Wangaratta

Wangaratta is a cathedral city of almost 17,000 people in the northeast of Victoria, Australia, about 230 km from Melbourne along the Hume Highway, with Benalla  45 km to the southwest, and Albury-Wodonga 72 km to the northeast. It is located at the junction of the Ovens and King rivers which flow from the Victorian Alps. It the administrative centre and most populous city in the Rural City of Wangaratta local government area.

Nomenclature
Historically, there was disagreement about whether the first syllable should be pronounced "Wong" or "Wang". The "Wong" pronunciation was never used by a majority of the population, and never received any wide currency outside the district. It was officially disavowed by the Wangaratta City Council's declaration in favour of the "Wang" pronunciation in the 1980s. Some locals, particularly the elderly, continue to use the "Wong" pronunciation.

The city's name may be informally abbreviated to "Wang", analogously to "Shep" (Shepparton), "Yack" (Yackandandah) and "Yarra" (Yarrawonga).

History
The original inhabitants of the area were the Pangerang Aborigines (Pallanganmiddang, WayWurru, Waveroo ), who spoke a Gunai language. Many of the Pangerang were killed in the Gippsland massacres. White settlement began in the 1830s with the establishment of the "Wangaratta" cattle station. The name is said to mean "nesting place of cormorants". Gold was found in the surrounding area during the 1850s and this is reflected in the name of a nearby town of Eldorado where the remains of an old dredge can still be seen today. The Post Office in the area opened on 1 February 1843 as Ovens, and moved to the township and was renamed Wangaratta in 1854. The Ovens office, and the Kilmore office which opened the same day, were the fifth and sixth to open in the Port Phillip District and the first two inland offices. The nearby small town of Glenrowan located some 10 km away is known as the site of the final shootout that led to the capture of Australia's most famous bushranger, Ned Kelly.

Geography and landmarks
The geographical layout of the city is unusual in that the business district is located at the north-eastern extremity of the urban area, with outlying suburbs extending only to the south and west. The reason for this arrangement is that the area beyond the rivers, to the north and east of the business district, was until the 1990s prone to flooding and so unsuitable for building. Levees were constructed in the 1990s to alleviate the flooding, however development in this area has been slow.

Wangaratta is the closest city or town of any size to Falls Creek and Mount Hotham, two of Victoria's three major snowfields.

Notable buildings include the Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral and its Cathedral Close, St. Patrick's Catholic Church and the eccentric art déco courthouse.

Governance
In local government, the Wangaratta region is covered by the Rural City of Wangaratta. The council was created in 1994 as an amalgamation of a number of other municipalities in the region with the council chambers located at the Government Centre in central Wangaratta. The City is represented by seven councillors elected once every four years by postal voting. The mayor is elected from these councillors by their colleagues for a one year term.

In state politics, Wangaratta is located in the Legislative Assembly district of Murray Valley currently held by the National Party of Australia.

In federal politics, Wangaratta is located in a single House of Representatives division—the Division of Indi. The Division of Indi has been a safe Liberal Party of Australia seat since 1977.

Industry
There is a considerable wine and gourmet food industry in the nearby Milawa and King Valley region. Other notable industries in the area include Bruck Textiles and Australian Country Spinners.

Previously multi-national IBM manufactured computers in Wangaratta.

Sport
Australian rules football and cricket are the most popular sports.

There are three Australian rules football clubs in Wangaratta, the Wangaratta Football Club, the Wangaratta Rovers Football Club (both competing in the Ovens and Murray Football League), and the North Wangaratta Football Club, which competes in the Ovens and King Football League. The close proximity of the Rovers and Wangaratta grounds reflects the historical sectarian split in membership of the clubs; Rovers membership being predominantly Catholic and Wangaratta being predominantly Protestant.

The city hosted several games for the 2005 Australian Football International Cup event, with several countries competing in the sport of Australian rules football. The event was played at the City Oval and Showgrounds and set the attendance records for the tournament to date.

Cricket in Wangaratta is organised by the Wangaratta and District Cricket Association. Clubs include Wangaratta Magpies, Rovers United, City Colts and Bruck Cricket Clubs.

There is one soccer team in Wangaratta, the Wangaratta City Football Club. Founded in 1951, they compete in the Albury Wodonga Football Association.

Wangaratta has a horse racing club, the Wangaratta Turf Club, which schedules around eleven race meetings a year including the Wangaratta Cup meeting in April.

The Wangaratta Greyhound Racing Club which held regular meetings at the same venue,has been discontinued. Avian Park is no longer used.

Golfers play at the course of the Wangaratta Golf Club on Yarrawonga Road, or at the course of the Jubilee Golf Club at Wangandary nearby. A nine hole course is at Boorhaman to the north of Wangaratta.

Events
The main annual event is the Wangaratta Festival of Jazz, which attracts renowned international acts and has been attended by thousands each year since 1990.

Education
Wangaratta has three secondary schools: Galen Catholic College (private), Cathedral College (private) which has two campuses and Wangaratta High School which has three campuses.

The Goulburn Ovens Institute of TAFE has two Wangaratta campuses. The Docker street campus offers a broad range of courses from business studies to music with a central area containing a cafeteria, library and student services. The Christensen Lane campus on the outskirts of Wangaratta is the home for the National Centre for Equine Education as well as providing courses in horticulture.

Transport
Roads are the most used transport infrastructure in Wangaratta. The Hume Freeway (M31) bypasses the city to the south and east, while the C314 now forms the main road through it (as Murphy Street and Wangaratta Road). The city is located at the junction of several other major roads, the Great Alpine Road (B500), Wangaratta-Yarrawonga Road (C374), Wangaratta-Whitfield Road (C521) and Wangaratta-Kileera Road (C523). A city bus service runs every half an hour during the day on weekdays and on Saturday mornings on a route covering Wangaratta's West End, the business district, Yarrunga and more recently, Yarrawonga Road.

Rail transport services both passengers and freight. Wangaratta railway station is the city's only passenger train station and is on the North East railway line—the main railway line between Sydney and Melbourne. It is usually served by the Albury-Wodonga V/Line rail service thrice-daily (however V/Line have operated reduced rail services with bus replacements due to the North East Rail Revitalisation project) as well as the Countrylink XPT service twice-daily in both directions.

Historically Wangaratta was the junction of several railway branch lines including the Yackandandah railway line, the Whitfield railway line and the Bright railway line, all of which have since closed. Another short branch line ran west to a wheat silo located on the north side of the Ovens River at Boorhaman.

The Murray to the Mountains Rail Trail is a shared cycling and walking track.

Wangaratta is also serviced by a small regional airport, Wangaratta Airport.

Media
Radio Stations

Radio services that are available in Wangaratta include:
 * ABC Classic FM 104.1 FM/96.1 FM
 * OAK FM 101.3
 * The Edge 102.1 FM (commercial)
 * Orbit FM 87.6
 * Triple J 103.3 FM/94.5 FM
 * ABC Goulburn Murray 106.5 FM/97.7 FM
 * ABC Radio National 990 AM/756 AM
 * 3NE 1566 AM (commercial)
 * Star FM 104.9, 96.9 (Commercial)

Some stations from nearby centres such as Albury-Wodonga and Shepparton also broadcast into the region.

Notable residents and former residents

 * Sir John Bowser, premier of Victoria 1917–1918
 * William Ah Ket, Chinese Australian barrister, 1876–1936
 * Nick Cave, popular musician
 * Sir Edward "Weary" Dunlop 1907–1993
 * Steve Johnson, Australian rules footballer with Geelong
 * Ben Reid, Australian rules footballer with Collingwood
 * Alipate Carlile, Australian rules footballer with Port Adelaide
 * Dean Woods, former Olympic cyclist
 * Isobelle Carmody, award winning author, born 1958
 * Sophie Mirabella, member for Indi 2001–
 * Nick Morris, men's wheelchair basketball player for Australia