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127-498: Download coordinates as: Burketown is an isolated outback town and coastal locality in the Shire of Burke , Queensland , Australia. In the 2021 census , the locality of Burketown had a population of 204 people. It is located 898 kilometres or 558 miles west of Cairns and 227 kilometres or 141 miles west of Normanton on the Albert River and Savannah Way in the area known as

254-612: A line in South Australia , north of which he considered rainfall to be too unreliable to support agriculture. Exploration of the Outback continued in the 1950s when Len Beadell explored, surveyed and built many roads in support of the nuclear weapons tests at Emu Field and Maralinga and rocket testing on the Woomera Prohibited Area . Mineral exploration continues as new mineral deposits are identified and developed. 2002

381-693: A southerly buster , a powerful southerly that brings gale winds and a rapid fall in temperature. Since Sydney is downwind of the Great Dividing Range , it occasionally experiences dry, westerly foehn winds typically in winter and early spring (which are the reason for its warm maximum temperatures). Westerly winds are intense when the Roaring Forties (or the Southern Annular Mode ) shift towards southeastern Australia, where they may damage homes and affect flights , in addition to making

508-514: A feature of Sydney's topography. After Phillip's departure in December 1792, the colony's military officers began acquiring land and importing consumer goods from visiting ships. Former convicts engaged in trade and opened small businesses. Soldiers and former convicts built houses on Crown land, with or without official permission, in what was now commonly called Sydney town. Governor William Bligh (1806–08) imposed restrictions on commerce and ordered

635-661: A few areas of wet sclerophyll forests in the wetter, elevated areas in the north and northeast . These forests are defined by straight, tall tree canopies with a moist understory of soft-leaved shrubs, tree ferns and herbs. The predominant vegetation community in Sydney is the Cumberland Plain Woodland in Western Sydney ( Cumberland Plain ), followed by the Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest in

762-503: A fresh water supply and a safe harbour, which Philip described as "the finest Harbour in the World ... Here a Thousand Sail of the Line may ride in the most perfect Security". The settlement was planned to be a self-sufficient penal colony based on subsistence agriculture. Trade and shipbuilding were banned in order to keep the convicts isolated. However, the soil around the settlement proved poor and

889-470: A long way from anywhere, or a long way away. The well-watered north of the continent is often called the " Top End " and the arid interior "The Red Centre", owing to its vast amounts of red soil and sparse greenery amongst its landscape. The outback is criss-crossed by historic tracks. Most of the major highways have an excellent bitumen surface and other major roads are usually well-maintained dirt roads. The Stuart Highway runs from north to south through

1016-597: A pattern of resistance that was to be repeated as the colonial frontier expanded . A military garrison was established on the Hawkesbury in 1795. The death toll from 1794 to 1800 was 26 settlers and up to 200 Darug. Conflict again erupted from 1814 to 1816 with the expansion of the colony into Dharawal country in the Nepean region south-west of Sydney. Following the deaths of several settlers, Governor Macquarie dispatched three military detachments into Dharawal lands, culminating in

1143-479: A planner to design the street layout of Sydney and commissioned the construction of roads, wharves, churches, and public buildings. Parramatta Road , linking Sydney and Parramatta, was opened in 1811, and a road across the Blue Mountains was completed in 1815, opening the way for large-scale farming and grazing west of the Great Dividing Range . Following the departure of Macquarie, official policy encouraged

1270-498: A population of 238 people. In the 2021 census , the locality of Burketown had a population of 204 people. Burketown has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: Burketown has a semi-arid climate ( Köppen BSh ), though closely bordering on a tropical savanna climate ( Aw ), characterised by hot, humid summers with erratic rainfall and warm, extremely dry winters. December is the hottest month, with average maximum temperatures rising to 35.4 °C (95.7 °F). Rainfall

1397-423: A rich ceremonial life, part of a belief system centring on ancestral, totemic and supernatural beings. People from different clans and language groups came together to participate in initiation and other ceremonies. These occasions fostered trade, marriages and clan alliances. The earliest British settlers recorded the word ' Eora ' as an Aboriginal term meaning either 'people' or 'from this place'. The clans of

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1524-561: A severe dust storm towards the city . The Greater Sydney Commission divides Sydney into three "cities" and five "districts" based on the 33 LGAs in the metropolitan area. The "metropolis of three cities" comprises Eastern Harbour City , Central River City and Western Parkland City . The Australian Bureau of Statistics also includes City of Central Coast (the former Gosford City and Wyong Shire) as part of Greater Sydney for population counts, adding 330,000 people. The CBD extends about 3 km (1.9 mi) south from Sydney Cove . It

1651-724: A year have temperatures at or above 30 °C (86 °F) in the central business district (CBD). In contrast, the metropolitan area averages between 35 and 65 days, depending on the suburb. The hottest day in the metropolitan area occurred in Penrith on 4 January 2020, where a high of 48.9 °C (120.0 °F) was recorded. The average annual temperature of the sea ranges from 18.5 °C (65.3 °F) in September to 23.7 °C (74.7 °F) in February. Sydney has an average of 7.2 hours of sunshine per day and 109.5 clear days annually. Due to

1778-698: Is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at 51 Beames Street ( 17°44′20″S 139°32′52″E  /  17.7389°S 139.5478°E  / -17.7389; 139.5478  ( Burketown State School ) ). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 23 students with 3 teachers and 5 non-teaching staff (3 full-time equivalent). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 27 students with 3 teachers and 7 non-teaching staff (4 full-time equivalent). There are no secondary schools in Burketown. The closest secondary schools are in Normanton , 227 kilometres (141 mi) to

1905-456: Is at the health centre ( 17°43′57″S 139°32′56″E  /  17.7325°S 139.5488°E  / -17.7325; 139.5488  ( Burketown Ambulance Station ) ). Burketown Cemetery is on an unnamed road immediately north of the hospital on Truganini Road ( 17°43′14″S 139°32′36″E  /  17.7206°S 139.5433°E  / -17.7206; 139.5433  ( Burketown Cemetery ) ). The sewage treatment plant

2032-528: Is bordered by Farm Cove within the Royal Botanic Garden to the east and Darling Harbour to the west. Suburbs surrounding the CBD include Woolloomooloo and Potts Point to the east, Surry Hills and Darlinghurst to the south, Pyrmont and Ultimo to the west, and Millers Point and The Rocks to the north. Most of these suburbs measure less than 1 km (0.4 sq mi) in area. The Sydney CBD

2159-451: Is characterised by narrow streets and thoroughfares, created in its convict beginnings. Several localities, distinct from suburbs, exist throughout Sydney's inner reaches. Central and Circular Quay are transport hubs with ferry, rail, and bus interchanges. Chinatown , Darling Harbour, and Kings Cross are important locations for culture, tourism, and recreation. The Strand Arcade , located between Pitt Street Mall and George Street ,

2286-452: Is claimed that the saloon, named after the nearby Black Stump Run and Black Stump Creek, was an important staging post for traffic to north-west New South Wales and it became a marker by which people gauged their journeys. "The Never-Never " is a term referring to remoter parts of the Outback. The Outback can also be referred to as "back of beyond" or "back o' Bourke ", although these terms are more frequently used when referring to something

2413-510: Is estimated that Chinese people outnumbered those of European ancestry north of the tropic of Capricorn. Chinese migration into Queensland’s Gulf Country probably peaked in the early 1890s, just before the institution of the Chinese Immigration Restriction Act 1891 (Qld). This law aimed to prevent the arrival of Chinese through the introduction of a £10 poll tax—an amount equivalent to six months’ wages for an average worker at

2540-462: Is known as the Barramundi capital of Australia and holds an annual Barramundi Fishing Competition during Easter. Escott Station , which includes a tourist lodge, is about 17 kilometres (11 mi) from Burketown. Burketown is believed to be the basis of “Willstown” (named after Burke's fellow explorer Wills) in the novel A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute . In the novel, the town has little in

2667-635: Is located 898 kilometres (558 mi) west of Cairns via the Savannah Way passing through the area known as the Gulf Savannah . The town is the administrative centre of the Burke Shire Council . Aboriginal Australian peoples had inhabited the region for millennia before European explorers travelled the area. Archeologists and linguists pinpoint the area surrounding Burketown as the urheimat of Pama–Nyungan languages spoken across almost all of

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2794-434: Is minimal from April to November, but from December to March monthly rainfalls of over 500 millimetres (20 in) and daily falls over 250 millimetres (10 in) are not rare. Flooding, often associated with the passage of a tropical cyclone, often isolates the community for months, whilst failure of the summer rains can be extreme — for instance in the 1901/1902 wet season no more than 172 millimetres (6.77 in) fell and

2921-505: Is mining. Owing to the almost complete absence of mountain building and glaciation since the Permian (in many areas since the Cambrian ) ages, the outback is extremely rich in iron, aluminium, manganese and uranium ores, and also contains major deposits of gold, nickel, copper, lead and zinc ores. Because of its size, the value of grazing and mining is considerable. Major mines and mining areas in

3048-525: Is off to the north of the Wills Developmental Road ( 17°44′24″S 139°32′04″E  /  17.7399°S 139.5344°E  / -17.7399; 139.5344  ( sewage treatment plant ) ). The water treatment plant is to the north-west of the sewage treatment plant ( 17°44′21″S 139°32′14″E  /  17.7391°S 139.5371°E  / -17.7391; 139.5371  ( water treatment plant ) ). These are operated by

3175-475: Is on the south-east corner of Musgrave Street and Beames Street ( 17°44′28″S 139°32′54″E  /  17.7410°S 139.5482°E  / -17.7410; 139.5482  ( Burketown SES Facility ) ). Burketown Primary Health Care Clinic is a small public hospital on Truganini Road ( 17°43′57″S 139°32′56″E  /  17.7324°S 139.5490°E  / -17.7324; 139.5490  ( health centre ) ). Burketown Ambulance Station

3302-502: Is one of Australia's most renowned fossil sites and was recorded as a World Heritage site in 1994. The 100 km (39 sq mi) area contains fossil remains of ancient mammals, birds and reptiles of Oligocene and Miocene age. The largest industry across the Outback, in terms of the area occupied, is pastoralism , in which cattle, sheep, and sometimes goats are grazed in mostly intact, natural ecosystems. Widespread use of bore water, obtained from underground aquifers, including

3429-563: Is relied on for mail delivery in some areas, owing to sparse settlement and wet-season road closures. Most outback mines have an airstrip and many have a fly-in fly-out workforce. Most outback sheep stations and cattle stations have an airstrip and quite a few have their own light plane. Medical and ambulance services are provided by the Royal Flying Doctor Service . In 2024 two Regional, Rural and Remote air lines collapsed, namely Bonza and REX . Sydney Sydney

3556-638: Is the capital city of the state of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia . Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about 80 km (50 mi) from the Pacific Ocean in the east to the Blue Mountains in the west, and about 80 km (50 mi) from the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park and the Hawkesbury River in

3683-512: The Appin massacre (April 1816) in which at least 14 Aboriginal people were killed. The New South Wales Legislative Council became a semi-elected body in 1842. Sydney was declared a city the same year, and a governing council established, elected on a restrictive property franchise. The discovery of gold in New South Wales and Victoria in 1851 initially caused economic disruption as men moved to

3810-455: The Australian raven , Australian magpie , crested pigeon , noisy miner and the pied currawong . Introduced bird species ubiquitously found in Sydney are the common myna , common starling , house sparrow and the spotted dove . Reptile species are also numerous and predominantly include skinks . Sydney has a few mammal and spider species, such as the grey-headed flying fox and

3937-719: The Burketown Airport which has a regular passenger service from Regional Express Airlines and is also the primary base of Savannah Aviation, which provides aircraft charter services throughout the Gulf, far north/western Queensland and the Northern Territory. Burketown Police Station is in Gregory Street ( 17°44′36″S 139°32′50″E  /  17.7432°S 139.5473°E  / -17.7432; 139.5473  ( Burketown Police Station ) ). Burketown SES Facility

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4064-459: The Cooks River into Botany Bay. There is no single definition of the boundaries of Sydney. The Australian Statistical Geography Standard definition of Greater Sydney covers 12,369 km (4,776 sq mi) and includes the local government areas of Central Coast in the north, Hawkesbury in the north-west, Blue Mountains in the west, Sutherland Shire in the south, and Wollondilly in

4191-590: The First Fleet of convicts , led by Arthur Phillip , founded Sydney as a British penal colony , the first European settlement in Australia. After World War II, Sydney experienced mass migration and by 2021 over 40 per cent of the population was born overseas. Foreign countries of birth with the greatest representation are mainland China, India, the United Kingdom, Vietnam and the Philippines. Despite being one of

4318-485: The Garden Island Tunnel System , the only tunnel warfare complex in Sydney, and the heritage-listed military fortification systems Bradleys Head Fortification Complex and Middle Head Fortifications , which were part of a total defence system for Sydney Harbour . A post-war immigration and baby boom saw a rapid increase in Sydney's population and the spread of low-density housing in suburbs throughout

4445-585: The Great Artesian Basin , has enabled livestock to be grazed across vast areas in which no permanent surface water exists naturally. Capitalising on the lack of pasture improvement and absence of fertiliser and pesticide use, many Outback pastoral properties are certified as organic livestock producers. In 2014, 17,000,000 hectares (42,000,000 acres), most of which is in Outback Australia, was fully certified as organic farm production, making Australia

4572-458: The Gulf Savannah . Burketown is located on the Albert River 2,115 kilometres (1,314 mi) to the north west of the state capital, Brisbane , with the nearest larger town being Normanton , 227 kilometres (141 mi) to the east, and the nearest city being Mount Isa , 425 kilometres (264 mi) to the south. The town is roughly 30 kilometres (19 mi) inland from the Gulf of Carpentaria . It

4699-598: The Harbour City . Aboriginal Australians have inhabited the Greater Sydney region for at least 30,000 years, and their engravings and cultural sites are common. The traditional custodians of the land on which modern Sydney stands are the clans of the Darug , Dharawal and Eora peoples. During his first Pacific voyage in 1770, James Cook charted the eastern coast of Australia, making landfall at Botany Bay . In 1788,

4826-631: The Middle East and Africa becoming major sources. By 2021, the population of Sydney was over 5.2 million, with 40% of the population born overseas. China and India overtook England as the largest source countries for overseas-born residents. Sydney is a coastal basin with the Tasman Sea to the east, the Blue Mountains to the west, the Hawkesbury River to the north, and the Woronora Plateau to

4953-496: The Murray River and Darling River , which turn south. From 1858 onwards, the so-called "Afghan" cameleers and their beasts played an instrumental role in opening up the Outback and helping to build infrastructure. Over the period 1858 to 1861, John McDouall Stuart led six expeditions north from Adelaide, South Australia into the Outback, culminating in successfully reaching the north coast of Australia and returning without

5080-497: The Northern Territory coastline. At first, hopes the town would develop into a major settlement in north-western Queensland were high. However, from 1866 tropical diseases ravaged the population. The vessel "Margaret and Mary" from Sydney came into port rife with "Gulf Fever" (never properly identified, but thought to be either malaria or typhoid ). Estimates of the numbers who died vary from 25 to 100 people. The majority of

5207-649: The Sydney funnel-web , respectively, and has a huge diversity of marine species inhabiting its harbour and beaches. Under the Köppen–Geiger classification , Sydney has a humid subtropical climate ( Cfa ) with "warm, sometimes hot" summers and "generally mild", to "cool" winters. The El Niño–Southern Oscillation , the Indian Ocean Dipole and the Southern Annular Mode play an important role in determining Sydney's weather patterns: drought and bushfire on

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5334-639: The University of New South Wales are ranked 18th and 19th in the world respectively. Sydney has hosted major international sporting events such as the 2000 Summer Olympics , the 2003 Rugby World Cup Final , and the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup Final . The city is among the top fifteen most-visited, with millions of tourists coming each year to see the city's landmarks. The city has over 1,000,000 ha (2,500,000 acres) of nature reserves and parks , and its notable natural features include Sydney Harbour and Royal National Park . The Sydney Harbour Bridge and

5461-602: The University of Sydney (1854–61), the Australian Museum (1858–66), the Town Hall (1868–88), and the General Post Office (1866–92). Elaborate coffee palaces and hotels were erected. Daylight bathing at Sydney's beaches was banned, but segregated bathing at designated ocean baths was popular. Drought, the winding down of public works and a financial crisis led to economic depression in Sydney throughout most of

5588-590: The "Aborigines of Australia" declared 26 January "A Day of Mourning " for "the whiteman's seizure of our country." With the outbreak of Second World War in 1939, Sydney experienced a surge in industrial development. Unemployment virtually disappeared and women moved into jobs previously typically reserved for males. Sydney was attacked by Japanese submarines in May and June 1942 with 21 killed. Households built air raid shelters and performed drills. Military establishments in response to World War II in Australia included

5715-411: The "red centre" and semi-arid and temperate climates in southerly regions. The total population is estimated at 607,000 people. Geographically, the Outback is unified by a combination of factors, most notably a low human population density, a largely intact natural environment and, in many places, low-intensity land uses, such as pastoralism (livestock grazing) in which production is reliant on

5842-467: The 'Plains of Promise' or 'Province of Albert' after Prince Albert, the Queen's Consort in 1841. Burketown, or "Burke Town", was named in honour of explorer Robert O'Hara Burke , who died shortly after making the first recorded successful south-north crossing of the continent in 1860-1. The first European settlers arrived in the local region not long after Burke and partner William John Wills ' expedition . By

5969-570: The 1840s. This route, some 1780 kilometres from Darwin to Burketown, is estimated to have taken about three months to traverse. Many of those who attempted it were arrested as soon as they arrived in Queensland, near Burketown and kept in the Burketown Gaol for a time. However, others managed to evade arrest and remain in the Gulf Country at this time, and for a long time thereafter, coming to live on

6096-610: The 1890s. Meanwhile, the Sydney-based premier of New South Wales, George Reid , became a key figure in the process of federation. When the six colonies federated on 1 January 1901, Sydney became the capital of the State of New South Wales. The spread of bubonic plague in 1900 prompted the state government to modernise the wharves and demolish inner-city slums. The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 saw more Sydney males volunteer for

6223-440: The 2015–2016 financial year, 815,000 visitors spent $ 988 million while on holidays in the Northern Territory alone. There are many popular tourist attractions in the Outback. Some of the well known destinations include Devils Marbles , Kakadu National Park , Kata Tjuta (The Olgas), MacDonnell Ranges and Uluru (Ayers Rock) . Other than agriculture and tourism, the main economic activity in this vast and sparsely settled area

6350-622: The Albert River. The goods were eventually landed on the present site of Burketown. Towns, a prominent Sydney pastoralist and financier, also established Townsville in the same year. By September 1865 the population was about 40 and by October a store and a hotel were under construction, the balance of buildings were humpies . Rations and grog were plentiful but already one evil was noted: prices for goods were so high that some intended settlers could not stay. The town grew; however currency, both notes and coins, were so short in early Burketown that

6477-494: The Burke Shire Council. The Burke Shire Council operates a public library at Lot 65, Musgrave Street. There is a barge/boat ramp with jetty and pontoon on Truganina Road on the north bank of the Albert River ( 17°44′00″S 139°35′33″E  /  17.7333°S 139.5925°E  / -17.7333; 139.5925  ( Truganini Road barge/boat ramp ) ). It is managed by the Burke Shire Council . Burketown

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6604-557: The CBD. In the warm season black nor'easters are usually the cause of heavy rain events, though other forms of low-pressure areas , including remnants of ex-cyclones , may also bring heavy deluge and afternoon thunderstorms. 'Snow' was last alleged in 1836, more than likely a fall of graupel , or soft hail; and in July 2008 the Upper North Shore saw a fall of graupel that was mistaken by many for 'snow'. In 2009, dry conditions brought

6731-462: The Chinese skills in vegetable production were well employed. This source of fresh food was very important in countering scurvy, the scourge of remote places as well as ships at sea. The garden supplied Burketown and exported some produce to Thursday Island. No details are known of the names of the producers or of the volume of their export trade, but it seems likely that they could have been associated with

6858-473: The Cumberland Plain. Immigrants—mostly from Britain and continental Europe—and their children accounted for over three-quarters of Sydney's population growth between 1947 and 1971. The newly created Cumberland County Council oversaw low-density residential developments, the largest at Green Valley and Mount Druitt . Older residential centres such as Parramatta, Bankstown and Liverpool became suburbs of

6985-792: The Inner West and Northern Sydney , the Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub in the coastline and the Blue Gum High Forest scantily present in the North Shore – all of which are critically endangered. The city also includes the Sydney Sandstone Ridgetop Woodland found in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park on the Hornsby Plateau to the north. Sydney is home to dozens of bird species, which commonly include

7112-502: The Outback for at least 50,000 years and occupied all Outback regions, including the driest deserts, when Europeans first entered central Australia in the 1800s. Many Aboriginal Australians retain strong physical and cultural links to their traditional country and are legally recognised as the Traditional Owners of large parts of the Outback under Commonwealth Native Title legislation. Early European exploration of inland Australia

7239-558: The Outback include opals at Coober Pedy , Lightning Ridge and White Cliffs , metals at Broken Hill , Tennant Creek , Olympic Dam and the remote Challenger Mine . Oil and gas are extracted in the Cooper Basin around Moomba . In Western Australia the Argyle diamond mine in the Kimberley was once the world's biggest producer of natural diamonds and contributed approximately one-third of

7366-577: The Sydney area occupied land with traditional boundaries. There is debate, however, about which group or nation these clans belonged to, and the extent of differences in language and rites. The major groups were the coastal Eora people, the Dharug (Darug) occupying the inland area from Parramatta to the Blue Mountains, and the Dharawal people south of Botany Bay. Darginung and Gundungurra languages were spoken on

7493-442: The Sydney region are grassy woodlands (i.e. savannas ) and some pockets of dry sclerophyll forests, which consist of eucalyptus trees, casuarinas , melaleucas , corymbias and angophoras , with shrubs (typically wattles , callistemons , grevilleas and banksias ), and a semi-continuous grass in the understory . The plants in this community tend to have rough, spiky leaves due to low soil fertility . Sydney also features

7620-621: The Union Jack 165 years earlier, commencing her Australian Royal Tour . It was the first time a reigning monarch stepped onto Australian soil. Increasing high-rise development in Sydney and the expansion of suburbs beyond the "green belt" envisaged by the planners of the 1950s resulted in community protests. In the early 1970s, trade unions and resident action groups imposed green bans on development projects in historic areas such as The Rocks. Federal, State and local governments introduced heritage and environmental legislation. The Sydney Opera House

7747-548: The World Heritage-listed Sydney Opera House are major tourist attractions. Central Station is the hub of Sydney's suburban train, metro and light rail networks and longer-distance services. The main passenger airport serving the city is Kingsford Smith Airport , one of the world's oldest continually operating airports. In 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip , the first governor of New South Wales, named

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7874-416: The adverbial phrase referring to the back yard of a house , and came to be used meiotically in the late 1800s to describe the vast sparsely settled regions of Australia behind the cities and towns. The earliest known use of the term in this context in print was in 1869, when the writer clearly meant the area west of Wagga Wagga , New South Wales . Over time, the adverbial use of the phrase was replaced with

8001-475: The armed forces than the Commonwealth authorities could process, and helped reduce unemployment. Those returning from the war in 1918 were promised "homes fit for heroes" in new suburbs such as Daceyville and Matraville. "Garden suburbs" and mixed industrial and residential developments also grew along the rail and tram corridors. The population reached one million in 1926, after Sydney had regained its position as

8128-513: The arrival of the British, there were 4,000 to 8,000 Aboriginal people in the greater Sydney region. The inhabitants subsisted on fishing, hunting, and gathering plants and shellfish. The diet of the coastal clans was more reliant on seafood whereas hinterland clans ate more forest animals and plants. The clans had distinctive equipment and weapons mostly made of stone, wood, plant materials, bone and shell. They also differed in their body decorations, hairstyles, songs and dances. Aboriginal clans had

8255-489: The business people issued their own currency, dubbed "shinplaster" or "calabashers". These were in the form of IOU's hand printed on tissue paper so that they had as short a life as possible. In February 1866 Lieutenant Wentworth D'Arcy UHR with 8 troopers and accompanied by William Landsborough , the first Police Magistrate, rode into Burketown where everyone carried a pistol and where a successful shop keeper could ride well, shoot well and be an able pugilist. The pioneer spirit

8382-403: The centre of the continent, roughly paralleled by the Adelaide–Darwin railway . There is a proposal to develop some of the roads running from the south-west to the north-east to create an all-weather road named the Outback Highway , crossing the continent diagonally from Laverton, Western Australia (north of Kalgoorlie , through the Northern Territory to Winton , in Queensland. Air transport

8509-422: The coastal region. The rising sea level between 18,000 and 6,000 years ago flooded the rias to form estuaries and deep harbours. Port Jackson, better known as Sydney Harbour, is one such ria . Sydney features two major soil types: sandy soils (which originate from the Hawkesbury sandstone) and clay (which are from shales and volcanic rocks ), though some soils may be a mixture of the two. Directly overlying

8636-424: The continent. The Yukulta / Gangalidda and Garawa peoples are recognised as the traditional owners of the Burketown area. Native title was recognised on 1 April 2015. A mission was established in 1930 at Burketown by Len and Dorothy Akehurst, who were members of the Christian Brethren . In 1932–33 the Akehursts moved the mission to Bayley Point , near Doomadgee , about 100 kilometres (62 mi) away, at

8763-473: The cove where the first British settlement was established Sydney Cove after Home Secretary Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney . The cove was called Warrane by the Aboriginal inhabitants. Phillip considered naming the settlement Albion , but this name was never officially used. By 1790 Phillip and other officials were regularly calling the township Sydney. Sydney was declared a city in 1842. The Gadigal (Cadigal) clan, whose territory stretches along

8890-466: The crew and passengers of ship including the captain's wife died. Many of the dead were buried in a mass grave in Burketown Cemetery. Landsborough evacuated the survivors to Sweers Island for a period of 18 months, where a further two died and were buried on the island. At the first land sales in the town on 14 August 1867, 75 allotments were sold. The town was devastated by a tropical cyclone on 5 March 1887 which flooded almost all of Burketown. Only

9017-412: The demolition of buildings erected on Crown land, including some owned by past and serving military officers. The resulting conflict culminated in the Rum Rebellion of 1808, in which Bligh was deposed by the New South Wales Corps . Governor Lachlan Macquarie (1810–1821) played a leading role in the development of Sydney and New South Wales, establishing a bank, a currency and a hospital. He employed

9144-399: The district is delighted with the wholesale slaughter dealt out by the native police". The newspaper paid "thanks" to those involved in "ridding the district of fifty-nine (59) myalls" or local Aboriginal people. Burketown was used by explorer Francis Cadell as a staging point for refitting and refuelling the steamer Eagle and collecting mail and fresh supplies during his 1867–68 survey of

9271-506: The drought caused the death of millions of cattle. From the months of August to November, a rare meteorological phenomenon known as " Morning Glory " - long, tubular clouds, some up to 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) in length - is often observed in the skies above Burketown. The Morning Glory has become something of a "mecca" for soaring pilots who surf the giant atmospheric wave in their gliders. Gliding flights of over 500 kilometres (310 mi) have become common. Burketown State School

9398-426: The early Afghan drivers . Feral horses known as ' brumbies ' are station horses that have run wild. Feral pigs , foxes , cats , goats and rabbits and other imported animals are also degrading the environment, so time and money is spent eradicating them in an attempt to help protect fragile rangelands. The Outback is home to a diverse set of animal species, such as the kangaroo, emu and dingo. The Dingo Fence

9525-539: The east and Mount Isa , 425 kilometres (264 mi) to the south. There are also opportunities for students to complete their education by way of boarding school or via the Mt Isa School of Distance Education . Burketown has a post office, council office, service station, small general stores/ take-away shops, bakery and butcher caravan park, outpost hospital and a hotel. It is serviced by the Royal Flying Doctor Service from Mount Isa Base. The Burke Shire Council operate

9652-516: The emigration of free British settlers to New South Wales. Immigration to the colony increased from 900 free settlers in 1826–30 to 29,000 in 1836–40, many of whom settled in Sydney. By the 1840s Sydney exhibited a geographic divide between poor and working-class residents living west of the Tank Stream in areas such as The Rocks , and the more affluent residents living to its east. Free settlers, free-born residents and former convicts now represented

9779-693: The first crops failed, leading to several years of hunger and strict rationing. The food crisis was relieved with the arrival of the Second Fleet in mid-1790 and the Third Fleet in 1791. Former convicts received small grants of land, and government and private farms spread to the more fertile lands around Parramatta , Windsor and Camden on the Cumberland Plain . By 1804, the colony was self-sufficient in food. A smallpox epidemic in April 1789 killed about half

9906-418: The fringes of Burketown at Woods Lake and Hookeys Lagoon, as well as on stations and around mines. While living separately from other Australians, many of these men became close to Aboriginal people, conceiving children with Aboriginal wives and many people in the area today have Chinese heritage. Records show that Woods Lake with its excellent water supply was then the site of a flourishing market garden, where

10033-461: The fringes of the Sydney area. The first meeting between Aboriginals and British explorers occurred on 29 April 1770 when Lieutenant James Cook landed at Botany Bay (Kamay ) and encountered the Gweagal clan. Two Gweagal men opposed the landing party and one was shot and wounded. Cook and his crew stayed at Botany Bay for a week, collecting water, timber, fodder and botanical specimens and exploring

10160-700: The goldfields. Melbourne soon overtook Sydney as Australia's largest city, leading to an enduring rivalry between the two. However, increased immigration from overseas and wealth from gold exports increased demand for housing, consumer goods, services and urban amenities. The New South Wales government also stimulated growth by investing heavily in railways, trams, roads, ports, telegraph, schools and urban services. The population of Sydney and its suburbs grew from 95,600 in 1861 to 386,900 in 1891. The city developed many of its characteristic features. The growing population packed into rows of terrace houses in narrow streets. New public buildings of sandstone abounded, including at

10287-454: The heat of the day. Birdlife is prolific, most often seen at waterholes at dawn and dusk. Huge flocks of budgerigars , cockatoos , corellas and galahs are often sighted. On bare ground or roads during the winter, various species of snakes and lizards bask in the sun, but they are rarely seen during the summer months. Feral animals such as camels thrive in central Australia, brought to Australia by pastoralists and explorers, along with

10414-645: The highest part of town, near where the Council Office is currently located, escaped the waters from the Gulf of Carpentaria. A copy of a 1918 report to the Queensland Parliament from the Department of Harbours and Rivers Engineers refers to the sea rising to 5.5 metres above the highest spring tide level at the Albert River Heads. This level is about 8 metres above Australian Height Datum. Seven people of

10541-553: The horses of the settlers. Retribution by the settlers was enacted under Sub Inspector Uhr and was assisted by the arrival of the Queensland Native Police . A massacre of 30 Aboriginal people took place after 12 horses were killed. A further 29 Aboriginal people were murdered shortly afterwards by shooting and bludgeoning. As the Burketown correspondent of the Port Dennison Times reported on 4 June 1868, "everybody in

10668-762: The importance of Outback Australia as one of the world's large natural areas, along with the Boreal forests and Tundra regions in North America, the Sahara and Gobi deserts and the tropical forests of the Amazon and Congo Basins. The savanna (or grassy woodlands) of northern Australia are the largest, intact savanna regions in the world. In the south, the Great Western Woodlands , which occupy 16,000,000 hectares (40,000,000 acres), an area larger than all of England and Wales, are

10795-505: The inland location, frost is recorded early in the morning in Western Sydney a few times in winter. Autumn and spring are the transitional seasons, with spring showing a larger temperature variation than autumn. Sydney experiences an urban heat island effect. This makes certain parts of the city more vulnerable to extreme heat, including coastal suburbs. In late spring and summer, temperatures over 35 °C (95 °F) are not uncommon, though hot, dry conditions are usually ended by

10922-548: The lack of proper medical facilities and trained personnel. In many outback communities, the number of children is too small for a conventional school to operate. Children are educated at home by the School of the Air . Originally the teachers communicated with the children via radio, but now satellite telecommunication is used instead. Some children attend boarding school, mostly only those in secondary school. The term "outback" derives from

11049-505: The largest certified organic production area in the world. Tourism is a major industry across the Outback, and commonwealth and state tourism agencies explicitly target Outback Australia as a desirable destination for domestic and international travellers. There is no breakdown of tourism revenues for the "Outback" per se . However, regional tourism is a major component of national tourism incomes. Tourism Australia explicitly markets nature-based and Indigenous-led experiences to tourists. In

11176-453: The largest remaining temperate woodland left on Earth. Reflecting the wide climatic and geological variation, the Outback contains a wealth of distinctive and ecologically rich ecosystems. Major land types include: The Outback is full of very important well-adapted wildlife, although much of it may not be immediately visible to the casual observer. Many animals, such as red kangaroos and dingoes , hide in bushes to rest and keep cool during

11303-418: The loss of any of the party's members' lives. This contrasts with the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition in 1860–61 which was much better funded, but resulted in the deaths of three of the members of the transcontinental party. The Overland Telegraph line was constructed in the 1870s along the route identified by Stuart. In 1865, the surveyor George Goyder , using changes in vegetation patterns, mapped

11430-505: The main body of insurgents were routed by about 100 troops and volunteers at Rouse Hill . At least 39 convicts were killed in the uprising and subsequent executions. As the colony spread to the more fertile lands around the Hawkesbury River , north-west of Sydney, conflict between the settlers and the Darug people intensified, reaching a peak from 1794 to 1810. Bands of Darug people, led by Pemulwuy and later by his son Tedbury , burned crops, killed livestock and raided settler stores in

11557-457: The metropolis. Manufacturing, protected by high tariffs, employed over a third of the workforce from 1945 to the 1960s. However, as the long post-war economic boom progressed, retail and other service industries became the main source of new jobs. An estimated one million onlookers, most of the city's population, watched Queen Elizabeth II land in 1954 at Farm Cove where Captain Phillip had raised

11684-466: The mid-1860s, several cattle stations - including Gregory Downs, Floraville, and Donors Hill - had been founded inland from the present site of Burketown. Burketown was formally established in 1865 by Robert Towns , chiefly to serve as a port and supply centre for his extensive properties in the Gulf country. Towns chartered a small vessel the Jacmel Packet and on 12 June 1865 it arrived off the mouth of

11811-518: The most expensive cities in the world, Sydney frequently ranks in the top ten most liveable cities . It is classified as an Alpha+ city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network , indicating its influence in the region and throughout the world. Ranked eleventh in the world for economic opportunity, Sydney has an advanced market economy with strengths in education, finance, manufacturing and tourism . The University of Sydney and

11938-518: The most famous. The Nepean River wraps around the western edge of the city and becomes the Hawkesbury River before reaching Broken Bay . Most of Sydney's water storages can be found on tributaries of the Nepean River. The Parramatta River is mostly industrial and drains a large area of Sydney's western suburbs into Port Jackson. The southern parts of the city are drained by the Georges River and

12065-527: The most populous city in Australia. The government created jobs with massive public projects such as the electrification of the Sydney rail network and building the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Sydney was more severely affected by the Great Depression of the 1930s than regional New South Wales or Melbourne. New building almost came to a standstill, and by 1933 the unemployment rate for male workers

12192-610: The natural environment. The Outback is deeply ingrained in Australian heritage, history and folklore . In Australian art the subject of the Outback has been vogue, particularly in the 1940s. In 2009, as part of the Q150 celebrations, the Queensland Outback was announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for its role as a "natural attraction". Aboriginal peoples have lived in

12319-543: The navy. The First Fleet of 11 ships under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip arrived in Botany Bay in January 1788. It comprised more than a thousand settlers, including 736 convicts. The fleet soon moved to the more suitable Port Jackson where a settlement was established at Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788. The colony of New South Wales was formally proclaimed by Governor Phillip on 7 February 1788. Sydney Cove offered

12446-561: The north and north-west, to the Royal National Park and Macarthur in the south and south-west. Greater Sydney consists of 658 suburbs, spread across 33 local government areas. Residents of the city are colloquially known as "Sydneysiders". The estimated population in June 2023 was 5,450,496, which is about 66% of the state's population. The city's nicknames include the Emerald City and

12573-628: The older Hawkesbury sandstone is the Wianamatta shale , a geological feature found in western Sydney that was deposited in connection with a large river delta during the Middle Triassic . The Wianamatta shale generally comprises fine grained sedimentary rocks such as shales, mudstones , ironstones , siltstones and laminites , with less common sandstone units. The Wianamatta Group is made up of Bringelly Shale , Minchinbury Sandstone and Ashfield Shale . The most prevalent plant communities in

12700-569: The one hand, and storms and flooding on the other, associated with the opposite phases of the oscillation in Australia . The weather is moderated by proximity to the ocean, and more extreme temperatures are recorded in the inland western suburbs because Sydney CBD is more affected by the oceanic climate drivers than the western suburbs. At Sydney's primary weather station at Observatory Hill , extreme temperatures have ranged from 45.8 °C (114.4 °F) on 18 January 2013 to 2.1 °C (35.8 °F) on 22 June 1932. An average of 14.9 days

12827-478: The population of 138 died in the cyclone. Burketown State School opened on 26 April 1888. Large numbers of Chinese men and others from a wide variety of backgrounds also came to the Gulf Country after colonisation. The came to northern Australia following the discovery of gold around the Palmer River in northeast Queensland and at Pine Creek in the Northern Territory in the 1870s. By the late nineteenth century, it

12954-587: The present day noun form. It is colloquially said that "the outback" is located "beyond the Black Stump ". The location of the black stump may be some hypothetical location or may vary depending on local custom and folklore. It has been suggested that the term comes from the Black Stump Wine Saloon that once stood about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) out of Coolah, New South Wales on the Gunnedah Road. It

13081-604: The region's Indigenous population. In November 1790 Bennelong led a group of survivors of the Sydney clans into the settlement, establishing a continuous presence of Aboriginal Australians in settled Sydney. Phillip had been given no instructions for urban development, but in July 1788 submitted a plan for the new town at Sydney Cove . It included a wide central avenue, a permanent Government House, law courts, hospital and other public buildings, but no provision for warehouses, shops, or other commercial buildings. Phillip promptly ignored his own plan, and unplanned development became

13208-559: The request of the Aboriginal people, creating Dumaji, or the Old Doomadgee Mission. Prior to the establishment of Doomadgee Mission , many Aboriginal children in the Gulf region were removed to Mornington Island Mission and other missions and Aboriginal reserves further south. Queensland Government records indicate that over 160 people were removed from Burketown between 1900 and 1974. On 2 August 1841, Captain J. Lort Stokes

13335-510: The south-west. The local government area of the City of Sydney covers about 26 square kilometres from Garden island in the east to Bicentennial Park in the west, and south to the suburbs of Alexandria and Rosebery . Sydney is made up of mostly Triassic rock with some recent igneous dykes and volcanic necks (typically found in the Prospect dolerite intrusion , west of Sydney). The Sydney Basin

13462-529: The south. Sydney spans two geographic regions. The Cumberland Plain lies to the south and west of the Harbour and is relatively flat. The Hornsby Plateau is located to the north and is dissected by steep valleys. The flat areas of the south were the first to be developed; it was not until the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge that the northern reaches became more heavily populated. Seventy surf beaches can be found along its coastline, with Bondi Beach being

13589-492: The southern shore of Port Jackson from South Head to Darling Harbour , are the traditional owners of the land on which the British settlement was initially established, and call their territory Gadi ( Cadi ). Aboriginal clan names within the Sydney region were often formed by adding the suffix "-gal" to a word denoting the name for their territory, a specific place in their territory, a food source, or totem. Greater Sydney covers

13716-527: The surrounding area. Cook sought to establish relations with the Aboriginal population without success. Britain had been sending convicts to its American colonies for most of the eighteenth century, and the loss of these colonies in 1783 was the impetus to establish a penal colony at Botany Bay. Proponents of colonisation also pointed to the strategic importance of a new base in the Asia-Pacific region and its potential to provide much-needed timber and flax for

13843-439: The temperature seem colder than it actually is . Rainfall has a moderate to low variability and has historically been fairly uniform throughout the year, although in recent years it has been more summer-dominant and erratic. Precipitation is usually higher in summer through to autumn, and lower in late winter to early spring. In late autumn and winter, east coast lows may bring large amounts of rainfall, especially in

13970-420: The time. For a Chinese person to legally emigrate from the Northern Territory to Queensland in this period, it would have cost this tax in addition to the cost of a steamer from Darwin to Townsville, which was £5 in 1898—a prohibitive expense. To avoid this cost, many Chinese attempted to walk overland to Queensland, mostly following the coastal track through the southern Gulf Country that Leichhardt pioneered in

14097-502: The traditional lands of 28 known Aboriginal clans. The first people to inhabit the area now known as Sydney were Aboriginal Australians who had migrated from southeast Asia via northern Australia. Flaked pebbles found in Western Sydney's gravel sediments might indicate human occupation from 45,000 to 50,000 years ago, while radiocarbon dating has shown evidence of human activity in the region from around 30,000 years ago. Prior to

14224-406: The two Chinese, Lee Gee and Jimmy Ah Fin who were the local bakers in Burketown at the time. The Burketown Hotel, established in 1920 in a building originally used as the customs bond store, was destroyed by fire in 2012. The Albert Hotel building, originally the Burketown customs house is believed to date from the 1860s. Another famous Burketown Hotel, the Commonwealth, was built in around 1926, but

14351-471: The vast majority of the population of Sydney, leading to increasing public agitation for responsible government and an end to transportation. Transportation to New South Wales ceased in 1840. In 1804, Irish convicts led around 300 rebels in the Castle Hill Rebellion , an attempt to march on Sydney, commandeer a ship, and sail to freedom. Poorly armed, and with their leader Philip Cunningham captured,

14478-490: The way of amenities and is developed into a successful and growing community to become a town like Alice Springs . Outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia . The Outback is more remote than the bush . While often envisaged as being arid , the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a number of climatic zones, including tropical and monsoonal climates in northern areas, arid areas in

14605-482: The world's major manganese mines. Aboriginal communities in outback regions, such as the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands in northern South Australia, have not been displaced as they have been in areas of intensive agriculture and large cities, in coastal areas. The total population of the Outback in Australia declined from 700,000 in 1996 to 690,000 in 2006. The largest decline

14732-459: The world's natural supply, but was closed down in 2020 due to financial reasons. The Pilbara region's economy is dominated by mining and petroleum industries. The Pilbara's oil and gas industry is the region's largest export industry, earning $ 5.0 billion in 2004/05 and accounting for over 96% of the State's production. Most of Australia's iron ore is also mined in the Pilbara and it also has one of

14859-401: Was 28 per cent, but over 40 per cent in working class areas such as Alexandria and Redfern. Many families were evicted from their homes and shanty towns grew along coastal Sydney and Botany Bay, the largest being "Happy Valley" at La Perouse . The Depression also exacerbated political divisions. In March 1932, when populist Labor premier Jack Lang attempted to open the Sydney Harbour Bridge he

14986-411: Was also controversial for its cost and disputes between architect Jørn Utzon and government officials. However, soon after it opened in 1973 it became a major tourist attraction and symbol of the city. The progressive reduction in tariff protection from 1974 began the transformation of Sydney from a manufacturing centre to a "world city". From the 1980s, overseas immigration grew rapidly, with Asia ,

15113-411: Was also destroyed by fire in 1954. Burketown's population peaked at 265 in 1911. On 22 March 2012, the 92-year-old pub was destroyed in an early morning fire. The pub was subsequently rebuilt. In the 2006 census , the town of Burketown had a population of 173 people. In the 2011 census , the locality of Burketown had a population of 201 people. In the 2016 census , the locality of Burketown had

15240-519: Was built to restrict movements of dingoes and wild dogs into agricultural areas towards the south east of the continent. The marginally fertile parts are primarily utilised as rangelands and have been traditionally used for sheep or cattle grazing, on cattle stations which are leased from the Federal Government. While small areas of the outback consist of clay soils the majority has exceedingly infertile palaeosols . Riversleigh , in Queensland,

15367-472: Was declared the Year of the Outback. While the early explorers used horses to cross the Outback, the first woman to make the journey riding a horse was Anna Hingley , who rode from Broome to Cairns in 2006. The paucity of industrial land use has led to the Outback being recognised globally as one of the largest remaining intact natural areas on Earth. Global " Human Footprint " and wilderness reviews highlight

15494-503: Was formed in the early Triassic period. The sand that was to become the sandstone of today was laid down between 360 and 200 million years ago. The sandstone has shale lenses and fossil riverbeds. The Sydney Basin bioregion includes coastal features of cliffs, beaches, and estuaries. Deep river valleys known as rias were carved during the Triassic period in the Hawkesbury sandstone of

15621-528: Was in the Outback Northern Territory , while the Kimberley and Pilbara showed population increases during the same period. The sex ratio is 1040 males for 1000 females and 17% of the total population is indigenous. The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) started service in 1928 and helps people who live in the outback of Australia. Previously, serious injuries or illnesses often meant death owing to

15748-482: Was indomitable and the first official race meeting was held 25 July 1866 with prize money at $ 200 (sic). In October 1868 Towns and Co traded wool, tallow, hides and skins between Sweers Island and Batavia . Burketown Post Office opened on 1 July 1866, closed in 1871 and reopened in 1883. In the same year, settlement of the region heavily impacted upon the sovereign Indigenous peoples . With their lands stolen and hunting grounds denied, local Aboriginal peoples hunted

15875-458: Was sporadic. More focus was on the more accessible and fertile coastal areas. The first party to successfully cross the Blue Mountains just outside Sydney was led by Gregory Blaxland in 1813, 25 years after the colony was established. People, starting with John Oxley in 1817, 1818 and 1821, followed by Charles Sturt from 1829 to 1830, attempted to follow the westward-flowing rivers to find an "inland sea", but these were found to all flow into

16002-407: Was the first European to discover the mouth of a river, which he named the "Albert" after Albert, Prince Consort . Stokes' party ascended the river for a distance of 50 river miles in a long boat in a search of fresh water. Having followed a bumper wet season Stokes was greeted by endless grassy plains, which he named "The Plains of Promise" after a day of exploration. The area was originally named for

16129-544: Was upstaged by Francis de Groot of the far-right New Guard , who slashed the ribbon with a sabre. In January 1938, Sydney celebrated the Empire Games and the sesquicentenary of European settlement in Australia. One journalist wrote, "Golden beaches. Sun tanned men and maidens...Red-roofed villas terraced above the blue waters of the harbour...Even Melbourne seems like some grey and stately city of Northern Europe compared with Sydney's sub-tropical splendours." A congress of

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