Wagga Wagga, New South Wales
Encyclopedia
Wagga Wagga is a city in New South Wales
, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River
, and with an urban population of 46,735 people, Wagga Wagga is the state's largest inland city, as well as an important agricultural, military, and transport hub of Australia. The city is located midway between the two largest cities in Australia, Sydney and Melbourne, and is the major regional centre for the Riverina
and South West Slopes regions.
The central business district is focused around the commercial and recreational grid bounded by Best and Tarcutta Streets and the Murrumbidgee River
and the Sturt Highway
. The main shopping street of Wagga is Baylis Street which becomes Fitzmaurice Street at the northern end. The city is located in an alluvial valley and much of the city has a problem with urban salinity
.
The original inhabitants of the Wagga Wagga region were the Wiradjuri
people. In 1829, Charles Sturt
became the first European explorer
to visit the future site of the city. Squatters
arrived soon after, leading to conflict with the indigenous inhabitants. The town, positioned on the site of a ford
across the Murrumbidgee, was surveyed and gazetted as a village in 1849 and the town grew quickly after. In 1870, the town was gazetted as a municipality.
During the negotiations leading to the federation
of the Australian colonies, Wagga Wagga was considered as a potential capital for the new nation. During World War I the town was the starting point for the Kangaroo recruitment march
. The Great Depression
and the resulting hardship saw Wagga Wagga become the centre of a secession
movement for the Riverina
region. Wagga Wagga became a garrison town during World War II with the establishment of a military base at Kapooka
and Royal Australian Air Force
bases at Forest Hill
and Uranquinty
. After the war, Wagga Wagga was proclaimed as a city in 1946 and new suburbs were developed to the south of the city. In 1982 the city was amalgamated with the neighbouring Kyeamba and Mitchell Shires to form the City of Wagga Wagga
local government area.
Wagga Wagga is the seat of a Roman Catholic diocese
, with its principal church being St Michael's Cathedral.
region where the slopes of the Great Dividing Range
flatten and form the Riverina plain. The city straddles the Murrumbidgee River
, one of the great rivers of the Murray-Darling Basin
and the city centre itself is located on the southern bank, protected by a levee
from potential flooding.
The city sits almost midway between the largest cities in Australia being 452 kilometres southwest of Sydney and 456 kilometres northeast of Melbourne with the Sydney-Melbourne railway line
passing through. The Sturt Highway
, part of Australia's National Highway
network, also passes through the city on its way from Adelaide
to its junction with the main Sydney-Melbourne route, the Hume Highway
, a further 45 kilometres east. This location astride some of the major transport routes in the nation has made Wagga Wagga an important heavy truck depot for a number of companies including Toll Holdings
. Wagga Wagga itself is the major regional centre for the Riverina
and for much of the South West Slopes regions, providing education, health and other services to a region extending as far as Griffith
to the west, Cootamundra
to the north and Tumut
to the east.
in an alluvial valley confined by low bedrock
hills. Much of Wagga Wagga is situated on heavy clay
soils in a large drainage basin
with a small catchment discharge point. Groundwater
is therefore unable to leave easily, leading to Wagga Wagga having a problem with waterlogged soil and salinity
. Urban salination in Wagga Wagga is now the subject of a large multi-pronged approach to prevent further salination and reclaim salt affected areas.
The location of Wagga Wagga's Central business district was already well established by the late 1800s and remains focused around the commercial and recreational grid bounded by Best and Tarcutta Streets and the Murrumbidgee River and the Sturt Highway. The main shopping street of Wagga Wagga is Baylis Street which becomes Fitzmaurice Street at the northern end. The Wollundry Lagoon is the water focus of the city centre and has been a key element in the development and separation of the north (older) and south (newer) parts of the city centre. Most residential growth in Wagga Wagga has been on the higher ground to the south of the city centre, with the only residential areas north of the Murrumbidgee being the flood prone suburb of North Wagga Wagga and the university suburb of Estella
. Major industrial areas of Wagga Wagga include the northern suburb of Bomen
and the eastern suburb of East Wagga Wagga
.
At an elevation of 147 metres (482.3 ft) above sea level, Wagga Wagga has four distinct seasons. Winters can be cold by Australian standards with the mean maximum temperature falling in July to 12.7 °C (54.9 °F) and a mean minimum of 2.7 °C (36.9 °F). The lowest temperature recorded at Wagga was -6.3 °C on 21 August 1982. Fog
and heavy frost
s are common in the winter whilst snow is a very rare occurrence.
By contrast, summers in Wagga Wagga are warm to hot, with mean maximum temperatures ranging between 29 and 32 °C (84.2 and 89.6 F). The hottest temperature on record was 45.2 °C (113.4 °F) on 7 February 2009. Relative humidity
is low in the summer months with a 3 pm average of around 30%.
In 2009 the city recorded anomalous maximum of 25.03 °C (77.1 °F), which was 2.33 C-change above the country's average of 22.7 °C (72.9 °F) and the highest anomalous maximum in Australia for 2009.
Wagga Wagga has a mean annual rainfall of 566.2 millimetres (22.3 in) per year. This rainfall is distributed fairly equally over the 12 months.
On 8 March 2010, Wagga Wagga Airport recorded 110.2 millimetres (4.3 in) of rain, breaking the previous all time record of 104.1 millimetres (4.1 in) set on 16 March 1966, with 127 millimetres (5 in) of rain recorded at Gurwood Street in the city's CBD.
In December 2010, the city recorded its wettest year on record and the first ever yearly rainfall recording of 1000 millimetres (39.4 in).
The original Aboriginal inhabitants of the Wagga Wagga region were the Wiradjuri
people and the term "Wagga" and derivatives of that word in the Wiradjuri aboriginal language
is thought to mean crow
. To create the plural, the Wiradjuri repeat a word, thus 'Wagga Wagga' translates to 'the place of many crows'. This has been recognised in the Latin
name of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wagga Wagga
as Dioecesis Corvopolitanus. ("corvus" being the Latin word for crow). Other translations render the word 'wagga' as "reeling (a sick man or a dizzy man)" and "to dance, slide or grind".
European exploration
of the future site of Wagga Wagga began in 1829 with the arrival of Captain Charles Sturt
during his expedition along the Murrumbidgee River. Settlers arrived shortly thereafter with Charles Tompson establishing the Eunonyhareenyha 'run' on the north bank of the river in 1832, and then in soon after George Best establishing the Wagga Wagga 'run' on the south bank. Other settlers followed, with all of them initially squatting
on the land illegally but by 1836 the colonial government regulated the tenure of land and established a licensing scheme. Within a few short years settlers numbers increased greatly and before 1850 a local bench of magistrate
s and a place for holding petty sessions was established. The beginnings of a village formed near the ford used by most traffic passing through the area and included a crude blacksmith's
shop, a hotel
, and a post office. By 1849 the town was marked out by surveyor
Thomas Scott Townsend and formally gazette
d as a village.
Wagga Wagga grew quickly, reaching a population of 627 in 1861 and during that decade a number of hotels and stores opened, as well as professional services in the form of banks, solicitors, doctors and dentists
. The Wagga Wagga Advertiser is still published today as The Daily Advertiser and commenced in 1868. Until the 1860s most goods were transported to markets by bullock
wagon. For a short time, the arrival of faster, cheaper and more reliable riverboat
s allowed goods to be transported more easily to export markets. The riverboat era ended when the New South Wales government extended the railway line to North Wagga Wagga in 1878 and across the river to Wagga Wagga itself in 1881.
On 15 March 1870, Wagga Wagga was incorporated as a municipality and George Forsyth was chosen as the first Mayor of Wagga Wagga. Gas lighting
was installed throughout the streets of Wagga Wagga in 1881, although once again North Wagga Wagga was neglected. By 1885, a town waterworks
and reservoir was established although water quality remained a problem. Poor sanitation
caused a horrific stench in the town and was blamed for a large increase in infectious disease
s such as typhoid fever
in the 1890s and early 1900s. In 1908 the Council approved a sewerage
scheme and by 1914 most of the main streets were sewered. A free public library was opened in 1875 and the Council began to establish parkland such as Bolton Park and the Town Hall Gardens.
In September 1859 local residents formed a committee for the construction of a pile bridge
over the Murrumbidgee River. After the New South Wales Government refused to support this type of bridge the committee decided to finance it themselves. The bridge was completed in October 1862 and opened on 27 October at just over 91 metres long and 7 metres wide. In 1884 the New South Wales Government purchased the bridge and it was demolished in 1895. In 1895 a truss bridge
called the Hampden Bridge
, was built across the Murrumbidgee River at Wagga. The bridge served the Wagga Wagga community for over 100 years until 16 August 2006 when it was closed and fenced off to the public due to the bridge being declared a safety risk after one of the trusses failed.
With its increasing prosperity and population, Wagga Wagga and the surrounding district became a place of interest to several infamous bushrangers. The Wagga police magistrate Henry Baylis was bailed up by Mad Dog Morgan
in 1863. Captain Moonlite and his band arrived in the district on 15 November 1879 and held up 39 people at Wantabadgery Station
. Moonlite and his gang escaped a police pursuit only to be captured at another nearby property when police from the neighbouring townships of Gundagai
and Adelong
arrived.
Along with most of the Riverina
region, the majority of Wagga Wagga residents supported the federation
of the Australian colonies, in large part due to the prospect of free trade
across colonial borders. In 1898, a group of residents promoted Wagga Wagga for consideration as the site of the future national capital due to its location equidistant from Sydney and Melbourne and its ample water supply. Despite the bid's lack of success, in the 1899 referendum
Wagga Wagga residents voted strongly in favour of federation.
During World War I the town was the starting point of the "Kangaroo March", one of a series of snowball marches
conducted in New South Wales during the war where groups of recruits would march toward Sydney and appeal to men in the towns along the route to join them and enlist in the Australian Imperial Force
. 88 recruits left Wagga Wagga on 1 December 1915, farewelled by a large crowd and to the accompaniment of a band. The marchers included John Ryan
, who later won the Victoria Cross
for his actions in the Battle of the Hindenburg Line
in 1918. The march finished at Campbelltown
with over 220 recruits.
After the war some of the area around Wagga Wagga was designated for settlement by returned soldiers
, who faced insurmountable difficulties due to poor and unwatered land, lack of farming experience and lack of access to markets. Many walked off the land after years of backbreaking work. Residential growth continued with a population in 1921 of 11,631. Much of this residential growth was housed in the higher ground to the south, extending to the south of the railway tracks. A suburb consisting of tents and crude huts, known as "Tent Town", developed along the river providing housing for the poorer residents of Wagga Wagga. In 1922, electricity was provided for the town, with hydro-electric power available from Burrinjuck Dam
from 1928.
Hardship as a result of the Great Depression
, and the election of Jack Lang
of the Labor
party as Premier of New South Wales, sparked the formation of the "Riverina Movement". Throughout the Riverina in early 1931, a series of rallies were organised by the movement, culminating in a great meeting in Wagga Wagga on 28 February 1931. The meeting called on the State and Federal governments to alleviate the concerns of producers in the district or hold a referendum to determine if the Riverina should secede
. The movement petered out following the dismissal of Lang in 1932 and the recovery of the regional economy.
The outbreak of World War II saw Royal Australian Air Force
bases established at Forest Hill
in 1940 and Uranquinty
in 1941. A major Australian Army
camp was constructed at Kapooka
in 1942 and one year later there were 8,000 troops in training there with Wagga taking on the characteristics of a garrison town.
After the war, Wagga Wagga grew steadily and was proclaimed a city on 17 April 1946. Suburbs such as Turvey Park
and Kooringal
were developed to the south of the city and in the 1960s, residential growth expanded to cover areas such as Tolland
and Lake Albert
. The main commercial district also moved south to the Baylis Street end with the development of the Sturt Mall
in 1979. The City Council developed a series of industrial areas including areas for service and general industries, and agricultural processing and noxious industries were established in a new industrial estate in Bomen
.
In the 1950s the defence bases in Wagga Wagga again became an important part of the city. The Army camp at Kapooka was reopened as a recruit training centre from 1951, a role it maintains to this day. RAAF Base Wagga
at Forest Hill also expanded, with training of defence force aircraft technicians located there from 1969. After a series of major floods in the early 1950s, the City Council protected the city area on the south flood plain through construction of a levee
, completed in 1962. The levee was designed to provide protection from floods at levels expected once every one hundred years. North Wagga Wagga was initially excluded from protection however by 1982 another levee was constructed to protect the village, although at a lower standard.
In 1971, following pressure from the Wagga Wagga community for a university, the teachers' college established in 1947 became the Riverina College of Advanced Education and was relocated to a site adjacent to the Wagga Agricultural College, with which it amalgamated in 1975. In 1989, the College amalgamated with the College of Advanced Education at Bathurst
to become Charles Sturt University
. In 1981, the New South Wales government forced the amalgamation of Wagga Wagga City Council with neighbouring Kyeamba Shire and Mitchell Shire to form the new City of Wagga Wagga
Local government area, containing 4,886 square kilometres.
On 23 February 1993 Wagga Wagga was the first city in the world to be proclaimed as a Rotary Peace City, with a Rotary Peace Monument unveiled on the corner of The Esplanade and Best Street.
. Other factors include Wagga's role as a regional centre and its hosting of major defence establishments and a Charles Sturt University
campus.
The population is reasonably homogenous with only 6.4% of the population born outside of Australia as opposed to 21.9% for Australia as a whole and 93.8% of households in Wagga Wagga speaking English only at home. Wagga Wagga is home to small numbers of migrants from England, New Zealand, Scotland, the Netherlands, Germany and the Sudan. Wagga Wagga is also home to a sizeable indigenous population; at the 2001 census, Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders
made up 3.4% of the city's population.
In religion, Wagga Wagga is predominantly Christian, with the major religious denominations being Catholic (33.9%) and Anglican
(25.2%). 11.5% of the population professed no religion. The main sources of employment in Wagga Wagga include education, retailing, health and defence.
Wagga attracts people from all over the Riverina and southwestern New South Wales to its shopping facilities. It is the major support city for over 200,000 people who live across the region.
Wagga's shopping centres include two notable centres of metropolitan standards, Wagga Wagga Marketplace
and Sturt Mall
in the central business district, and suburban shopping centres such as the new South City Shopping Centre in Glenfield Park
, the Lake Village Shopping Centre, Lake Albert
, the Tolland
Shopping Centre and Kooringal Mall in Kooringal
. Wagga also has a large Home Base located on the Sturt Highway
. Wagga's central business district, with both Baylis and Fitzmaurice Streets and other surrounding streets, offers hundreds of speciality retailers including national chains such as Big W
, Myer
and Target Country
. The dairy company Fonterra
(Formerly Murrumbidgee Dairy Products), is based on the Sturt Highway which is a supplier of dairy products in the Riverina, Other major industries include Cargill
and Heinz
which are located in the suburb of Bomen
.
The Australian Army
base at Kapooka
includes the Army Recruit Training Centre, where general enlistment members of the Australian Army
undertake their initial training. The barracks at Kapooka are named after World War II military commander Sir
Thomas Blamey
, born at Lake Albert
Wagga Wagga and Australia's only Field Marshal
. Following recruit training, soldiers move on to trade specific training at various training establishments throughout Australia. The soldiers club at Kapooka is named for John Hurst Edmondson
, Australia's first Victoria Cross
winner in World War II, who was born in Wagga Wagga.
There is a separate Royal Australian Air Force
(RAAF) base at Forest Hill
(RAAF Base Wagga
), which is the administration and logistics training base for Air Force personnel and the tri-service (RAN/Army/RAAF) electronic (White hander) and aircraft (Black hander) trades school. Some Royal Australian Navy
Aircraft Technicians assigned to the naval air station HMAS Albatross
are based at RAAF Base Wagga as an Aircraft Maintenance and Flight Trials Unit (AMAFTU). As of 2008, No 1 Recruit Training Unit (1RTU) has moved from RAAF Edinburgh to RAAF Wagga Wagga. RAAF Base Wagga is also the home of the Wagga Wagga RAAF Museum
.
The sole provider of higher education in Wagga Wagga is the local campus of the multi-campus Charles Sturt University
, located on the outskirts of the suburb of Estella
. The university was established on 1 July 1989 following the enactment of The Charles Sturt University Act, 1989 and involved the merger of several existing separately-administered Colleges of Advanced Education
including the Riverina College of Advanced Education in Wagga Wagga. At the time of its establishment it became the ninth university in the state and its inaugural vice-chancellor was C.D. Blake OAM
who at the time was the principal of the Riverina College.
The Riverina Institute, a collection of TAFE institute campuses has its headquarters in Wagga Wagga and Wagga is home to three campuses. The Primary Industries Centre, at North Wagga Wagga is set on 250 hectares and runs courses on agriculture and horticulture. The National Aerospace Training Centre of Excellence, at RAAF Base Wagga
provides training support to the Australian Defence Force
aerospace
traineeship program. The commercial contract with the ADF is the largest technical training contract in Australia. In addition Wagga Wagga is home to eight secondary schools and 22 primary schools.
Local government
for the city is provided by the Wagga Wagga City Council
. As well as Wagga Wagga itself the City Council area includes the outlying towns of Tarcutta
, Ladysmith
, Mangoplah
, Collingullie
and Uranquinty
covering an area of 4,824 km². The local government area was formed as a result of the amalgamation of the City of Wagga Wagga with the Mitchell and Kyeamba Shires in 1981. The council itself consists of 11 councillors elected for a four year term and from these a mayor and deputy mayor are elected each year by the council.
Wagga Wagga is the largest city in the Australian House of Representatives
electorate of Riverina
, currently represented by Michael McCormack
of the National Party
. At the state level, the city is represented in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
by Daryl Maguire
, of the Liberal Party
, member for the Electoral district of Wagga Wagga
.
Busabout Wagga Wagga provides bus services from most Wagga Wagga suburbs to the CBD from Mondays to Saturdays with no services on Sunday or public holidays. Wagga Radio Cabs run taxis 24/7 in the city with taxi ranks located at Station Place, Forsyth Street, Gurwood Street, Wagga Wagga Base Hospital
and Kooringal Mall.
Baylis Street in the CBD was a thoroughfare for the Olympic Highway until the Gobbagombalin Bridge (referred to locally as the Gobba Bridge and is also believed to be the longest continuous-span viaduct in New South Wales) located about 6 km northwest of the CBD was opened in 26 July 1997. The Sturt Highway
passes through the centre of Wagga Wagga.
Wagga Wagga railway station is located on the Sydney-Melbourne railway line
with twice daily XPT fast rail services provided by CountryLink
, the state owned passenger rail service.
Wagga Wagga Airport
at Forest Hill
has scheduled daily flights to Sydney and Melbourne through two carriers, Regional Express
and QantasLink
. The airport itself is owned by the Royal Australian Air Force
and the civil side is leased by the City Council. The sealed runway can cater for aircraft weighing up to 30 tonnes. Since 2001, around 100,000 passengers use Wagga Wagga airport annually.
Wagga's location approximately midway between Melbourne and Sydney on the "Barassi Line
" contributes to high levels of participation in Rugby league
, Rugby union
and Australian rules football
in the town. Other popular sports in Wagga include soccer, cricket
, tennis, and lawn bowls.
The local rugby league teams play in the Group 9 Rugby League
competition and include Wagga Brothers, South City and Wagga Kangaroos. The Group 9 grand final
is a major sport event in Wagga Wagga. Rugby union teams include Rivcoll, Wagga Agricultural College, Wagga City and Wagga Waratahs in the Southern Inland Rugby Union. Australian rules football clubs in Wagga include the Eastern Hawks, Mangoplah-Cookardinia United-Eastlakes, Turvey Park and Wagga Tigers in the Riverina Football League
and Collingullie-Ashmont-Kapooka, North Wagga and Rivcoll in the Farrer Football League
. Wagga soccer teams include Henwood Park, Wagga United, Tolland, Southern Knights and Lake Albert, with the first grade competition being the Pascoe Cup. The Wagga Wagga Gold Cup, said to be Australia's second oldest thoroughbred
horse race is held in the first week of May.
Famous sportspeople from Wagga include:
In 1993, the City of Wagga Wagga
instituted a Sporting Hall of Fame as part of the Museum of the Riverina
dedicated to the elite sportspeople from Wagga Wagga and the surrounding area.
and Burrinjuck
Dams. The wave is said to continue down river at high speed, and indeed visitors are told it is so powerful that surfers can ride it along the meandering river until it reaches the town of Narrandera
.
The Murrumbidgee River
at Wagga Wagga forms into a large sandy beach, and is a popular location for swimming, picnics and barbecue
s during the warmer months. Between 1977 and 1995 the beach played host to the Gumi Races, where people were encouraged to make rafts from inner tubing and sabotage their competition by throwing rotten eggs and flour at them. Visitors and local residents still take every opportunity during the warmer months to float down the river from the area known as "The Rocks" located some 600 metres upstream from the main beach area. River cruises also operate on the Murrumbidgee.
Wollundry Lagoon, Lake Albert
and various parks also provide recreational facilities. Sporting facilities include the Oasis Regional Aquatic Centre, with Australia's only wave ball. Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre
and the Forum 6 Cinemas provide entertainment venues. The Wagga Wagga Botanic Gardens
are home to a music bowl, a small zoo with a walk through aviary, a tree chapel, Willans Hill Model Railway
and a camellia
garden. Located on the banks of the Wollundry lagoon and officially opened in 1927, the Victory Memorial Gardens
were established amidst some controversy as a tribute to those who fought and died in World War I.
The main cultural precinct for Wagga Wagga can be found in central Wagga Wagga, at the Wagga Wagga Civic Centre on the banks of Wollundry Lagoon. The precinct includes the Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre
, Museum of the Riverina
, Wagga Wagga Regional Art Gallery and Wagga Wagga City Library.
The Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre was officially opened in 1963 at a cost of ₤
165,000. During its design and construction and again after opening the theatre was the subject of severe criticism. Critics lamented the destruction of rose gardens removed to allow construction, the size of the orchestra pit, the amount of seating (497 seats) as well as the design of the feature mural. A considerable refurbishment was carried out in the 1990s and now the theatre is regarded as one of the best in regional Australia, playing host to national and international touring acts.
The Wagga Wagga Regional Art Gallery hosts local collections and travelling exhibitions and has space for an Artist in residence
. The centrepiece of the collection is the National Art Glass Gallery
, a nationally significant collection of studio art glass
hosted in a separate, specially designed gallery. The collection was first established by the former director of the Wagga Wagga Regional Art Gallery, Judy Le Lievre in response to a request by the Australia Council
for regional galleries to develop a specialised collection to avoid duplication and competition. The collection consists of around 400 works making it the largest studio glass collection in Australia.
The Museum of the Riverina
was established in 1967 by the Wagga Wagga and District Historical Society. Wagga Wagga City Council took over its operations in the late 1990s and it now operates at two sites. The Historic Council Chambers site on the corner of Baylis and Morrow streets in central Wagga, hosts travelling exhibitions and the main site at the Botanic Gardens is home to the main collection including the Wagga Wagga Sporting Hall of Fame. The museum also has an important collection of memorabilia about the Tichborne Case
, including a set of four rare plaster figurines depicting characters from the trial, a complete set of hard-bound court transcripts and a monumental painting entitled The Tichborne Trial painted in 1874 by Nathan Hughes, which hangs in the city's council chambers.
The Wagga Wagga Jazz Festival
was established in 1995 and has featured a range of Australian and international musicians. Established in 1976 as the Riverina Trucking Company and renamed in 1983, the Riverina Theatre Company is one of Australia's longest running regional theatre companies and runs a full program of events each year at the Riverina Playhouse, which is located on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River and owned by Charles Sturt University.
Notable artists and performers from Wagga Wagga include poet Dame
Mary Gilmore
, who is featured on the Australian 10 dollar note and veteran actor Bill Kerr
. The Yellow Wiggle, Sam Moran
, is also from Wagga Wagga, having replaced the original Yellow Wiggle, Greg Page, in November 2006. The fictional creation of satirist Barry Humphries
, Dame Edna Everage
was said to have been born in Wagga Wagga.
Wagga also has strong cultural ties with three international sister cities which form part of a twinning
program. Those sister cities are Leavenworth, Kansas in the United States
, which was established in 1962; Nördlingen in Germany
, established in 1967; and Kunming in China
, mutually established in 1988.
attracted a visit from Mark Twain
when he visited Australia in the 1890s. In addition Wagga has been home to a number of famous Australian writers, including Frank Moorhouse
who worked as a journalist on the city's daily newspaper, and the poets Mary Gilmore
and Barcroft Boake
.
Humourist Spike Milligan
was quite taken with the double-barrelled names of Australian towns, and presented a show called "Australia: From Woy Woy to Wagga Wagga".
In other cases the town's name has been directly referred to as part of the content of songs and novels. For example the song Don't call Wagga Wagga Wagga, written by Australian country music
artists Greg Champion
and Jim Haynes, was a minor hit on the Australian country charts and is a light-hearted take on the habit of Australians to refer to double named towns by one name only. Other examples include the Harry Potter
series of fantasy novels, where the character Gilderoy Lockhart claimed to have defeated the "Wagga Wagga Werewolf", the Bryce Courtenay
book The Power of One
, where the main character Peekay is said to have a cousin Lenny from Wagga Wagga Australia, the Bryce Courtenay
book Jessica
has several passages that take place in Wagga Wagga, including the judgement of Billy Simple, and the Robert G. Barrett
novel, "Mud Crab Boogie" which is partially set in Wagga Wagga.
As a regional centre for the Riverina
and South West Slopes, Wagga Wagga is home to a number of regional media outlets. Both WIN Television
and Prime7 air half-hour local news programs on weeknights. The bulletins are presented from studios in Wollongong and Canberra
respectively with reporters and camera crews for both services based in newsrooms in the city. Since 2006, WIN's weeknight bulletin has also included coverage of the Griffith
area. In addition, Southern Cross Ten
runs a small sales office and airs short local news updates from its Canberra studios throughout the day.
The city also receives the ABC
's four free-to-air national television networks on analogue and digital (ABC1
, ABC2
, ABC3
and ABC News 24
), the SBS
's two television networks (SBS ONE and SBS Two) and the commercial networks' digital channels (7Two
and 7mate
from Prime7, GO!
and GEM HD from WIN and One HD and Eleven
from Southern Cross Ten).
Local radio stations broadcasting from Wagga Wagga include ABC Riverina
, AM radio
commercial station 2WG
and FM radio
commercial station Star FM
. Other local stations include Christian radio
station Life FM
and the community station 2AAA
FM. The ABC's national stations Radio National
, Triple J
and ABC Classic FM
and the multicultural network SBS Radio
are also broadcast into Wagga Wagga.
The Daily Advertiser, published Monday to Friday and its sister publication, the Weekend Advertiser, service Wagga and much of the surrounding region. The newspaper was established by two wealthy local pastoralists, Auber George Jones and Thomas Darlow and first printed on 10 December 1868 by editor Frank Hutchison, an Oxford graduate. Originally printed bi-weekly, by 1880 it was tri-weekly and finally became 'daily' on 31 December 1910. In 1962 the newspaper reduced in size from a broadsheet
to a tabloid format. The Riverina Leader, the local free community newspaper was launched in May 1979.
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River
Murrumbidgee River
The Murrumbidgee River is a major river in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory . A major tributary of the Murray River, the Murrumbidgee flows in a west-northwesterly direction from the foot of Peppercorn Hill in the Fiery Range of the Snowy Mountains,...
, and with an urban population of 46,735 people, Wagga Wagga is the state's largest inland city, as well as an important agricultural, military, and transport hub of Australia. The city is located midway between the two largest cities in Australia, Sydney and Melbourne, and is the major regional centre for the Riverina
Riverina
The Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales , Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation. This combination has allowed the Riverina to develop...
and South West Slopes regions.
The central business district is focused around the commercial and recreational grid bounded by Best and Tarcutta Streets and the Murrumbidgee River
Murrumbidgee River
The Murrumbidgee River is a major river in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory . A major tributary of the Murray River, the Murrumbidgee flows in a west-northwesterly direction from the foot of Peppercorn Hill in the Fiery Range of the Snowy Mountains,...
and the Sturt Highway
Sturt Highway
The Sturt Highway is an Australian highway in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. It is part of the Auslink National network and is part of the main highway route between Sydney and Adelaide.-Route:...
. The main shopping street of Wagga is Baylis Street which becomes Fitzmaurice Street at the northern end. The city is located in an alluvial valley and much of the city has a problem with urban salinity
Soil salination
Soil salinity is the salt content in the soil.- Causes of soil salinity :Salt-affected soils are caused by excess accumulation of salts, typically most pronounced at the soil surface. Salts can be transported to the soil surface by capillary transport from a salt laden water table and then...
.
The original inhabitants of the Wagga Wagga region were the Wiradjuri
Wiradjuri
The Wiradjuri are an Indigenous Australian group of central New South Wales.In the 21st century, major Wiradjuri groups live in Condobolin, Peak Hill, Narrandera and Griffith...
people. In 1829, Charles Sturt
Charles Sturt
Captain Charles Napier Sturt was an English explorer of Australia, and part of the European Exploration of Australia. He led several expeditions into the interior of the continent, starting from both Sydney and later from Adelaide. His expeditions traced several of the westward-flowing rivers,...
became the first European explorer
European exploration of Australia
The European exploration of Australia encompasses several waves of seafarers and land explorers. Although Australia is often loosely said to have been discovered by Royal Navy Lieutenant James Cook in 1770, he was merely one of a number of European explorers to have sighted and landed on the...
to visit the future site of the city. Squatters
Squatting (pastoral)
In Australian history, a squatter was one who occupied a large tract of Crown land in order to graze livestock. Initially often having no legal rights to the land, they gained its usage by being the first Europeans in the area....
arrived soon after, leading to conflict with the indigenous inhabitants. The town, positioned on the site of a ford
Ford (crossing)
A ford is a shallow place with good footing where a river or stream may be crossed by wading or in a vehicle. A ford is mostly a natural phenomenon, in contrast to a low water crossing, which is an artificial bridge that allows crossing a river or stream when water is low.The names of many towns...
across the Murrumbidgee, was surveyed and gazetted as a village in 1849 and the town grew quickly after. In 1870, the town was gazetted as a municipality.
During the negotiations leading to the federation
Federation of Australia
The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia formed one nation...
of the Australian colonies, Wagga Wagga was considered as a potential capital for the new nation. During World War I the town was the starting point for the Kangaroo recruitment march
Snowball marches
During World War I, recruitment marches or snowball marches to Sydney were a feature of volunteer recruiting drives for the Australian Imperial Force in rural New South Wales, Australia. Between October 1915 and February 1916, nine marches were held starting from various points in the state; the...
. The Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
and the resulting hardship saw Wagga Wagga become the centre of a secession
Secession
Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.-Secession theory:...
movement for the Riverina
Riverina
The Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales , Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation. This combination has allowed the Riverina to develop...
region. Wagga Wagga became a garrison town during World War II with the establishment of a military base at Kapooka
Kapooka, New South Wales
Kapooka is a suburb in the south west of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia.The suburb of Kapooka is home to the Department of Defence's Blamey Barracks from where the Army Recruit Training Centre conducts its operations....
and Royal Australian Air Force
Royal Australian Air Force
The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...
bases at Forest Hill
Forest Hill, New South Wales
Forest Hill is a suburb of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. Forest Hill is located approximately 10 km east of the central business district on the Sturt Highway. RAAF Base Wagga, Wagga Wagga Airport and the Bureau of Meteorology Regional Office are located at Forest Hill.Newer streets in Forest Hill...
and Uranquinty
Uranquinty, New South Wales
Uranquinty is a small town approximately 15 km south of Wagga Wagga in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The population of the town is 715....
. After the war, Wagga Wagga was proclaimed as a city in 1946 and new suburbs were developed to the south of the city. In 1982 the city was amalgamated with the neighbouring Kyeamba and Mitchell Shires to form the City of Wagga Wagga
City of Wagga Wagga
The Wagga Wagga City Council was formed from the amalgamation of City of Wagga Wagga with Mitchell and Kyeamba Shires in 1981. 22 December 2009, Wagga Wagga City Council announced that Phil Pinyon would be appointed as the General Manager of the Wagga Wagga City Council after Lyn Russell, who...
local government area.
Wagga Wagga is the seat of a Roman Catholic diocese
Roman Catholic Diocese of Wagga Wagga
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Wagga Wagga is a Latin rite suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Sydney, erested in 1917, covering the Riverina region of New South Wales in Australia....
, with its principal church being St Michael's Cathedral.
Geography
Wagga Wagga is located at the eastern end of the RiverinaRiverina
The Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales , Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation. This combination has allowed the Riverina to develop...
region where the slopes of the Great Dividing Range
Great Dividing Range
The Great Dividing Range, or the Eastern Highlands, is Australia's most substantial mountain range and the third longest in the world. The range stretches more than 3,500 km from Dauan Island off the northeastern tip of Queensland, running the entire length of the eastern coastline through...
flatten and form the Riverina plain. The city straddles the Murrumbidgee River
Murrumbidgee River
The Murrumbidgee River is a major river in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory . A major tributary of the Murray River, the Murrumbidgee flows in a west-northwesterly direction from the foot of Peppercorn Hill in the Fiery Range of the Snowy Mountains,...
, one of the great rivers of the Murray-Darling Basin
Murray-Darling Basin
The Murray-Darling basin is a large geographical area in the interior of southeastern Australia, whose name is derived from its two major rivers, the Murray River and the Darling River. It drains one-seventh of the Australian land mass, and is currently by far the most significant agricultural...
and the city centre itself is located on the southern bank, protected by a levee
Levee
A levee, levée, dike , embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels...
from potential flooding.
The city sits almost midway between the largest cities in Australia being 452 kilometres southwest of Sydney and 456 kilometres northeast of Melbourne with the Sydney-Melbourne railway line
Main Southern railway line, New South Wales
The Main Southern Railway is a major railway in New South Wales, Australia. It runs through the Southern Highlands, Southern Tablelands, South West Slopes and the Riverina regions.- Description of route :...
passing through. The Sturt Highway
Sturt Highway
The Sturt Highway is an Australian highway in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. It is part of the Auslink National network and is part of the main highway route between Sydney and Adelaide.-Route:...
, part of Australia's National Highway
National Highway (Australia)
thumb|right|150px|The National Highway Shield in NSW, QLD, WA, NT & TAS.The National Highway is a system of roads connecting all the States and Territories of Australia, and is the major network of highways connecting Australia's largest and most important cities.The National Highway was...
network, also passes through the city on its way from Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
to its junction with the main Sydney-Melbourne route, the Hume Highway
Hume Highway
The Hume Highway/Hume Freeway is one of Australia's major inter-city highways, running for 880 km between Sydney and Melbourne. It is part of the Auslink National Network and is a vital link for road freight to transport goods to and from the two cities as well as serving Albury-Wodonga and...
, a further 45 kilometres east. This location astride some of the major transport routes in the nation has made Wagga Wagga an important heavy truck depot for a number of companies including Toll Holdings
Toll Holdings
TOLL , properly TOLL Holdings Limited, is Australia's largest transport company, based in Melbourne, Victoria. The company has operations in road, rail, sea and air in 55 countries....
. Wagga Wagga itself is the major regional centre for the Riverina
Riverina
The Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales , Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation. This combination has allowed the Riverina to develop...
and for much of the South West Slopes regions, providing education, health and other services to a region extending as far as Griffith
Griffith, New South Wales
Griffith is a city in south-western New South Wales, Australia. It is also the seat of the City of Griffith local government area. Like the Australian capital, Canberra and the nearby town of Leeton, Griffith was designed by Walter Burley Griffin. Griffith was named after Sir Arthur Griffith the...
to the west, Cootamundra
Cootamundra, New South Wales
Cootamundra is a town and Local Government Area in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia and within the Riverina. At the 2006 census, Cootamundra had a population of 5,566. It is located on the Olympic Highway at the point where it crosses the Muttama Creek, between Junee and...
to the north and Tumut
Tumut, New South Wales
Tumut is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, situated on the banks of the Tumut River. Tumut is at the foothills of the Snowy Mountains and is referred to as the gateway to the Snowy Mountains Scheme...
to the east.
Landform and salinity
Wagga Wagga is located upstream from the Riverina plain in the mid-catchment range of the Murrumbidgee RiverMurrumbidgee River
The Murrumbidgee River is a major river in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory . A major tributary of the Murray River, the Murrumbidgee flows in a west-northwesterly direction from the foot of Peppercorn Hill in the Fiery Range of the Snowy Mountains,...
in an alluvial valley confined by low bedrock
Bedrock
In stratigraphy, bedrock is the native consolidated rock underlying the surface of a terrestrial planet, usually the Earth. Above the bedrock is usually an area of broken and weathered unconsolidated rock in the basal subsoil...
hills. Much of Wagga Wagga is situated on heavy clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
soils in a large drainage basin
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
with a small catchment discharge point. Groundwater
Groundwater
Groundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock...
is therefore unable to leave easily, leading to Wagga Wagga having a problem with waterlogged soil and salinity
Soil salination
Soil salinity is the salt content in the soil.- Causes of soil salinity :Salt-affected soils are caused by excess accumulation of salts, typically most pronounced at the soil surface. Salts can be transported to the soil surface by capillary transport from a salt laden water table and then...
. Urban salination in Wagga Wagga is now the subject of a large multi-pronged approach to prevent further salination and reclaim salt affected areas.
City and suburbs
The location of Wagga Wagga's Central business district was already well established by the late 1800s and remains focused around the commercial and recreational grid bounded by Best and Tarcutta Streets and the Murrumbidgee River and the Sturt Highway. The main shopping street of Wagga Wagga is Baylis Street which becomes Fitzmaurice Street at the northern end. The Wollundry Lagoon is the water focus of the city centre and has been a key element in the development and separation of the north (older) and south (newer) parts of the city centre. Most residential growth in Wagga Wagga has been on the higher ground to the south of the city centre, with the only residential areas north of the Murrumbidgee being the flood prone suburb of North Wagga Wagga and the university suburb of Estella
Estella, New South Wales
Estella is a northern suburb of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia. The suburb is relatively new with development commencing in the 1980s, however growth has been slow and land is still being subdivided....
. Major industrial areas of Wagga Wagga include the northern suburb of Bomen
Bomen, New South Wales
Bomen is a northern suburb of Wagga Wagga in southern New South Wales, Australia. The suburb is dominated by industrial enterprises including Cargill Beef, Watties, the Wagga Wagga Livestock Marketing Centre...
and the eastern suburb of East Wagga Wagga
East Wagga Wagga, New South Wales
East Wagga Wagga is a suburb of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. East Wagga Wagga is mostly an industrial area located approximately east south-east of the central business district on the Sturt Highway...
.
Climate
Wagga Wagga has a temperate climate with hot dry summers and cold winters.At an elevation of 147 metres (482.3 ft) above sea level, Wagga Wagga has four distinct seasons. Winters can be cold by Australian standards with the mean maximum temperature falling in July to 12.7 °C (54.9 °F) and a mean minimum of 2.7 °C (36.9 °F). The lowest temperature recorded at Wagga was -6.3 °C on 21 August 1982. Fog
Fog
Fog is a collection of water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. While fog is a type of stratus cloud, the term "fog" is typically distinguished from the more generic term "cloud" in that fog is low-lying, and the moisture in the fog is often generated...
and heavy frost
Frost
Frost is the solid deposition of water vapor from saturated air. It is formed when solid surfaces are cooled to below the dew point of the adjacent air as well as below the freezing point of water. Frost crystals' size differ depending on time and water vapour available. Frost is also usually...
s are common in the winter whilst snow is a very rare occurrence.
By contrast, summers in Wagga Wagga are warm to hot, with mean maximum temperatures ranging between 29 and 32 °C (84.2 and 89.6 F). The hottest temperature on record was 45.2 °C (113.4 °F) on 7 February 2009. Relative humidity
Relative humidity
Relative humidity is a term used to describe the amount of water vapor in a mixture of air and water vapor. It is defined as the partial pressure of water vapor in the air-water mixture, given as a percentage of the saturated vapor pressure under those conditions...
is low in the summer months with a 3 pm average of around 30%.
In 2009 the city recorded anomalous maximum of 25.03 °C (77.1 °F), which was 2.33 C-change above the country's average of 22.7 °C (72.9 °F) and the highest anomalous maximum in Australia for 2009.
Wagga Wagga has a mean annual rainfall of 566.2 millimetres (22.3 in) per year. This rainfall is distributed fairly equally over the 12 months.
On 8 March 2010, Wagga Wagga Airport recorded 110.2 millimetres (4.3 in) of rain, breaking the previous all time record of 104.1 millimetres (4.1 in) set on 16 March 1966, with 127 millimetres (5 in) of rain recorded at Gurwood Street in the city's CBD.
In December 2010, the city recorded its wettest year on record and the first ever yearly rainfall recording of 1000 millimetres (39.4 in).
History
Wiradjuri
The Wiradjuri are an Indigenous Australian group of central New South Wales.In the 21st century, major Wiradjuri groups live in Condobolin, Peak Hill, Narrandera and Griffith...
people and the term "Wagga" and derivatives of that word in the Wiradjuri aboriginal language
Wiradjuri language
Wiradjuri is a Pama–Nyungan language of the Wiradhuric subgroup. It was the traditional language of the Wiradjuri people of Australia, but is no longer in general use. The process of reclaiming the language was greatly assisted by the publication in 2005 of A First Wiradjuri Dictionary by elder...
is thought to mean crow
Crow
Crows form the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae. Ranging in size from the relatively small pigeon-size jackdaws to the Common Raven of the Holarctic region and Thick-billed Raven of the highlands of Ethiopia, the 40 or so members of this genus occur on all temperate continents and several...
. To create the plural, the Wiradjuri repeat a word, thus 'Wagga Wagga' translates to 'the place of many crows'. This has been recognised in the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
name of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wagga Wagga
Roman Catholic Diocese of Wagga Wagga
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Wagga Wagga is a Latin rite suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Sydney, erested in 1917, covering the Riverina region of New South Wales in Australia....
as Dioecesis Corvopolitanus. ("corvus" being the Latin word for crow). Other translations render the word 'wagga' as "reeling (a sick man or a dizzy man)" and "to dance, slide or grind".
European exploration
European exploration of Australia
The European exploration of Australia encompasses several waves of seafarers and land explorers. Although Australia is often loosely said to have been discovered by Royal Navy Lieutenant James Cook in 1770, he was merely one of a number of European explorers to have sighted and landed on the...
of the future site of Wagga Wagga began in 1829 with the arrival of Captain Charles Sturt
Charles Sturt
Captain Charles Napier Sturt was an English explorer of Australia, and part of the European Exploration of Australia. He led several expeditions into the interior of the continent, starting from both Sydney and later from Adelaide. His expeditions traced several of the westward-flowing rivers,...
during his expedition along the Murrumbidgee River. Settlers arrived shortly thereafter with Charles Tompson establishing the Eunonyhareenyha 'run' on the north bank of the river in 1832, and then in soon after George Best establishing the Wagga Wagga 'run' on the south bank. Other settlers followed, with all of them initially squatting
Squatting (pastoral)
In Australian history, a squatter was one who occupied a large tract of Crown land in order to graze livestock. Initially often having no legal rights to the land, they gained its usage by being the first Europeans in the area....
on the land illegally but by 1836 the colonial government regulated the tenure of land and established a licensing scheme. Within a few short years settlers numbers increased greatly and before 1850 a local bench of magistrate
Magistrate
A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
s and a place for holding petty sessions was established. The beginnings of a village formed near the ford used by most traffic passing through the area and included a crude blacksmith's
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
shop, a hotel
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
, and a post office. By 1849 the town was marked out by surveyor
Surveying
See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...
Thomas Scott Townsend and formally gazette
Gazette
A gazette is a public journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper.In English- and French-speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name Gazette since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers bear the name The Gazette.Gazette is a loanword from the...
d as a village.
Wagga Wagga grew quickly, reaching a population of 627 in 1861 and during that decade a number of hotels and stores opened, as well as professional services in the form of banks, solicitors, doctors and dentists
Dentistry
Dentistry is the branch of medicine that is involved in the study, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases, disorders and conditions of the oral cavity, maxillofacial area and the adjacent and associated structures and their impact on the human body. Dentistry is widely considered...
. The Wagga Wagga Advertiser is still published today as The Daily Advertiser and commenced in 1868. Until the 1860s most goods were transported to markets by bullock
Ox
An ox , also known as a bullock in Australia, New Zealand and India, is a bovine trained as a draft animal. Oxen are commonly castrated adult male cattle; castration makes the animals more tractable...
wagon. For a short time, the arrival of faster, cheaper and more reliable riverboat
Riverboat
A riverboat is a ship built boat designed for inland navigation on lakes, rivers, and artificial waterways. They are generally equipped and outfitted as work boats in one of the carrying trades, for freight or people transport, including luxury units constructed for entertainment enterprises, such...
s allowed goods to be transported more easily to export markets. The riverboat era ended when the New South Wales government extended the railway line to North Wagga Wagga in 1878 and across the river to Wagga Wagga itself in 1881.
On 15 March 1870, Wagga Wagga was incorporated as a municipality and George Forsyth was chosen as the first Mayor of Wagga Wagga. Gas lighting
Gas lighting
Gas lighting is production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, including hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, or natural gas. Before electricity became sufficiently widespread and economical to allow for general public use, gas was the most...
was installed throughout the streets of Wagga Wagga in 1881, although once again North Wagga Wagga was neglected. By 1885, a town waterworks
WaterWorks
WaterWorks is a water park owned by Cedar Fair, located at the back of Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia. When it debuted in 1992, it was originally named Hurricane Reef...
and reservoir was established although water quality remained a problem. Poor sanitation
Sanitation
Sanitation is the hygienic means of promoting health through prevention of human contact with the hazards of wastes. Hazards can be either physical, microbiological, biological or chemical agents of disease. Wastes that can cause health problems are human and animal feces, solid wastes, domestic...
caused a horrific stench in the town and was blamed for a large increase in infectious disease
Infectious disease
Infectious diseases, also known as communicable diseases, contagious diseases or transmissible diseases comprise clinically evident illness resulting from the infection, presence and growth of pathogenic biological agents in an individual host organism...
s such as typhoid fever
Typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as Typhoid, is a common worldwide bacterial disease, transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person, which contain the bacterium Salmonella enterica, serovar Typhi...
in the 1890s and early 1900s. In 1908 the Council approved a sewerage
Sanitary sewer
A sanitary sewer is a separate underground carriage system specifically for transporting sewage from houses and commercial buildings to treatment or disposal. Sanitary sewers serving industrial areas also carry industrial wastewater...
scheme and by 1914 most of the main streets were sewered. A free public library was opened in 1875 and the Council began to establish parkland such as Bolton Park and the Town Hall Gardens.
Pile bridge
A pile bridge is a structure that uses foundations consisting of long poles , which are made of wood, concrete or steel and which are hammered into the soft soils beneath the bridge until the end of the pile reaches a hard layer of compacted soil or rock...
over the Murrumbidgee River. After the New South Wales Government refused to support this type of bridge the committee decided to finance it themselves. The bridge was completed in October 1862 and opened on 27 October at just over 91 metres long and 7 metres wide. In 1884 the New South Wales Government purchased the bridge and it was demolished in 1895. In 1895 a truss bridge
Truss bridge
A truss bridge is a bridge composed of connected elements which may be stressed from tension, compression, or sometimes both in response to dynamic loads. Truss bridges are one of the oldest types of modern bridges...
called the Hampden Bridge
Hampden Bridge (Wagga Wagga)
Hampden Bridge is a wooden Allan Truss bridge over the Murrumbidgee River in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales which opened to traffic on 11 November 1895 and was closed in October 1995 when the Wiradjuri Bridge opened. The bridge is long with each of the 3 truss spans long. Hampden Bridge was the...
, was built across the Murrumbidgee River at Wagga. The bridge served the Wagga Wagga community for over 100 years until 16 August 2006 when it was closed and fenced off to the public due to the bridge being declared a safety risk after one of the trusses failed.
With its increasing prosperity and population, Wagga Wagga and the surrounding district became a place of interest to several infamous bushrangers. The Wagga police magistrate Henry Baylis was bailed up by Mad Dog Morgan
Dan Morgan (bushranger)
John Fuller was an Australian bushranger.Fuller was born in Appin, New South Wales, Australia around 1830 to George Fuller and Mary Owen. He was their illigitimate son and from the ages of 2 to 17 he lived with an adoptive father, John Roberts...
in 1863. Captain Moonlite and his band arrived in the district on 15 November 1879 and held up 39 people at Wantabadgery Station
Wantabadgery, New South Wales
Wantabadgery is a village community in the central eastern part of the Riverina and situated about 35 kilometres east from Wagga Wagga and 19 kilometres west from Nangus...
. Moonlite and his gang escaped a police pursuit only to be captured at another nearby property when police from the neighbouring townships of Gundagai
Gundagai, New South Wales
Gundagai is a town in New South Wales, Australia. Although a small town, Gundagai is a popular topic for writers and has become a representative icon of a typical Australian country town...
and Adelong
Adelong, New South Wales
Adelong is a small town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia and is a part of the Tumut Shire. The Adelong district has a population of about 1400, while Adelong itself has a population of 829 people....
arrived.
Riverina
The Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales , Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation. This combination has allowed the Riverina to develop...
region, the majority of Wagga Wagga residents supported the federation
Federation of Australia
The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia formed one nation...
of the Australian colonies, in large part due to the prospect of free trade
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
across colonial borders. In 1898, a group of residents promoted Wagga Wagga for consideration as the site of the future national capital due to its location equidistant from Sydney and Melbourne and its ample water supply. Despite the bid's lack of success, in the 1899 referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
Wagga Wagga residents voted strongly in favour of federation.
During World War I the town was the starting point of the "Kangaroo March", one of a series of snowball marches
Snowball marches
During World War I, recruitment marches or snowball marches to Sydney were a feature of volunteer recruiting drives for the Australian Imperial Force in rural New South Wales, Australia. Between October 1915 and February 1916, nine marches were held starting from various points in the state; the...
conducted in New South Wales during the war where groups of recruits would march toward Sydney and appeal to men in the towns along the route to join them and enlist in the Australian Imperial Force
Australian Imperial Force
The Australian Imperial Force was the name given to all-volunteer Australian Army forces dispatched to fight overseas during World War I and World War II.* First Australian Imperial Force * Second Australian Imperial Force...
. 88 recruits left Wagga Wagga on 1 December 1915, farewelled by a large crowd and to the accompaniment of a band. The marchers included John Ryan
John Ryan (VC 1918)
Edward John Francis Ryan VC , better known as John Ryan, was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.He was approximately twenty eight years old, and a private...
, who later won the Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
for his actions in the Battle of the Hindenburg Line
Battle of the Hindenburg Line
The Battle of St Quentin Canal was a pivotal battle of World War I that began on 29 September 1918 and involved British, Australian and American forces in the spearhead attack and as a single combined force against the German Siegfried Stellung of the Hindenburg Line...
in 1918. The march finished at Campbelltown
Campbelltown, New South Wales
Campbelltown is a suburb in south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Campbelltown is located 51 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of Campbelltown.- History :Campbelltown...
with over 220 recruits.
Soldier settlement (Australia)
Soldier settlement refers to the occupation and settlement of land throughout parts of Australia by returning discharged soldiers under schemes administered by the State Governments after World Wars I and II.- World War I :...
, who faced insurmountable difficulties due to poor and unwatered land, lack of farming experience and lack of access to markets. Many walked off the land after years of backbreaking work. Residential growth continued with a population in 1921 of 11,631. Much of this residential growth was housed in the higher ground to the south, extending to the south of the railway tracks. A suburb consisting of tents and crude huts, known as "Tent Town", developed along the river providing housing for the poorer residents of Wagga Wagga. In 1922, electricity was provided for the town, with hydro-electric power available from Burrinjuck Dam
Burrinjuck Dam
Burrinjuck Dam is a high, concrete gravity dam on the Murrumbidgee River approximately 60 km from Yass, New South Wales, Australia. The Yass and Goodradigbee Rivers flow into the dam. The dam divides the upper and lower catchment of the Murrumbidgee and is the headwater storage for the...
from 1928.
Hardship as a result of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, and the election of Jack Lang
Jack Lang (Australian politician)
John Thomas Lang , usually referred to as J.T. Lang during his career, and familiarly known as "Jack" and nicknamed "The Big Fella" was an Australian politician who was Premier of New South Wales for two terms...
of the Labor
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
party as Premier of New South Wales, sparked the formation of the "Riverina Movement". Throughout the Riverina in early 1931, a series of rallies were organised by the movement, culminating in a great meeting in Wagga Wagga on 28 February 1931. The meeting called on the State and Federal governments to alleviate the concerns of producers in the district or hold a referendum to determine if the Riverina should secede
Secession
Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.-Secession theory:...
. The movement petered out following the dismissal of Lang in 1932 and the recovery of the regional economy.
The outbreak of World War II saw Royal Australian Air Force
Royal Australian Air Force
The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...
bases established at Forest Hill
Forest Hill, New South Wales
Forest Hill is a suburb of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. Forest Hill is located approximately 10 km east of the central business district on the Sturt Highway. RAAF Base Wagga, Wagga Wagga Airport and the Bureau of Meteorology Regional Office are located at Forest Hill.Newer streets in Forest Hill...
in 1940 and Uranquinty
Uranquinty, New South Wales
Uranquinty is a small town approximately 15 km south of Wagga Wagga in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The population of the town is 715....
in 1941. A major Australian Army
Australian Army
The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...
camp was constructed at Kapooka
Kapooka, New South Wales
Kapooka is a suburb in the south west of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia.The suburb of Kapooka is home to the Department of Defence's Blamey Barracks from where the Army Recruit Training Centre conducts its operations....
in 1942 and one year later there were 8,000 troops in training there with Wagga taking on the characteristics of a garrison town.
After the war, Wagga Wagga grew steadily and was proclaimed a city on 17 April 1946. Suburbs such as Turvey Park
Turvey Park, New South Wales
Turvey Park is an inner southern suburb of Wagga Wagga in southern New South Wales, Australia. Its boundaries are defined by Fernleigh Road to the south, Glenfield Road to the west, Coleman Street to the north and to the east by Willans Hill...
and Kooringal
Kooringal, New South Wales
Kooringal is a suburb of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia. Kooringal is thought to mean "Side of a Hill" in the Wiradjuri aboriginal language. Kooringal is located approximately 4 km from the CBD along Lake Albert Road. Kooringal is the basis for growth in the eastern section of Wagga...
were developed to the south of the city and in the 1960s, residential growth expanded to cover areas such as Tolland
Tolland, New South Wales
Tolland is a suburb located in the city of Wagga Wagga in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The suburb is home to Mount Austin High School and Tolland Shopping Centre which has a Franklins supermarket and an Eagle Boys pizza outlet. It is also home to the Tolland Football Club...
and Lake Albert
Lake Albert, New South Wales
Lake Albert is a suburb of the city of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia, on the shores of Lake Albert from which it is named. The suburb has three schools; Lake Albert Primary School, Mater Dei Primary School and Mater Dei Catholic College...
. The main commercial district also moved south to the Baylis Street end with the development of the Sturt Mall
Sturt Mall
Sturt Mall is a shopping centre located in the CBD of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia.Sturt Mall was opened on the 12 November 1979 at a cost of A$24 million . The Sturt Mall provides direct competition with the nearby Wagga Wagga Marketplace...
in 1979. The City Council developed a series of industrial areas including areas for service and general industries, and agricultural processing and noxious industries were established in a new industrial estate in Bomen
Bomen, New South Wales
Bomen is a northern suburb of Wagga Wagga in southern New South Wales, Australia. The suburb is dominated by industrial enterprises including Cargill Beef, Watties, the Wagga Wagga Livestock Marketing Centre...
.
In the 1950s the defence bases in Wagga Wagga again became an important part of the city. The Army camp at Kapooka was reopened as a recruit training centre from 1951, a role it maintains to this day. RAAF Base Wagga
RAAF Base Wagga
RAAF Base Wagga is located in the New South Wales town of Wagga Wagga, in the suburb of Forest Hill.The RAAF no longer controls the airfield which, although still owned by the Commonwealth of Australia, is currently leased to the Wagga Wagga City Council...
at Forest Hill also expanded, with training of defence force aircraft technicians located there from 1969. After a series of major floods in the early 1950s, the City Council protected the city area on the south flood plain through construction of a levee
Levee
A levee, levée, dike , embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels...
, completed in 1962. The levee was designed to provide protection from floods at levels expected once every one hundred years. North Wagga Wagga was initially excluded from protection however by 1982 another levee was constructed to protect the village, although at a lower standard.
In 1971, following pressure from the Wagga Wagga community for a university, the teachers' college established in 1947 became the Riverina College of Advanced Education and was relocated to a site adjacent to the Wagga Agricultural College, with which it amalgamated in 1975. In 1989, the College amalgamated with the College of Advanced Education at Bathurst
Bathurst, New South Wales
-CBD and suburbs:Bathurst's CBD is located on William, George, Howick, Russell, and Durham Streets. The CBD is approximately 25 hectares and surrounds two city blocks. Within this block layout is banking, government services, shopping centres, retail shops, a park* and monuments...
to become Charles Sturt University
Charles Sturt University
Charles Sturt University is an Australian multi-campus university located in New South Wales, Victoria, and the Australian Capital Territory. It has campuses at Bathurst, Canberra, Albury-Wodonga, Dubbo, Goulburn, Orange, Wagga Wagga and Burlington, Ontario...
. In 1981, the New South Wales government forced the amalgamation of Wagga Wagga City Council with neighbouring Kyeamba Shire and Mitchell Shire to form the new City of Wagga Wagga
City of Wagga Wagga
The Wagga Wagga City Council was formed from the amalgamation of City of Wagga Wagga with Mitchell and Kyeamba Shires in 1981. 22 December 2009, Wagga Wagga City Council announced that Phil Pinyon would be appointed as the General Manager of the Wagga Wagga City Council after Lyn Russell, who...
Local government area, containing 4,886 square kilometres.
Demographics
Wagga Wagga is the major city of the Riverina and the largest inland city in New South Wales. In 2006 the urban centre of Wagga Wagga was home to a population of 46,735 and the city is continuing to grow with population growth of 0.8% for the period 2001 to 2006. Much of this growth is attributable to the "sponge city" phenomenon as Wagga Wagga attracts residents from smaller towns in the region such as UranaUrana, New South Wales
Urana is a small town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia.Urana is located between Lockhart and Jerilderie, about 578 kilometres southwest of Sydney. To the west lies Lake Urana and the Lake Urana Nature Reserve. To the east lies a smaller lake, Lake Uranagang.Urana in the major...
. Other factors include Wagga's role as a regional centre and its hosting of major defence establishments and a Charles Sturt University
Charles Sturt University
Charles Sturt University is an Australian multi-campus university located in New South Wales, Victoria, and the Australian Capital Territory. It has campuses at Bathurst, Canberra, Albury-Wodonga, Dubbo, Goulburn, Orange, Wagga Wagga and Burlington, Ontario...
campus.
The population is reasonably homogenous with only 6.4% of the population born outside of Australia as opposed to 21.9% for Australia as a whole and 93.8% of households in Wagga Wagga speaking English only at home. Wagga Wagga is home to small numbers of migrants from England, New Zealand, Scotland, the Netherlands, Germany and the Sudan. Wagga Wagga is also home to a sizeable indigenous population; at the 2001 census, Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders
Torres Strait Islanders
Torres Strait Islanders are the indigenous people of the Torres Strait Islands, part of Queensland, Australia. They are culturally and genetically linked to Melanesian peoples and those of Papua New Guinea....
made up 3.4% of the city's population.
In religion, Wagga Wagga is predominantly Christian, with the major religious denominations being Catholic (33.9%) and Anglican
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
(25.2%). 11.5% of the population professed no religion. The main sources of employment in Wagga Wagga include education, retailing, health and defence.
Commercial
Wagga's shopping centres include two notable centres of metropolitan standards, Wagga Wagga Marketplace
Wagga Wagga Marketplace
Wagga Wagga Marketplace is a shopping centre located in the regional city of Wagga Wagga in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia and is the largest retail shopping centre in the catchment area. The centre is located in Wagga's CBD with the main entrance on Baylis Street, with other...
and Sturt Mall
Sturt Mall
Sturt Mall is a shopping centre located in the CBD of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia.Sturt Mall was opened on the 12 November 1979 at a cost of A$24 million . The Sturt Mall provides direct competition with the nearby Wagga Wagga Marketplace...
in the central business district, and suburban shopping centres such as the new South City Shopping Centre in Glenfield Park
Glenfield Park, New South Wales
Glenfield Park, or simply 'Glenfield' is a rapidly growing southern suburb of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia reaching its final stages of development. Glenfield Park's strong residential development is due to its situation so close to the outskirts of the city and availability of...
, the Lake Village Shopping Centre, Lake Albert
Lake Albert, New South Wales
Lake Albert is a suburb of the city of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia, on the shores of Lake Albert from which it is named. The suburb has three schools; Lake Albert Primary School, Mater Dei Primary School and Mater Dei Catholic College...
, the Tolland
Tolland, New South Wales
Tolland is a suburb located in the city of Wagga Wagga in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The suburb is home to Mount Austin High School and Tolland Shopping Centre which has a Franklins supermarket and an Eagle Boys pizza outlet. It is also home to the Tolland Football Club...
Shopping Centre and Kooringal Mall in Kooringal
Kooringal, New South Wales
Kooringal is a suburb of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia. Kooringal is thought to mean "Side of a Hill" in the Wiradjuri aboriginal language. Kooringal is located approximately 4 km from the CBD along Lake Albert Road. Kooringal is the basis for growth in the eastern section of Wagga...
. Wagga also has a large Home Base located on the Sturt Highway
Sturt Highway
The Sturt Highway is an Australian highway in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. It is part of the Auslink National network and is part of the main highway route between Sydney and Adelaide.-Route:...
. Wagga's central business district, with both Baylis and Fitzmaurice Streets and other surrounding streets, offers hundreds of speciality retailers including national chains such as Big W
Big W
Big W is one of the largest chain of discount department stores in Australia, with over 150 stores. It is a division of Woolworths Limited, the second largest retailer in Australia. Its main competitors are Kmart and Target, both owned by Wesfarmers....
, Myer
Myer
Myer is Australia's largest department store chain, retailing a broad range of merchandise including women's, men's and children's clothing, footwear and accessories; cosmetics and fragrance; homewares; electrical; furniture and bedding; toys; books and stationery; food and confectionery; and...
and Target Country
Target (Australia)
Target Australia Pty Ltd is an Australian department store chain owned by Wesfarmers . It operates 172 Target stores and 119 Target Country stores making 291 combined stores with its head office located in North Geelong, Victoria. It sells clothing, cosmetics, toys, homewares, electrical and...
. The dairy company Fonterra
Fonterra
Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited is a New Zealand multinational dairy co-operative owned by almost 10,500 New Zealand farmers. The company is responsible for approximately 30% of the world's dairy exports and with revenue exceeding NZ$19.87 billion, is New Zealand's largest company.- History :In...
(Formerly Murrumbidgee Dairy Products), is based on the Sturt Highway which is a supplier of dairy products in the Riverina, Other major industries include Cargill
Cargill
Cargill, Incorporated is a privately held, multinational corporation based in Minnetonka, Minnesota. Founded in 1865, it is now the largest privately held corporation in the United States in terms of revenue. If it were a public company, it would rank, as of 2011, number 13 on the Fortune 500,...
and Heinz
H. J. Heinz Company
The H. J. Heinz Company , commonly known as Heinz and famous for its "57 Varieties" slogan and its ketchup, is an American food company with world headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Perhaps best known for its ketchup, the H.J...
which are located in the suburb of Bomen
Bomen, New South Wales
Bomen is a northern suburb of Wagga Wagga in southern New South Wales, Australia. The suburb is dominated by industrial enterprises including Cargill Beef, Watties, the Wagga Wagga Livestock Marketing Centre...
.
Defence forces
Australian Army
The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...
base at Kapooka
Kapooka, New South Wales
Kapooka is a suburb in the south west of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia.The suburb of Kapooka is home to the Department of Defence's Blamey Barracks from where the Army Recruit Training Centre conducts its operations....
includes the Army Recruit Training Centre, where general enlistment members of the Australian Army
Australian Army
The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...
undertake their initial training. The barracks at Kapooka are named after World War II military commander Sir
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
Thomas Blamey
Thomas Blamey
Field Marshal Sir Thomas Albert Blamey GBE, KCB, CMG, DSO, ED was an Australian general of the First and Second World Wars, and the only Australian to date to attain the rank of field marshal....
, born at Lake Albert
Lake Albert, New South Wales
Lake Albert is a suburb of the city of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia, on the shores of Lake Albert from which it is named. The suburb has three schools; Lake Albert Primary School, Mater Dei Primary School and Mater Dei Catholic College...
Wagga Wagga and Australia's only Field Marshal
Field Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
. Following recruit training, soldiers move on to trade specific training at various training establishments throughout Australia. The soldiers club at Kapooka is named for John Hurst Edmondson
John Hurst Edmondson
John Hurst Edmondson VC was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.-Early life:...
, Australia's first Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
winner in World War II, who was born in Wagga Wagga.
There is a separate Royal Australian Air Force
Royal Australian Air Force
The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...
(RAAF) base at Forest Hill
Forest Hill, New South Wales
Forest Hill is a suburb of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. Forest Hill is located approximately 10 km east of the central business district on the Sturt Highway. RAAF Base Wagga, Wagga Wagga Airport and the Bureau of Meteorology Regional Office are located at Forest Hill.Newer streets in Forest Hill...
(RAAF Base Wagga
RAAF Base Wagga
RAAF Base Wagga is located in the New South Wales town of Wagga Wagga, in the suburb of Forest Hill.The RAAF no longer controls the airfield which, although still owned by the Commonwealth of Australia, is currently leased to the Wagga Wagga City Council...
), which is the administration and logistics training base for Air Force personnel and the tri-service (RAN/Army/RAAF) electronic (White hander) and aircraft (Black hander) trades school. Some Royal Australian Navy
Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...
Aircraft Technicians assigned to the naval air station HMAS Albatross
HMAS Albatross (air station)
HMAS Albatross, also known as Naval Air Station Nowra , is an airfield operated by the Royal Australian Navy , in support of the RAN's aviation branch, the Fleet Air Arm...
are based at RAAF Base Wagga as an Aircraft Maintenance and Flight Trials Unit (AMAFTU). As of 2008, No 1 Recruit Training Unit (1RTU) has moved from RAAF Edinburgh to RAAF Wagga Wagga. RAAF Base Wagga is also the home of the Wagga Wagga RAAF Museum
Wagga Wagga RAAF Museum
RAAF Wagga Heritage Centre is a heritage centre located at the Wagga Wagga RAAF Base at Forest Hill located approximately east of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia on the Sturt Highway...
.
Education
Charles Sturt University
Charles Sturt University is an Australian multi-campus university located in New South Wales, Victoria, and the Australian Capital Territory. It has campuses at Bathurst, Canberra, Albury-Wodonga, Dubbo, Goulburn, Orange, Wagga Wagga and Burlington, Ontario...
, located on the outskirts of the suburb of Estella
Estella, New South Wales
Estella is a northern suburb of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia. The suburb is relatively new with development commencing in the 1980s, however growth has been slow and land is still being subdivided....
. The university was established on 1 July 1989 following the enactment of The Charles Sturt University Act, 1989 and involved the merger of several existing separately-administered Colleges of Advanced Education
College of Advanced Education
The College of Advanced Education was a class of Australian tertiary education institution that existed from 1967 until the early 1990s. They ranked below universities, but above Colleges of Technical and Further Education which offer trade qualification...
including the Riverina College of Advanced Education in Wagga Wagga. At the time of its establishment it became the ninth university in the state and its inaugural vice-chancellor was C.D. Blake OAM
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
who at the time was the principal of the Riverina College.
The Riverina Institute, a collection of TAFE institute campuses has its headquarters in Wagga Wagga and Wagga is home to three campuses. The Primary Industries Centre, at North Wagga Wagga is set on 250 hectares and runs courses on agriculture and horticulture. The National Aerospace Training Centre of Excellence, at RAAF Base Wagga
RAAF Base Wagga
RAAF Base Wagga is located in the New South Wales town of Wagga Wagga, in the suburb of Forest Hill.The RAAF no longer controls the airfield which, although still owned by the Commonwealth of Australia, is currently leased to the Wagga Wagga City Council...
provides training support to the Australian Defence Force
Australian Defence Force
The Australian Defence Force is the military organisation responsible for the defence of Australia. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy , Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Force and a number of 'tri-service' units...
aerospace
Aerospace
Aerospace comprises the atmosphere of Earth and surrounding space. Typically the term is used to refer to the industry that researches, designs, manufactures, operates, and maintains vehicles moving through air and space...
traineeship program. The commercial contract with the ADF is the largest technical training contract in Australia. In addition Wagga Wagga is home to eight secondary schools and 22 primary schools.
Government
Local government in Australia
Local government in Australia is the third tier of government, administered by the states and territories which in turn are beneath the Commonwealth or federal tier. Unlike New Zealand, the US or the UK, there is only one level of local government in all states, with no distinction such as...
for the city is provided by the Wagga Wagga City Council
City of Wagga Wagga
The Wagga Wagga City Council was formed from the amalgamation of City of Wagga Wagga with Mitchell and Kyeamba Shires in 1981. 22 December 2009, Wagga Wagga City Council announced that Phil Pinyon would be appointed as the General Manager of the Wagga Wagga City Council after Lyn Russell, who...
. As well as Wagga Wagga itself the City Council area includes the outlying towns of Tarcutta
Tarcutta, New South Wales
Tarcutta is a small town located 438 km south-west of Sydney, three kilometres east of the Hume Highway, in New South Wales, Australia. It was proclaimed as a village on 28 October 1890...
, Ladysmith
Ladysmith, New South Wales
Ladysmith is a village approximately 19 km east of Wagga Wagga in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. At the 2006 census, Ladysmith had a population of 205 people....
, Mangoplah
Mangoplah, New South Wales
Mangoplah is a town approximately south of Wagga Wagga in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. At the 2006 census, Mangoplah had a population of 689 people. Its name is believed to mean "Kooris singing" in the Wiradjuri aboriginal language....
, Collingullie
Collingullie, New South Wales
Collingullie is a village north-west of Wagga Wagga in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The village is located on the Sturt Highway, between Wagga Wagga and Narrandera, at the crossroads with the road to Lockhart....
and Uranquinty
Uranquinty, New South Wales
Uranquinty is a small town approximately 15 km south of Wagga Wagga in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The population of the town is 715....
covering an area of 4,824 km². The local government area was formed as a result of the amalgamation of the City of Wagga Wagga with the Mitchell and Kyeamba Shires in 1981. The council itself consists of 11 councillors elected for a four year term and from these a mayor and deputy mayor are elected each year by the council.
Wagga Wagga is the largest city in the Australian House of Representatives
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....
electorate of Riverina
Division of Riverina
The Division of Riverina is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of New South Wales. It is located in south-west rural New South Wales, generally following the Murrumbidgee River valley. It includes the cities of Wagga Wagga and Griffith as well as the towns of Junee, West Wyalong, Tumut,...
, currently represented by Michael McCormack
Michael McCormack (Australian politician)
Michael Francis McCormack , an Australian federal politician, is a member of the Australian House of Representatives representing the seat of Riverina, New South Wales for the National Party of Australia, elected at the 2010 federal election....
of the National Party
National Party of Australia
The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...
. At the state level, the city is represented in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...
by Daryl Maguire
Daryl Maguire
Daryl William Maguire MP JP , an Australian politician, is a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Wagga Wagga for the Liberal Party of Australia since 1999...
, of the Liberal Party
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
, member for the Electoral district of Wagga Wagga
Electoral district of Wagga Wagga
Wagga Wagga is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is represented by Daryl Maguire of the Liberal Party of Australia....
.
Transport
Wagga Wagga Base Hospital
Wagga Wagga Base Hospital is located in the City of Wagga Wagga, the largest inland city of New South Wales, Australia. The hospital is the largest in the region, providing medical services to the wider Riverina.It is the regional referral hospital for outlying areas, and provides medical,...
and Kooringal Mall.
Baylis Street in the CBD was a thoroughfare for the Olympic Highway until the Gobbagombalin Bridge (referred to locally as the Gobba Bridge and is also believed to be the longest continuous-span viaduct in New South Wales) located about 6 km northwest of the CBD was opened in 26 July 1997. The Sturt Highway
Sturt Highway
The Sturt Highway is an Australian highway in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. It is part of the Auslink National network and is part of the main highway route between Sydney and Adelaide.-Route:...
passes through the centre of Wagga Wagga.
Wagga Wagga railway station is located on the Sydney-Melbourne railway line
Main Southern railway line, New South Wales
The Main Southern Railway is a major railway in New South Wales, Australia. It runs through the Southern Highlands, Southern Tablelands, South West Slopes and the Riverina regions.- Description of route :...
with twice daily XPT fast rail services provided by CountryLink
CountryLink
CountryLink is the operator of passenger rail services in country New South Wales, Australia and into Queensland and Victoria. It is an operating brand of the Rail Corporation New South Wales, a government-owned entity...
, the state owned passenger rail service.
Wagga Wagga Airport
Wagga Wagga Airport
Wagga Wagga Airport , is located adjacent to RAAF Base Wagga, in New South Wales, Australia. The airfield is an operational base, but is leased by the Wagga Wagga City Council on a 30 year lease from the Australian Department of Defence, with RAAF Base Wagga being a ground training base...
at Forest Hill
Forest Hill, New South Wales
Forest Hill is a suburb of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. Forest Hill is located approximately 10 km east of the central business district on the Sturt Highway. RAAF Base Wagga, Wagga Wagga Airport and the Bureau of Meteorology Regional Office are located at Forest Hill.Newer streets in Forest Hill...
has scheduled daily flights to Sydney and Melbourne through two carriers, Regional Express
Regional Express Airlines
Regional Express Pty Ltd is an airline based in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia. It operates scheduled regional services. It is Australia's largest regional airline outside the Qantas group of companies and serves New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria, North Queensland and Tasmania...
and QantasLink
QantasLink
QantasLink is a regional brand of Australian airline Qantas and is an affiliate member of the Oneworld airline alliance. It is a major competitor to Regional Express Airlines, Virgin Australia and Skywest Airlines. As of September 2010 QantasLink provides 1900 flights each week to 54 domestic and...
. The airport itself is owned by the Royal Australian Air Force
Royal Australian Air Force
The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...
and the civil side is leased by the City Council. The sealed runway can cater for aircraft weighing up to 30 tonnes. Since 2001, around 100,000 passengers use Wagga Wagga airport annually.
Sport
Barassi Line
The Barassi Line was first suggested by Professor Ian Turner in his 1978 Ron Barassi Memorial Lecture to refer to a dividing line in Australia that divides areas where Australian rules is the dominant winter code of football from those where rugby football codes are most popular...
" contributes to high levels of participation in Rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
, Rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
and Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
in the town. Other popular sports in Wagga include soccer, cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
, tennis, and lawn bowls.
The local rugby league teams play in the Group 9 Rugby League
Group 9 Rugby League
Group 9 is a rugby league competition based around the surrounding areas of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. The competition is played in five grades, these being the under 16s , the under 18s , women's league-tag, Reserve Grade and the XXXX Gold Group 9 First Grade.-History:Group 9 Rugby League was...
competition and include Wagga Brothers, South City and Wagga Kangaroos. The Group 9 grand final
Grand Final
Grand Final is a predominantly Australian sport term used to describe a match that decides a league champion.It originated in Victoria and South Australia and has become specifically significant Australian culture...
is a major sport event in Wagga Wagga. Rugby union teams include Rivcoll, Wagga Agricultural College, Wagga City and Wagga Waratahs in the Southern Inland Rugby Union. Australian rules football clubs in Wagga include the Eastern Hawks, Mangoplah-Cookardinia United-Eastlakes, Turvey Park and Wagga Tigers in the Riverina Football League
Riverina Football League
The Riverina Football Netball League is a semi-professional Australian rules football and netball competition containing nine clubs based in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The league features three grades in the Australian rules football competition, these being seniors,...
and Collingullie-Ashmont-Kapooka, North Wagga and Rivcoll in the Farrer Football League
Farrer Football League
The Farrer Football Netball League is a semi-professional Australian rules football and netball competition containing eight clubs based in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The league features three grades in the Australian rules football competition, these being seniors, reserves...
. Wagga soccer teams include Henwood Park, Wagga United, Tolland, Southern Knights and Lake Albert, with the first grade competition being the Pascoe Cup. The Wagga Wagga Gold Cup, said to be Australia's second oldest thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
horse race is held in the first week of May.
The "Wagga Effect"
The "Wagga Effect" is a term that has been used frequently in the Australian media to describe the disproportionately large number of elite sportsmen and women that originate from the city. It is speculated that the phenomenon may arise in rural areas where the population is large enough to sustain the presence of a large number of sporting codes, but small enough to ensure that talented individuals are exposed to adult-level competition at an earlier age.Famous sportspeople from Wagga include:
- CricketCricketCricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
– Mark TaylorMark Taylor (cricketer)Mark Anthony Taylor, AO is a former Australian cricket player and Test opening batsman from 1988–1999, as well as captain from 1994–1999, succeeding Allan Border...
, Michael SlaterMichael SlaterMichael Jonathon Slater is a former Australian cricketer who played in 74 Tests and 42 ODIs for the Australian cricket team from 1993 to 2001...
and Geoff LawsonGeoff Lawson (cricketer)Geoffrey Francis Lawson, OAM is a former Australian cricketer and the former coach of the Pakistan cricket team.... - Australian Rules FootballAustralian rules footballAustralian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
– Wayne CareyWayne CareyWayne Carey is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the North Melbourne and Adelaide Football Clubs in the Australian Football League ....
, Paul KellyPaul Kelly (footballer)Paul Kelly is a former Australian rules footballer, winner of the Brownlow Medal and captain of the Sydney Swans for ten seasons. He was and still is known to Swans fans everywhere as "Captain Courageous"....
, Cameron MooneyCameron MooneyCameron Mooney was an Australian rules footballer who played with the North Melbourne and Geelong Football Clubs in the Australian Football League...
and Matt Suckling - Rugby LeagueRugby leagueRugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
– Peter SterlingPeter SterlingPeter Maxwell John "Sterlo" Sterling OAM is an Australian rugby league commentator and former player. He was one of the all-time great halfbacks and a major contributor to Parramatta Eels' dominance of the New South Wales Rugby League premiership in the 1980s. Sterling played nineteen Tests for...
, the Mortimer brothers Chris, PeterPeter Mortimer (rugby league)Peter Mortimer is a former Australian professional rugby league player for the Canterbury Bulldogs and New South Wales....
and SteveSteve MortimerSteve Mortimer OAM, , nicknamed Turvey after Turvey Park in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, where he hailed from, is an Australian former rugby league halfback. Mortimer played a Canterbury-Bankstown club record 272 first grade games between 1976–88. Mortimer's two younger brothers Peter and Chris...
, and Greg BrentnallGreg BrentnallGreg Brentnall is an Australian former rugby league footballer of the 1970s and 80s. An Australian international and New South Wales representative fullback and winger, he played for Canterbury-Bankstown in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership, winning the 1980 grand final with... - Rugby UnionRugby unionRugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
– Nathan SharpeNathan SharpeNathan Sharpe is an Australian rugby union player. He plays lock and is the captain of the Western Force.-Early career:...
and Nathan HinesNathan HinesNathan Hines is an Australian-born Scottish rugby player. He currently plays for ASM Clermont Auvergne... - Soccer – Australia women's national football (soccer) team representative Sally ShipardSally ShipardSally Jean Shipard is an Australian international football midfielder.-Biography:Shipard grew up in Wagga Wagga and played her junior football with Wagga PCYC...
- Horse racingHorse racingHorse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
– jockey Scobie BreasleyScobie BreasleyArthur Edward "Scobie" Breasley was an Australian jockey. He won the Caulfield Cup in Melbourne five times: 1942-45 consecutively on Tranquil Star, Skipton, Counsel and St Fairy; then on Peshawar in 1952... - Tennis – Tony RocheTony RocheAnthony "Tony" Dalton Roche is a former professional Australian tennis player, native of Tarcutta. He played junior tennis in the New South Wales regional city of Wagga Wagga. He won one Grand Slam singles title and twelve Grand Slam doubles titles. He is also very well known for coaching...
, 1966 French OpenFrench Open (tennis)The French Open |Roland Garros]]) is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks between late May and early June in Paris, France, at the Stade Roland Garros. It is the premier clay court tennis tournament in the world and the second of the four annual Grand Slam tournaments – the other three are...
champion, and later a coach, is from TarcuttaTarcutta, New South WalesTarcutta is a small town located 438 km south-west of Sydney, three kilometres east of the Hume Highway, in New South Wales, Australia. It was proclaimed as a village on 28 October 1890...
near Wagga - Golf – US PGA ChampionshipPGA ChampionshipThe PGA Championship is an annual golf tournament conducted by the PGA of America as part of the PGA Tour. It is one of the four major championships in men's professional golf, and is the golf season's final major, usually played in mid-August, customarily four weeks after The Open Championship...
winner Steve ElkingtonSteve ElkingtonStephen John Elkington is an Australian professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He spent over 50 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings from 1995 to 1998.-Early years and education:... - TriathlonTriathlonA triathlon is a multi-sport event involving the completion of three continuous and sequential endurance events. While many variations of the sport exist, triathlon, in its most popular form, involves swimming, cycling, and running in immediate succession over various distances...
Commonwealth Games Gold Medallist Brad Kahlefeldt
In 1993, the City of Wagga Wagga
City of Wagga Wagga
The Wagga Wagga City Council was formed from the amalgamation of City of Wagga Wagga with Mitchell and Kyeamba Shires in 1981. 22 December 2009, Wagga Wagga City Council announced that Phil Pinyon would be appointed as the General Manager of the Wagga Wagga City Council after Lyn Russell, who...
instituted a Sporting Hall of Fame as part of the Museum of the Riverina
Museum of the Riverina
The Museum of the Riverina is a local history museum in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is the region in south-western New South Wales in which Wagga Wagga is located. The museum was established by Wagga Wagga and District Historical Society in 1967 The Museum of the Riverina...
dedicated to the elite sportspeople from Wagga Wagga and the surrounding area.
5 o'clock wave
The 5 o'clock wave is a fictional theory on the reasons for Wagga Wagga's sporting success. According to the local urban myth, at precisely 5 o'clock arrives a giant wave which flushes a secret nutrient into the Murrumbidgee River following the release of water from the BloweringBlowering Dam
Blowering Dam is on the Tumut River in Australia. It is part of the Snowy Mountains Scheme. Associated with the dam is the Blowering Power Station....
and Burrinjuck
Burrinjuck Dam
Burrinjuck Dam is a high, concrete gravity dam on the Murrumbidgee River approximately 60 km from Yass, New South Wales, Australia. The Yass and Goodradigbee Rivers flow into the dam. The dam divides the upper and lower catchment of the Murrumbidgee and is the headwater storage for the...
Dams. The wave is said to continue down river at high speed, and indeed visitors are told it is so powerful that surfers can ride it along the meandering river until it reaches the town of Narrandera
Narrandera, New South Wales
-Transport:Narrandera is well served for transport. The Sturt Highway and the Newell Highways cross, just south of Narrandera. Greyhound buses pass daily - note that the destination can be listed as Jillenbah....
.
Recreation
Murrumbidgee River
The Murrumbidgee River is a major river in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory . A major tributary of the Murray River, the Murrumbidgee flows in a west-northwesterly direction from the foot of Peppercorn Hill in the Fiery Range of the Snowy Mountains,...
at Wagga Wagga forms into a large sandy beach, and is a popular location for swimming, picnics and barbecue
Barbecue
Barbecue or barbeque , used chiefly in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia is a method and apparatus for cooking meat, poultry and occasionally fish with the heat and hot smoke of a fire, smoking wood, or hot coals of...
s during the warmer months. Between 1977 and 1995 the beach played host to the Gumi Races, where people were encouraged to make rafts from inner tubing and sabotage their competition by throwing rotten eggs and flour at them. Visitors and local residents still take every opportunity during the warmer months to float down the river from the area known as "The Rocks" located some 600 metres upstream from the main beach area. River cruises also operate on the Murrumbidgee.
Lake Albert (New South Wales)
Lake Albert is an artificial lake in the suburb of Lake Albert in Wagga Wagga in New South Wales, Australia. Covering 125 ha, the lake was built in the 1890s on what was known as Swampy Plains and was named after Prince Albert....
and various parks also provide recreational facilities. Sporting facilities include the Oasis Regional Aquatic Centre, with Australia's only wave ball. Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre
Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre
Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre is located in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia at the Wagga Wagga Civic Centre. It is adjacent to Wollundry Lagoon, art gallery and Wollundry Amphitheatre. The Civic Theatre opened in 1963. It was renovated in 1999/2000, opening again in May 2000.The main auditorium...
and the Forum 6 Cinemas provide entertainment venues. The Wagga Wagga Botanic Gardens
Wagga Wagga Botanic Gardens
Wagga Wagga Botanic Gardens, Australia are located in the Wagga Wagga suburb of Turvey Park on a 20 hectare site on the south western slopes of Willans Hill Reserve. Access to the gardens is via Macleay Street near the corner of Lord Baden Powell Drive...
are home to a music bowl, a small zoo with a walk through aviary, a tree chapel, Willans Hill Model Railway
Willans Hill Model Railway
Willans Hill Model Railway is located in Wagga Wagga Botanic Gardens in the suburb of Turvey Park in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia.The railway was established in 1982. It is operated by the Wagga Wagga Society of Model Engineers...
and a camellia
Camellia
Camellia, the camellias, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalaya east to Korea and Indonesia. There are 100–250 described species, with some controversy over the exact number...
garden. Located on the banks of the Wollundry lagoon and officially opened in 1927, the Victory Memorial Gardens
Victory Memorial Gardens
Victory Memorial Gardens are located on the banks of the Wollundry Lagoon in the central business district of Wagga Wagga New South Wales, Australia. The of land were formerly the site of the Old Police Barracks and Police Paddock, where all of the police horses were kept. It became land for...
were established amidst some controversy as a tribute to those who fought and died in World War I.
Culture
Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre
Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre is located in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia at the Wagga Wagga Civic Centre. It is adjacent to Wollundry Lagoon, art gallery and Wollundry Amphitheatre. The Civic Theatre opened in 1963. It was renovated in 1999/2000, opening again in May 2000.The main auditorium...
, Museum of the Riverina
Museum of the Riverina
The Museum of the Riverina is a local history museum in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is the region in south-western New South Wales in which Wagga Wagga is located. The museum was established by Wagga Wagga and District Historical Society in 1967 The Museum of the Riverina...
, Wagga Wagga Regional Art Gallery and Wagga Wagga City Library.
The Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre was officially opened in 1963 at a cost of ₤
Australian pound
The pound was the currency of Australia from 1910 until 13 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar. It was subdivided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence.- Earlier Australian currencies :...
165,000. During its design and construction and again after opening the theatre was the subject of severe criticism. Critics lamented the destruction of rose gardens removed to allow construction, the size of the orchestra pit, the amount of seating (497 seats) as well as the design of the feature mural. A considerable refurbishment was carried out in the 1990s and now the theatre is regarded as one of the best in regional Australia, playing host to national and international touring acts.
The Wagga Wagga Regional Art Gallery hosts local collections and travelling exhibitions and has space for an Artist in residence
Artist in residence
Artist-in-residence programs and other residency opportunities allow visiting artists to stay and work so that they may apply singular focus to their art practice....
. The centrepiece of the collection is the National Art Glass Gallery
National Art Glass Gallery
National Art Glass Gallery is located at the Wagga Wagga Civic Centre which started collecting studio glass in 1979 under the name Wagga Wagga Art Gallery but was changed to its current name to recognise the galley's national significance.-External links:*...
, a nationally significant collection of studio art glass
Art glass
Definitions of art glass can be as complex and contentious as definitions of what constitutes "art" and will inevitably include many refinements and exceptions...
hosted in a separate, specially designed gallery. The collection was first established by the former director of the Wagga Wagga Regional Art Gallery, Judy Le Lievre in response to a request by the Australia Council
Australia Council
The Australia Council, informally known as the Australia Council for the Arts, is the official arts council or arts funding body of the Government of Australia.-Function:...
for regional galleries to develop a specialised collection to avoid duplication and competition. The collection consists of around 400 works making it the largest studio glass collection in Australia.
Museum of the Riverina
The Museum of the Riverina is a local history museum in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is the region in south-western New South Wales in which Wagga Wagga is located. The museum was established by Wagga Wagga and District Historical Society in 1967 The Museum of the Riverina...
was established in 1967 by the Wagga Wagga and District Historical Society. Wagga Wagga City Council took over its operations in the late 1990s and it now operates at two sites. The Historic Council Chambers site on the corner of Baylis and Morrow streets in central Wagga, hosts travelling exhibitions and the main site at the Botanic Gardens is home to the main collection including the Wagga Wagga Sporting Hall of Fame. The museum also has an important collection of memorabilia about the Tichborne Case
Tichborne Case
The affair of the Tichborne claimant was the celebrated 19th-century legal case in the United Kingdom of Arthur Orton , an imposter who claimed to be Sir Roger Tichborne , the missing heir to the Tichborne Baronetcy....
, including a set of four rare plaster figurines depicting characters from the trial, a complete set of hard-bound court transcripts and a monumental painting entitled The Tichborne Trial painted in 1874 by Nathan Hughes, which hangs in the city's council chambers.
The Wagga Wagga Jazz Festival
Wagga Wagga Jazz Festival
The Wagga Wagga Jazz and Blues Festival is a three day event held in September of each year, in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales which is the major city of the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia...
was established in 1995 and has featured a range of Australian and international musicians. Established in 1976 as the Riverina Trucking Company and renamed in 1983, the Riverina Theatre Company is one of Australia's longest running regional theatre companies and runs a full program of events each year at the Riverina Playhouse, which is located on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River and owned by Charles Sturt University.
Notable artists and performers from Wagga Wagga include poet Dame
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
Mary Gilmore
Mary Gilmore
Dame Mary Gilmore DBE was a prominent Australian socialist poet and journalist.-Early life:Mary Jean Cameron was born on 16 August 1865 at Cotta Walla near Goulburn, New South Wales...
, who is featured on the Australian 10 dollar note and veteran actor Bill Kerr
Bill Kerr
William 'Bill' Kerr is an Australian film and television actor. He was born into a performing arts family in Cape Town, South Africa, but grew up in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia....
. The Yellow Wiggle, Sam Moran
Sam Moran
Sam Moran is an Australian entertainer best known for being a member of the children's band The Wiggles. He was born in Sydney and raised in Wagga Wagga.-Career:...
, is also from Wagga Wagga, having replaced the original Yellow Wiggle, Greg Page, in November 2006. The fictional creation of satirist Barry Humphries
Barry Humphries
John Barry Humphries, AO, CBE is an Australian comedian, satirist, dadaist, artist, author and character actor, best known for his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage, a Melbourne housewife and "gigastar", and Sir Les Patterson, Australia's foul-mouthed cultural attaché to the...
, Dame Edna Everage
Dame Edna Everage
Dame Edna is a character created and played by Australian dadaist performer and comedian, Barry Humphries, famous for her lilac-coloured or "wisteria hue" hair and cat eye glasses or "face furniture," her favorite flower, the gladiola and her boisterous greeting: "Hello Possums!" As Dame Edna,...
was said to have been born in Wagga Wagga.
Wagga also has strong cultural ties with three international sister cities which form part of a twinning
Town twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
program. Those sister cities are Leavenworth, Kansas in the United States
Leavenworth, Kansas
Leavenworth is the largest city and county seat of Leavenworth County, in the U.S. state of Kansas and within the Kansas City, Missouri Metropolitan Area. Located in the northeast portion of the state, it is on the west bank of the Missouri River. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
, which was established in 1962; Nördlingen in Germany
Nördlingen
Nördlingen is a town in the Donau-Ries district, in Bavaria, Germany, with a population of 20,000. It is located in the middle of a complex meteorite crater, called the Nördlinger Ries. The town was also the place of two battles during the Thirty Years' War...
, established in 1967; and Kunming in China
Kunming
' is the capital and largest city of Yunnan Province in Southwest China. It was known as Yunnan-Fou until the 1920s. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of Yunnan, and is the seat of the provincial government...
, mutually established in 1988.
Literary links
Wagga has captured the interest of writers, novelists and songwriters over the years. Specifically the city's international notoriety surrounding Arthur Orton and the Tichborne CaseTichborne Case
The affair of the Tichborne claimant was the celebrated 19th-century legal case in the United Kingdom of Arthur Orton , an imposter who claimed to be Sir Roger Tichborne , the missing heir to the Tichborne Baronetcy....
attracted a visit from Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
when he visited Australia in the 1890s. In addition Wagga has been home to a number of famous Australian writers, including Frank Moorhouse
Frank Moorhouse
Frank Moorhouse is an acclaimed Australian writer with a growing international reputation. He has won major Australian national prizes for the short story, the novel, the essay, and for script writing....
who worked as a journalist on the city's daily newspaper, and the poets Mary Gilmore
Mary Gilmore
Dame Mary Gilmore DBE was a prominent Australian socialist poet and journalist.-Early life:Mary Jean Cameron was born on 16 August 1865 at Cotta Walla near Goulburn, New South Wales...
and Barcroft Boake
Barcroft Boake
Barcroft Henry Thomas Boake was an Australian poet.Born in Sydney, Boake worked as a surveyor and a boundary rider, but is best remembered for his poetry, a volume of which was published five years after his death....
.
Humourist Spike Milligan
Spike Milligan
Terence Alan Patrick Seán "Spike" Milligan Hon. KBE was a comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright, soldier and actor. His early life was spent in India, where he was born, but the majority of his working life was spent in the United Kingdom. He became an Irish citizen in 1962 after the...
was quite taken with the double-barrelled names of Australian towns, and presented a show called "Australia: From Woy Woy to Wagga Wagga".
In other cases the town's name has been directly referred to as part of the content of songs and novels. For example the song Don't call Wagga Wagga Wagga, written by Australian country music
Australian country music
Australian country music is a part of the music of Australia. There is a broad range of styles, from bluegrass, to yodelling to folk to the more popular. The genre has been influenced by Celtic and English folk music, by the traditions of Australian bush balladeers, as well as by popular American...
artists Greg Champion
Greg Champion
Greg Champion is an Australian songwriter, guitarist, radio personality and athlete.Born in Benalla, Victoria, Champion is most recognised for his work as part of the Coodabeen Champions as a songwriter and guitarist. Greg often appears on the program writing songs about both Aussies rules football...
and Jim Haynes, was a minor hit on the Australian country charts and is a light-hearted take on the habit of Australians to refer to double named towns by one name only. Other examples include the Harry Potter
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
series of fantasy novels, where the character Gilderoy Lockhart claimed to have defeated the "Wagga Wagga Werewolf", the Bryce Courtenay
Bryce Courtenay
Arthur Bryce Courtenay AM is a South-African-born naturalized Australian novelist and one of Australia's most commercially successful authors.-Background and early years:...
book The Power of One
The Power of One
The Power of One is a novel by Bryce Courtenay, first published in 1989. Set in South Africa during the 1930s and 1940s, it tells the story of an Anglo-African boy who, through the course of the story, acquires the nickname of Peekay. The Power of One is a novel by Bryce Courtenay, first published...
, where the main character Peekay is said to have a cousin Lenny from Wagga Wagga Australia, the Bryce Courtenay
Bryce Courtenay
Arthur Bryce Courtenay AM is a South-African-born naturalized Australian novelist and one of Australia's most commercially successful authors.-Background and early years:...
book Jessica
Jessica (novel)
Jessica is a historical novel based in real facts by Bryce Courtenay. It has been published in 1998 and like other works from this author covers several years in the life of the main character: Jessica Burgman. It was adapted into a mini-series starring Leeanna Walsman and Sam Neill which aired on...
has several passages that take place in Wagga Wagga, including the judgement of Billy Simple, and the Robert G. Barrett
Robert G. Barrett
Robert G. Barrett is a popular Australian author of numerous books, most of them featuring the fictional Australian character Les Norton. He has also written others which are single book story. 'So What Do You Reckon?' is a collection of Robert's columns from when he was a columnist for the...
novel, "Mud Crab Boogie" which is partially set in Wagga Wagga.
Media
Riverina
The Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales , Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation. This combination has allowed the Riverina to develop...
and South West Slopes, Wagga Wagga is home to a number of regional media outlets. Both WIN Television
WIN Television
WIN Television is an Australian television network owned by the WIN Corporation that is based in Wollongong, New South Wales. WIN commenced transmissions on 18 March 1962 as a single Wollongong-only station, and has since expanded to 24 owned-and-operated stations with transmissions covering a...
and Prime7 air half-hour local news programs on weeknights. The bulletins are presented from studios in Wollongong and Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
respectively with reporters and camera crews for both services based in newsrooms in the city. Since 2006, WIN's weeknight bulletin has also included coverage of the Griffith
Griffith, New South Wales
Griffith is a city in south-western New South Wales, Australia. It is also the seat of the City of Griffith local government area. Like the Australian capital, Canberra and the nearby town of Leeton, Griffith was designed by Walter Burley Griffin. Griffith was named after Sir Arthur Griffith the...
area. In addition, Southern Cross Ten
Southern Cross Ten
Southern Cross Ten is an Australian television channel broadcast by the Macquarie Media Group in Queensland, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and South Australia. The channel is owned by the Macquarie Media Group as is affiliated to Network Ten...
runs a small sales office and airs short local news updates from its Canberra studios throughout the day.
The city also receives the ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
's four free-to-air national television networks on analogue and digital (ABC1
ABC1
ABC1 was a United Kingdom based television channel from Disney using the branding of the Disney owned American network, ABC.The channel initially launched exclusively on the British digital terrestrial television platform Freeview on 27 September 2004. On 10 December 2004 it was launched on...
, ABC2
ABC2
ABC2 is a national public television channel in Australia. Launched on 7 March 2005, it is the responsibility of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's television division, and is available nationally to digital television viewers in Australia...
, ABC3
ABC3
-Future shows:Programming confirmed for future broadcast will include:* After School Care * Bindi's Boot Camp * Bushwacked! * Dance Academy * Dancing Down Under...
and ABC News 24
ABC News 24
ABC News 24 is an Australian 24-hour news channel launched and owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The channel replaced the former ABC High Definition simulcast of ABC1 and commenced broadcasting at 7:30pm 5:30 on Thursday, 22 July 2010.-Pre-launch:The ABC announced in January 2010...
), the SBS
Special Broadcasting Service
The Special Broadcasting Service is a hybrid-funded Australian public broadcasting radio and television network. The stated purpose of SBS is "to provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians and, in doing so, reflect...
's two television networks (SBS ONE and SBS Two) and the commercial networks' digital channels (7Two
7Two
7TWO is an Australian free-to-air standard definition digital television channel which was launched by the Seven Network on Sunday 1 November 2009 at 12pm....
and 7mate
7mate
7mate is an Australian free-to-air high definition digital television channel, which was launched by the Seven Network on 25 September 2010.The network stated that 7mate would contain sport and regular programs aimed primarily at a male audience, with programming drawn from a combination of new...
from Prime7, GO!
Go! (Australian TV channel)
GO! is an Australian free-to-air standard definition digital television channel launched by the Nine Network on Sunday 9 August 2009.-Origins:...
and GEM HD from WIN and One HD and Eleven
Eleven (TV channel)
Eleven is an Australian free-to-air standard definition digital television channel, which was launched by ElevenCo, on 11 January 2011.-Joint venture:...
from Southern Cross Ten).
Local radio stations broadcasting from Wagga Wagga include ABC Riverina
ABC Riverina
ABC Riverina is an ABC Local Radio station based in Wagga Wagga and broadcasting to the Riverina and Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area regions in New South Wales. This includes the towns and cities of Griffith, Goulburn, Leeton and Hay....
, AM radio
AM broadcasting
AM broadcasting is the process of radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation. AM was the first method of impressing sound on a radio signal and is still widely used today. Commercial and public AM broadcasting is carried out in the medium wave band world wide, and on long wave and short wave...
commercial station 2WG
2WG
2WG is an Australian radio station which transmits on 1152 kHz on the AM band. It is licensed to the city of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. The station is the first radio station to have a radio receiver built in regional New South Wales and was originally owned by a husband and wife team, the late...
and FM radio
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
commercial station Star FM
2WZD
2WZD, which is branded as 93.1 Star FM, is an Australian radio station that transmits on 93.1 MHz FM and is owned by Southern Cross Media.-History:...
. Other local stations include Christian radio
Christian radio
Christian radio is a category of radio formats that focus on transmitting programming with a Christian message. In the United States, where it is more established, many such broadcasters play popular music of Christian influence, though many programs have talk or news programming covering...
station Life FM
Life FM (Wagga Wagga)
Life FM is a Christian radio station in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, which broadcasts on 101.9 MHz n the FM.In 2006 Life FM relocated its studios to the Wagga Wagga Christian Collage.-References:...
and the community station 2AAA
2AAA
2AAA is an community radio station operated by Wagga Wagga Community Media Incorporated in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia broadcasting on FM 107.1 MHz....
FM. The ABC's national stations Radio National
Radio National
ABC Radio National is an Australia-wide non-commercial radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.Radio National broadcasts national programming in areas that include news and current affairs, the arts, social issues, science, drama and comedy...
, Triple J
Triple J
triple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
and ABC Classic FM
ABC Classic FM
ABC Classic FM is a classical music radio station available in Australia, and internationally online. It is operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation . It was established in 1976 as "ABC-FM", and later for a short time was known as "ABC Fine Music" , before adopting its current name...
and the multicultural network SBS Radio
SBS Radio
SBS Radio is a service provided by the Special Broadcasting Service '..to inform, educate and entertain Australians, especially those of non-English speaking backgrounds'. SBS Radio originally began as two stations based in Melbourne and Sydney, set up to provide pre-recorded information about the...
are also broadcast into Wagga Wagga.
The Daily Advertiser, published Monday to Friday and its sister publication, the Weekend Advertiser, service Wagga and much of the surrounding region. The newspaper was established by two wealthy local pastoralists, Auber George Jones and Thomas Darlow and first printed on 10 December 1868 by editor Frank Hutchison, an Oxford graduate. Originally printed bi-weekly, by 1880 it was tri-weekly and finally became 'daily' on 31 December 1910. In 1962 the newspaper reduced in size from a broadsheet
Broadsheet
Broadsheet is the largest of the various newspaper formats and is characterized by long vertical pages . The term derives from types of popular prints usually just of a single sheet, sold on the streets and containing various types of material, from ballads to political satire. The first broadsheet...
to a tabloid format. The Riverina Leader, the local free community newspaper was launched in May 1979.
Notable people
- Helen CoonanHelen CoonanHelen Lloyd Coonan is a former Australian politician, who was a Liberal member of the Australian Senate representing New South Wales from July 1996 to August 2011.-Early life:...
(Liberal politician, senator since 1996) - Geoff DixonGeoff DixonGeoff Dixon is an Australian corporate executive and former CEO and Managing Director of Qantas.-Qantas:...
(Former QantasQantasQantas Airways Limited is the flag carrier of Australia. The name was originally "QANTAS", an initialism for "Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services". Nicknamed "The Flying Kangaroo", the airline is based in Sydney, with its main hub at Sydney Airport...
CEO) - Bill KerrBill KerrWilliam 'Bill' Kerr is an Australian film and television actor. He was born into a performing arts family in Cape Town, South Africa, but grew up in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia....
(Australian actor and co-star of the legendary BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
radio comedy Hancock's Half HourHancock's Half HourHancock's Half Hour was a BBC radio comedy, and later television comedy, series of the 1950s and 60s written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. The series starred Tony Hancock, with Sid James; the radio version also co-starred, at various times, Moira Lister, Andrée Melly, Hattie Jacques, Bill Kerr...
) - Arthur OrtonTichborne CaseThe affair of the Tichborne claimant was the celebrated 19th-century legal case in the United Kingdom of Arthur Orton , an imposter who claimed to be Sir Roger Tichborne , the missing heir to the Tichborne Baronetcy....
(Imposter of the late 19th century) - Sam MoranSam MoranSam Moran is an Australian entertainer best known for being a member of the children's band The Wiggles. He was born in Sydney and raised in Wagga Wagga.-Career:...
(A member of the children's musical group The WigglesThe WigglesThe Wiggles are a children's group formed in Sydney, Australia in 1991. Their original members were Anthony Field, Phillip Wilcher, Murray Cook, Greg Page, and Jeff Fatt. Wilcher left the group after their first album...
) - William MonksWilliam MonksWilliam John Monks, also known as Bill or Billy, was an Australian architect active in the last decade of the 19th century and first third of the 20th century. Monks "had one of the most successful and extensive architectural practices in country New South Wales...
(Architect) - Dame Edna EverageDame Edna EverageDame Edna is a character created and played by Australian dadaist performer and comedian, Barry Humphries, famous for her lilac-coloured or "wisteria hue" hair and cat eye glasses or "face furniture," her favorite flower, the gladiola and her boisterous greeting: "Hello Possums!" As Dame Edna,...
(Satirical figure) - Peter SterlingPeter SterlingPeter Maxwell John "Sterlo" Sterling OAM is an Australian rugby league commentator and former player. He was one of the all-time great halfbacks and a major contributor to Parramatta Eels' dominance of the New South Wales Rugby League premiership in the 1980s. Sterling played nineteen Tests for...
(Rugby League player and TV commentator)
See also
- List of Wagga Wagga suburbs and localities
- List of notable people from Wagga Wagga, New South Wales
- HMAS WaggaHMAS WaggaHMAS Wagga , named after the city of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales was one of 60 Bathurst class corvettes constructed during World War II, and one of 36 initially manned and commissioned solely by the Royal Australian Navy . During the war, the ship operated primarily in New Guinea waters...
- Wagga Wagga War CemeteryWagga Wagga War CemeteryWagga Wagga War Cemetery is a war cemetery that occupies a plot in the Wagga Wagga Monumental Cemetery located in the Wagga Wagga suburb of Kooringal, which is in the care of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and is maintained by the Office of Australian War Graves.The cemetery contains 83...
- Wagga Wagga Leagues ClubWagga Wagga Leagues ClubWagga Wagga Leagues Club was a club founded in 1955 by the Magpies Football Club in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia.-History:In 1955, Magpies Football Club purchased an block in Gurwood Street from the Wagga Wagga War Services Home Commission, who constructed a temporary clubhouse...
- Eric Weissel OvalEric Weissel OvalEric Weissel Oval was a multi-use stadium in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia. It was named after Eric Weissel and opened in 1959. It was used mostly for rugby league matches and had a capacity of 10,000 people, with a record crowd of 11,685 recorded on 20 July 1988 for the Australia vs...
- Murrumbidgee Co-operative MillingMurrumbidgee Co-operative MillingMurrumbidgee Co-operative Milling was built in 1890 in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. After the Co-operative closed its operation in the 1980s the site was sold in 1987 to Goodman Fielder, operating for approximately a decade before ceasing its operation in December 2000...
- Pulletop bushfirePulletop bushfirePulletop bushfire started on the 6 February 2006 in hot dry and windy weather conditions about 30 km southeast of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. The fire was thought to have been started by sparks from a tractor on a property at Pulletop which quickly got out of control...
- Chiko RollChiko RollThe Chiko Roll is an Australian savoury snack, inspired by the Chinese egg roll and spring rolls. It was designed to be easily eaten on the move without a plate or cutlery. The Chiko roll consists of beef, celery, cabbage, barley, carrot, onion, green beans, and spices in a tube of egg, flour and...
– first sold in 1951 at the Wagga Wagga show - The Bee GeesBee GeesThe Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...
– who wrote "Morning of My Life" at the Wagga Police Boys Club
External links
- Official Guides
- Culture