Deniliquin

Deniliquin, known locally as "Deni" (pronounced "Denny" but written as Deni), is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales close to the border with Victoria.

Deniliquin is located at the intersection of the Riverina and Cobb Highway approximately 725 km south west of the state capital, Sydney and 285 km north of Melbourne. The town is divided in two parts by the Edward River, an anabranch of the Murray River, with the main business district located on the south bank.

The town services a productive agricultural district with prominent rice, wool and timber industries. At the 2006 census, Deniliquin had a population of 7,431. In the 2001 census the population of Deniliquin was 7,781.

History
Prior to European settlement, The Aboriginal inhabitants of the Deniliquin area were the Barapa Baraba people. In 1843 the entrepreneur and speculator Benjamin Boyd acquired land in the vicinity of present-day Deniliquin (probably via his agent Augustus Morris). The location was known as The Sandhills, but Boyd (or Morris) named it Deniliquin after 'Denilakoon', a local Aborigine famed for his wrestling prowess. An inn and a punt were established on the site in the period 1845-47 and the town site was surveyed in 1848 and gazetted in 1850. Deniliquin Post Office opened on 1 January 1850.

In 1853, William John Wills of the Burke and Wills expedition worked as a shepherd at the Royal Bank sheep station near Deniliquin.

As Deniliquin was established on the convergence of major stock routes between the colonies of Queensland, New South Wales and the Victorian gold rush centres of Victoria, it soon became an important river crossing and the first bridge was built over the Edward River in 1861. The Deniliquin and Moama Railway Company built a private railway in 1879 to connect with Moama, across the Murray River from the busy river port of Echuca, connected by rail to Melbourne.

Wool growing quickly became a major industry and the area around Deniliquin was home to several Merino studs. In 1861, George Hall Peppin and his two sons, experienced English sheep breeders, established a Merino stud at Wanganella station, north of Deniliquin. There, the brothers developed the Peppin Merino, able to thrive in drier inland regions. Today, as many as 70 per cent of Merinos in Australia are said to be directly descended from these sheep.

In the 1860s, Deniliquin was the centre of a short-lived campaign by wealthy pastoralists including Peppin, George Desailly, Robert Landale and William Brodribb for secession from New South Wales and the creation of a new Riverina colony. This campaign was supported by David Jones, the editor of the local newspaper the Pastoral Times.

On 19 December 1868, Deniliquin was constituted as The Municipality of Deniliquin, and the first Municipal Election was held on 23 February 1869. In 1993 the enactment of the Local Government Act (NSW) saw the name of the council changed from the Municipality of Deniliquin to the Deniliquin Council.

Large-scale irrigation schemes came to the Deniliquin area with the establishment of the Deniboota and Denimein Irrigation Districts in 1938 and the Berriquin Irrigation District in 1939, using water diverted from the Murray River at Lake Mulwala through the Mulwala Canal. An ample and reliable water supply led to the development of water intensive industries such as rice growing.

In April 2006 the Herald Sun reported on their front cover that the Edward River was dry, with an accompanying photograph showing a dry creek. This was later revealed to be erroneous; the photograph was of an unknown channel on a farm within 60 km of Deniliquin, while the Edward River is in fact still running. Deniliquin Council and members of the Deniliquin community have since attempted to rectify the damage to local tourism by improving the profile of Deniliquin in various media outlets.

Industry
Deniliquin is a service centre for the surrounding agricultural region. The region includes both dryland and irrigated areas. The dryland areas support grazing, in particular beef cattle and wool growing. Deniliquin is home to many famous Merino studs and the saltbush plains produce quality medium class wool.

The irrigated areas produce a range of high yield crops. Rice was a major crop until the recent drought. The largest rice mill in the southern hemisphere is in Deniliquin, producing large packs and bulk rice for export markets. The rice mill closed in December 2007 and will reopen in April 2011.

Deniliquin is also the headquarters of Murray Irrigation Limited, an irrigator owned private company and one of the largest privately-owned irrigation supply companies in the world. Murray Irrigation manages the operations of the Berriquin, Deniboota, Denimein and Wakool Irrigation Areas in the Murray Valley. These areas produce 50% of Australia’s rice crop, 20% of NSW milk production, 75% of NSW processing tomatoes and 40% of NSW potatoes.

Sawmills in the area process timber harvested from the River red gum forests lining the Edward and Murray floodplains.

As the largest town in the south western Riverina, there is a range of government and commercial services to residents of the town and the surrounding area.

Notable residents
Notable people from the Deniliquin area include:
 * Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser
 * Sydney Swans Australian rules footballer Leo Barry
 * Melbourne Cup winning Jockey Roy Higgins
 * Test and one day cricketer and AFL Player Simon O'Donnell
 * Test and one day cricketer wicket keeper Adam Gilchrist

Education
Deniliquin is well serviced by the education sector. The town has 3 public primary schools (Deniliquin South PS, Deniliquin North P.S, Edward PS), 1 Catholic primary school (St Michael's PS), 1 public high school (Deniliquin HS) and 1 independent K-10 school (Deniliquin Christian School)

It has a TAFE NSW Campus, which is part of the Riverina Institute of TAFE.

Deniliquin is also the base for the NSW Department of Education South West Riverina regional office.

Sport
Sport is an important part of the culture of Deniliquin. The town is famous for the sportspeople raised in the area. Notable sporting clubs in the area include:

Australian rules football
 * Deniliquin Rams Football Club, competing in the Murray Football League
 * Deniliquin Rovers Football Club competing in the Picola & District Football League.

Rugby union football
 * Deniliquin Drovers, competing in the Victorian Rugby Union Country Division

Deni Play on the Plains Festival
Deniliquin is home to the Play on the Plains Festival held each September/October on the New South Wales Labour Day long weekend which includes the famous 'Deniliquin Ute Muster'

The Deni Play On The Plains Festival has set the following world records:
 * World Record Ute Count
 * 1999 - 2839 utes in one location
 * 2000 - 2990 utes in one location
 * 2001 - 3012 utes in one location
 * 2002 - 3070 utes in one location
 * 2003 - 3418 utes in one location
 * 2004 - 4012 utes in one location
 * 2005 - 6172 utes in one location
 * 2006 - 6211 utes in one location
 * 2007 - 6235 utes in one location
 * 2008 - 7242 utes in one location
 * 2009 - 7000 utes in one location
 * 2010 - 10,152 utes in one location
 * World Record Blue Singlet Count
 * 2004 - 1328 people wearing blue singlets
 * 2005 - 1474 people wearing blue singlets
 * 2006 - 1566 people wearing blue singlets
 * 2007 - 1587 people wearing blue singlets
 * 2008 - 2702 people wearing blue singlets
 * 2009 - 2230 people wearing blue singlets
 * 2010 - 3500 people wearing blue singlets

Music
Deniliquin has many local bands, notable bands are The Lincolns, Shane McGrath, The Stormtroopers, The Lexies and Mannik and with attempts been made to encourage other bands to come to Deniliquin to perform, with varying success. There are also several DJ's who play on a regular basis at the local nightclub "barCODEblue" as well as hosting several dance music nights bringing other DJs from NSW and Victoria. These include Wil Young, Mark 'SynergY' Rourke and Daniel 'B33FY187' O' Keefe.

Music Festivals
Deniliquin has been home to many music festivals. Of particular note are the following:

The Flat Earth Festival. The Flat Earth Festival was organised by a youth committee under the auspices of South West Music, beginning in 1999 and running until 2003. The aim of the Flat Earth Festival (so named because Deniliquin is on the Hay Plains, the area with the smallest deviation of elevation on Earth) was to provide a music festival accompanied by other activities (such as motorcross demonstrations) in a drug- and alcohol-free environment. The Flat Earth Festival youth committee failed to attract new members as previous members moved on, and the event recessed.

Notable bands attending the Flat Earth Festival included Grinspoon and Sunk Loto.

Shakedown Festival. The Shakedown Festival involves live bands and DJs. It is organised by the Deniliquin Youth Council, a sub-committee of Deniliquin Municipal Council, and is held during National Youth Week, on the 14th April 2007. Notable acts appearing at Shakedown includeDukes of Windsor, Behind Crimson Eyes and Andy Van.

Spring Blues Festival. The Spring Blues Festival had its inaugural year in 2006. The aim of the festival is to expose Deniliquin residents to the talented Blues musicians performing in Australia, as well as providing music workshops and impromptu jam sessions. Notable acts appearing at The Spring Blues Festival include The Dutch Tilders and Jeff Lang.