Brewarrina, New South Wales

Brewarrina is a small town (2006 population: 1,121 ) in North West New South Wales, Australia on the banks of the Barwon River in Brewarrina Shire. It is 98 km east of Bourke and west of Walgett on the Kamilaroi Highway, and 808 km from Sydney. Brewarrina has had its population decrease from 1,197 persons in 2001, to 1,121 persons in 2006. Other towns and villages in the Brewarrina district include; Goodooga, Gongolgon, Weilmoringle and Angledool.

Fish traps
Brewarrina's most significant feature is its Aboriginal fish traps. Known in the local Aboriginal language as Ngunnhu, the traps are believed to be at least 40,000 years old, possibly the oldest surviving human-made structure in the world. Consisting of river stones arranged to form small channels, the traps directed fish into small areas from which they could be readily plucked. The traps were included in the National Heritage List on 3 June 2005 -the only such site in NSW outside of Sydney- with a current application for World Heritage Listing. The ready availability of fish made Brewarrina one of the great inter-tribal meeting places of pre-European eastern Australia.

History
The town is located amid the traditional lands of the Ngemba, Muwarrari and Yualwarri peoples. The area has a long Indigenous Australian history and was once the meetings grounds for over 5,000 people.



No one knows exactly what the word "Brewarrina" means. There are five competing interpretations of the name, several of them mutually exclusive. The most common translation is "clumps of acacias"; others are "where the gooseberry grows", "fishing", "acacia clumps" and, perhaps the most plausible, "place of gooseberries", coming from "warrina", meaning "place of", and "bre" or "burie" or "biree" meaning "gooseberries".

The first white settlers arrived in the district around 1839-40. The first people to own land where the town now stands were the Lawson brothers, who had two holdings - one called "Walcha" and another called "Moona". The first name given to the settlement was "Walcha Hut" but this later changed to "Fishery" and finally to "Brewarrina". In 1859 a riverboat called Gemini, skippered by William Randell, reached the town. This opened up the possibility of developing the town as a port, and by the early 1860s Brewarrina was recognised as the furthest navigable point on the Darling River. The town was formally surveyed and laid out in 1861, and proclaimed on 28 April 1863.

The 1870s were something of a boom time for Brewarrina. The Mechanics Institute was formed in 1873. The following year two hotels, two stores and the Commercial Bank all opened, and in 1875 a public school was established. All this development was largely due to Cobb and Co, which had a number of coach services passing through the town. There was a service from Byrock, one from Dubbo via Warren and, in 1874, a direct service from Brewarrina to Enngonia, north of Bourke. The number of people moving through the town at this time would have been considerable and would have given rise to the increase in stores and hotels.

Brewarrina was used as a location for the Australian silent film Moora Neya, or The Message of the Spear (1911).

In recent years there have been concerns at the high levels of violence and drug use in the town.

Sport and recreation
The townspeople of Brewarrina play a variety of sports. The town has a local Rugby Union club and team, the Brewarrina Brumbies. Rugby League is a very popular sport in Brewarrina, with the town sporting a number of different teams. Netball is played weekly, with over 12 teams playing in the local competition. The Brewarrina Golf Club is renowned throughout the western region as one of the best 'oiled' green golf courses. Other major sports in Brewarrina include bowls, shooting, tennis and swimming. Brewarrina also has a very successful circus skills program, which trains local kids skills in circus training and gives them the opportunity to travel across the country to places like Adelaide and Melbourne. This program has also given particular kids the chance to travel overseas, with one girl travelling to South Africa to perform in the art of circus skills.

Brewarrina, on the wide Barwon River is an ideal place to fish. With the largest officially recorded cod being caught here, weighing 113 kilograms (250 lbs). The river is also used for swimming in the summer months, and is a great spot for water skiing.

Events
Brewarrina is host to one of the most famous Rodeos in the far west of New South Wales, the 'Barwon River Rodeo', which is usually held on the New South Wales Easter long weekend.

Brewarrina is also well known for its annual 'Festival of the Fisheries', which celebrates Brewarrina's Aboriginal and European History. Sadly, the event has sometimes not been held in recent years.

Other annual events include the local agricultural show, and the Brewarrina races.

Especially noteworthy is the Brewarrina 'Surfboat Classic', the only one of its type, in which canoes are raced up the Barwon River. This event usually attracts hundreds of spectators from neighbouring communities and even from the east of the state.

Print

 * The Brewarrina News

Television

 * Seven Central (QLD)
 * Imparja
 * SBS
 * ABC

Radio

 * 2WEB
 * 2CUZ FM
 * Rebel FM
 * ABC Western Plains
 * SBS
 * Vision FM

Notable citizens

 * Leo Schofield, restaurant critic, advertising professional and arts festival director.
 * Isaac Gordon, plays in the NRL with the Cronulla Sharks.
 * Ashley Gordon, played Rugby League for the Newcastle Knights and Penrith Panthers.

Pre-School

 * Gainmara Birrilee Pre-School

Schools

 * Brewarrina Central School K-12
 * St Patricks Catholic School K-6

Higher Education

 * Brewarrina TAFE

Railway
In 1901 a railway branch line was opened to Brewarrina from Byrock, on the Nyngan to Bourke line. This closed in 1974.