state election and Barry O'Farrell became Premier on 28 March. On 17 April 2014 O'Farrell stood down as Premier after misleading an ICAC investigation concerning
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