Wee Waa Explained

Type:town
Wee Waa
State:nsw
Coordinates:-30.2°N 175°W
Pushpin Label Position:right
Pop:2,034
Postcode:2388
Elevation:190
Dist1:559
Dir1:NW
Location1:Sydney
Dist2:40
Dir2:W
Location2:Narrabri
Dist3:142
Dir3:E
Location3:Walgett
Dist4:110
Dir4:SSW
Location4:Moree
Dist5:588
Dir5:SW
Location5:Brisbane
Lga:Narrabri Shire
County:White
Stategov:Barwon, Tamworth
Fedgov:Parkes
Near-Nw:Merah North
Near-N:Boolcarroll
Near-Ne:Narrabri
Near-E:Narrabri
Near-Se:Bohena Creek
Near-S:Yarrie Lake
Near-Sw:Pilliga
Near-W:Burren Junction

Wee Waa is a town located on the north-western slopes of the New England region in New South Wales, Australia. The town is within the Narrabri Shire local government area and is on the Namoi River. Wee Waa is 41km (25miles) north-west of Narrabri and 571km (355miles) northwest of Sydney on the Kamilaroi Highway. At the, Wee Waa had a population of 2,034.

Wee Waa is 42 kilometres from the Newell Highway, and is referred to as a gateway to the far west centres of Walgett, Collarenebri, Lightning Ridge opal fields and beyond.[1]

The Aboriginal meaning of Wee Waa is "Fire for Roasting" from the language of the Kamilaroi people. The town is known to be the "Cotton Capital of Australia"[1] as a rural community situated in the rich agricultural heartland of the Lower Namoi Valley in NSW. The town services a far greater rural community as well as the villages of Burren Junction, Pilliga and Gwabegar.

The town is situated approximately above sea level.

History

Before the arrival of European settlers, the Wee Waa area was inhabited by the Gamilaraay/Kamilaroi Aboriginal people.[2]

The Wee Waa run was taken up by squatter George Hobler in 1837 and the settlement developed. It became an administrative centre in the late 1840s. A police station and court of petty sessions were established in 1847 and a post office opened two years later. It is the oldest established town in the area and is the birthplace of the commercial cotton industry in Australia.

Rail services were extended in 1901 from Narrabri to Walgett, passing through the town.

The first commercial cotton plantation was established in 1961, irrigated with water from the Keepit Dam on the Namoi River.[3]

It was the first town built on the Namoi River. The town is subject to regular floods and is protected by a levee bank. However thousands of people were isolated on properties around Wee Waa in February 2012.

Environment

Natural

The Wee Waa district has a mean summer minimum temperature of and a maximum of . Mean winter temperatures range from to . Mean annual rainfall is, falling on 80 days of the year.[4]

The town and surrounding area have often been flooded by the Namoi River, which can require supplies to be flown in by helicopter.[5]

Man made

The town has two motels, four schools, a preschool, Nurruby Wee Waa Early Education Service, two hotels and two caravan parks as well as eating-places, a public swimming pool, a nine-hole golf course, bowling club, tennis courts, a modern sporting complex, a hostel for the aged and a new medical centre.

Wee Waa is serviced by NSW TrainLink rail services, interstate coaches, and daily air services offered through Narrabri.

Notable events

In 1973 Arthur Murray led the Aboriginal cotton-chippers on strike for better pay and working conditions.[6] The Wee Waa Echo called them "radicals and professional troublemakers", adding that "it is not fanciful to see the Aboriginal problem as the powder keg for Communist aggression in Australia".[7]

It was in Wee Waa police station that rugby player Eddie Murray died in 1981, one of the Aboriginal deaths in custody that prompted a Royal Commission to be set up.[8] It was also the first town in Australia to use DNA testing to find a rapist.[9]

On 17 May 2013 at the 79th Annual Wee Waa Show, Columbia Records held the global launch party for the French electronic music duo Daft Punk's album Random Access Memories.[10] This caused much excitement in the town and it attracted an estimated 2,500 tourists.[11] [12] It was initially believed that footage recorded from the event would be used for a music video;[13] [14] [15] [16] however, this did not come to fruition.

Sport

The town has a multi-function Sports Complex, which also acts as a de facto community centre.

The most popular sport in Wee Waa is rugby league, the name of the town's club is the Wee Waa Panthers. The Panthers compete in the Group 4 Rugby League competition, which is based in the areas surrounding Tamworth. The club's most famous export is Jamie Lyon.[17] A club junior, Lyon famously left his professional career with the Parramatta Eels to return for a season with the Wee Waa Panthers.[18] The first-grade team went on to win that year (2004) against Moree, 55 to 12.[19] Lyon returned to professional football with St Helens for two years to play in the European Super League.[20] Following this, Lyon played for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles playing from 2007 to 2016,[21] winning a premiership in 2008[22] and 2011.

The local soccer club is the Wee Waa United Football Club. In 2019, the club won the Namoi Premier League beating Narrabri FC 2-1 in extra time. The game was broadcast across the state on BarTV.

Wee Waa produced Andrew Curry, the former Australian Olympic javelin athlete and the nation's leading javelin specialist in the 1990s.Curry competed at two Olympic games; Atlanta 1996 & Sydney 2000. Additionally, Curry competed in three Commonwealth Games: 1994 Victoria, 1998 Kuala Lumpur, and 2002 Manchester.

Wee Waa is known for its large population of southern blue-tip yabbies. On 4 September 1995, Eric Gordon set the Australian record, catching a specimen that measured 47cm.

Notable residents

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: WeeWaa.com. WeeWaa.com. en-US. 2017-06-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20170606102255/http://www.weewaa.com/. 6 June 2017. live.
  2. Web site: Wee Waa, NSW. Aussie Towns. 27 February 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170228080602/http://www.aussietowns.com.au/town/wee-waa-nsw. 28 February 2017. live.
  3. Web site: Cotton Australia. AUSTRALIAN COTTON HISTORY Fact Sheet. 1 April 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140407072620/http://cottonaustralia.com.au/cotton-library/fact-sheets/cotton-fact-file-australian-cotton-history1. 7 April 2014. live.
  4. Web site: Climate History – Wee Waa . yahoo.com.au . 18 November 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151119102059/https://weather.thewest.yahoo.com.au/local-climate-history/nsw/wee-waa . 19 November 2015 . live .
  5. News: Webster . Lara . Maguire . Kemii . Town cut off by floods for 10 days open for Christmas, but surrounding farms count the cost . 16 December 2021 . ABC News . 12 December 2021 . en-AU.
  6. Web site: Peoples History of Australia . 2020-04-09 . People's History of Australia Podcast. Episode 12 – Black Power in rural NSW: the 1973 Aboriginal Cotton Chippers’ Strike . 2023-03-01 . The Commons Social Change Library . en-AU.
  7. Web site: John Pilger: The life and death of Aboriginal activist Arthur Murray. New Statesman. 23 May 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140524045034/http://www.newstatesman.com/world-affairs/world-affairs/2012/10/life-and-death-arthur-murray. 24 May 2014. live.
  8. Web site: Indigenous Law Resources. Reconciliation and Social Justice Library. Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. 31 March 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20150506004707/http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/other/IndigLRes/rciadic/. 6 May 2015. live.
  9. Web site: Mealey. Rachel. Wee Waa DNA testing could start benchmark for investigation. The world Today. 25 June 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20121113031210/http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/stories/s118504.htm. 13 November 2012. live.
  10. Web site: Daft Punk to launch Random Access Memories in Wee Waa. 9 April 2013. Triple J. 13 May 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130411085354/http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/musicnews/s3733244.htm. 11 April 2013. live.
  11. Web site: McCabe. Kathy. Daft Punk fans descend on Wee Waa for launch of album Random Access Memories. 31 March 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140506152353/http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/music/daft-punk-fans-descend-on-wee-waa-for-launch-of-album-random-access-memories/story-e6frfn09-1226645504916. 6 May 2014. live.
  12. Web site: McCabe. Kathy. Wee Waa goes wild for Daft Punk at album launch. 31 March 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140506152349/http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/music/wee-waa-goes-wild-for-daft-punk/story-e6frfn09-1226646589823. 6 May 2014. live.
  13. Web site: 9 things we learnt from DaftPunk's Wee Waa launch. 2013. 2013-05-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20130608162315/http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/features/35724/9-things-we-learnt-from-Daft-Punks-Wee-Waa-launch. 8 June 2013. dead.
  14. Web site: Daft Punk fever takes over Wee Waa. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2013. 2013-05-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20131008213707/http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2013/s3762088.htm. 8 October 2013. live.
  15. Web site: Police descend on Wee Waa for Daft Punk launch. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2013. 2013-05-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20130521070025/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-17/police-descend-on-wee-waa-for-daft-punk-launch/4696020. 21 May 2013. live.
  16. Web site: Road to Wee Waa Telescope. YouTube. 2013. 2013-05-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20131220045433/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCVmacSNfQM. 20 December 2013. live.
  17. Web site: Player profile of Jamie Lyon . https://web.archive.org/web/20070116050210/http://www.manlyseaeagles.com.au/players.asp?playerid=153 . dead . 16 January 2007 . . 23 August 2007 .
  18. News: Ex-Parra Lyons to join Wee Waa Panthers. The Sydney Morning Herald. 4 June 2004. 23 August 2007.
  19. News: Lestor. Hanson. We're the premiers in 2004. Wee Waa News. 15 September 2004. 1, 15–16.
  20. News: Saints snap up Lyon. BBC News. 17 August 2004. 23 August 2007.
  21. News: Bailey. Scott. Jamie Lyon to retire at NRL season's end. NRL.com. 27 April 2016. 27 April 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160428094409/http://www.nrl.com/jamie-lyon-to-retire-at-nrl-seasons-end/tabid/10874/newsid/95315/default.aspx. 28 April 2016. dead.
  22. Web site: Grand final: As it happened. https://archive.today/20121204185816/http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,24449388-23214,00.html. dead. 4 December 2012. Fox Sports. 5 October 2008. 5 October 2008.
  23. Web site: Vince, Keep Your Face Away From The Camera. Australian Women's Weekly . 7 November 1973 . 15 September 2019.