1.
Northern Territory
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The Northern Territory is a federal Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. It shares borders with Western Australia to the west, South Australia to the south, to the north, the territory is bordered by the Timor Sea, the Arafura Sea and the Gulf of Carpentaria. Despite its large area—over 1,349,129 square kilometres, the Northern Territorys population of 244,000 makes it the least populous of Australias eight major states and territories, having fewer than half as many people as Tasmania. The archaeological history of the Northern Territory begins over 40,000 years ago when Indigenous Australians settled the region, makassan traders began trading with the indigenous people of the Northern Territory for trepang from at least the 18th century onwards. The coast of the territory was first seen by Europeans in the 17th century, the British were the first Europeans to attempt to settle the coastal regions. After three failed attempts to establish a settlement, success was achieved in 1869 with the establishment of a settlement at Port Darwin. Today the economy is based on tourism, especially Kakadu National Park in the Top End and the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park in central Australia, the capital and largest city is Darwin. The population is not concentrated in regions but rather along the Stuart Highway. The other major settlements are Palmerston, Alice Springs, Katherine, Nhulunbuy, residents of the Northern Territory are often known simply as Territorians and fully as Northern Territorians, or more informally as Top Enders and Centralians. With the coming of the British, there were four attempts to settle the harsh environment of the northern coast. The Northern Territory was part of colonial New South Wales from 1825 to 1863, except for a time from February to December 1846. It was part of South Australia from 1863 to 1911, under the administration of colonial South Australia, the overland telegraph was constructed between 1870 and 1872. A railway was built between Palmerston and Pine Creek between 1883 and 1889. The economic pattern of raising and mining was established so that by 1911 there were 513,000 cattle. Victoria River Downs was at one time the largest cattle station in the world, gold was found at Grove Hill in 1872 and at Pine Creek, Brocks Creek, Burrundi, and copper was found at Daly River. On 1 January 1911, a decade after federation, the Northern Territory was separated from South Australia, alfred Deakin opined at this time To me the question has been not so much commercial as national, first, second, third and last. Either we must accomplish the peopling of the territory or submit to its transfer to some other nation. In late 1912 there was growing sentiment that the name Northern Territory was unsatisfactory, the names Kingsland, Centralia and Territoria were proposed with Kingsland becoming the preferred choice in 1913
2.
Alice Springs
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Alice Springs /ˌælᵻs ˈsprɪŋz/ is the third largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Popularly known as the Alice or simply Alice, Alice Springs is situated roughly in Australias geographic centre. The area is known as Mparntwe to its inhabitants, the Arrernte. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Lady Alice Todd, Alice Springs has a population of 27,972, which makes up 8.7 percent of the territorys population. Alice Springs is nearly equidistant from Adelaide and Darwin, the town straddles the usually dry Todd River on the northern side of the MacDonnell Ranges. The surrounding region is known as Central Australia, or the Red Centre, the Aboriginal name for Alice Springs is Mparntwe. Many Arrernte people also live in communities outside of Alice Springs, three major groups, the Western, Eastern and Central Arrernte people live in Central Australia, their traditional land including the area of Alice Springs and MacDonnell Ranges. They have also referred to as Aranda, Arrarnta, Arunta. There are five dialects of the Arrernte language, South-eastern, Central, Arrernte country is rich with mountain ranges, waterholes and gorges, which create a variety of natural habitats. The numerous sites of importance in and around Alice Springs include Anthwerrke, Akeyulerre, Ntaripe, Atnelkentyarliweke. A white settlement was started ten years later with the construction of a station on the Overland Telegraph Line. The OTL was completed in 1872 and it traced Stuarts route and opened up the interior for permanent settlement. The Alice Springs Telegraph Station was sited near what was thought to be a permanent waterhole in the normally dry Todd River, the settlement was optimistically named Alice Springs after the wife of the former Postmaster General of South Australia, Sir Charles Todd. The Todd River was named after Sir Charles and it was not until alluvial gold was discovered at Arltunga,100 kilometres east of the present Alice Springs, in 1887 that any significant European settlement occurred. The towns first substantial building was the Stuart Town Gaol in Parsons Street which was built in 1909 when the town had a European population of fewer than 20 people, many of the gaols first prisoners were first contact aboriginal men incarcerated for killing cattle. The first aircraft, piloted by Francis Stewart Briggs landed in 1921, Central Australias first hospital, Adelaide House, was built in 1926 when the European population of the town was about 40. It was not until 1929 when the line to Alice was built. Aboriginal Centralians outnumbered European Centralians until the mid-1930s, until 31 August 1933, the town was officially known as Stuart
3.
Western Australia
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Western Australia is a state occupying the entire western third of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Southern Ocean to the south, the state has about 2.6 million inhabitants, around 11% of the national total. 92% of the lives in the south-west corner of the state. The first European visitor to Western Australia was the Dutch explorer Dirk Hartog, the first European settlement of Western Australia occurred following the landing by Major Edmund Lockyer on 26 December 1826 of an expedition on behalf of the New South Wales colonial government. This was followed by the establishment of the Swan River Colony in 1829, including the site of the present-day capital, york was the first inland settlement in Western Australia. Situated 97 kilometres east of Perth, it was settled on 16 September 1831, Western Australia achieved responsible government in 1890, and federated with the other British colonies in Australia in 1901. Today its economy relies on mining, agriculture and tourism. The state produces 46% of Australias exports, Western Australia is the second-largest iron ore producer in the world. The International Hydrographic Organization designates the body of water south of the continent as part of the Indian Ocean, the total length of the states eastern border is 1,862 km. There are 20,781 km of coastline, including 7,892 km of island coastline, the total land area occupied by the state is 2.5 million km2. Most of the state is a low plateau with an elevation of about 400 metres, very low relief. This descends relatively sharply to the plains, in some cases forming a sharp escarpment. The extreme age of the landscape has meant that the soils are remarkably infertile, even soils derived from granitic bedrock contain an order of magnitude less available phosphorus and only half as much nitrogen as soils in comparable climates in other continents. Soils derived from extensive sandplains or ironstone are even less fertile, nearly devoid of soluble phosphate and also deficient in zinc, copper, molybdenum, the infertility of most of the soils has required heavy application by farmers of chemical fertilisers, particularly superphosphate, insecticides and herbicides. These have resulted in damage to invertebrate and bacterial populations, the grazing and use of hoofed mammals and, later, heavy machinery through the years have resulted in compaction of soils and great damage to the fragile soils. Large-scale land clearing for agriculture has damaged habitats for native flora, large areas of the states wheatbelt region have problems with dryland salinity and the loss of fresh water. The southwest coastal area has a Mediterranean climate and it was originally heavily forested, including large stands of karri, one of the tallest trees in the world. This agricultural region is one of the nine most bio-diverse terrestrial habitats, thanks to the offshore Leeuwin Current, the area is one of the top six regions for marine biodiversity and contains the most southerly coral reefs in the world
4.
Queensland
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Queensland is the second-largest and third-most-populous state in the Commonwealth of Australia. Situated in the north-east of the country, it is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west, to the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean. Queensland has a population of 4,750,500, concentrated along the coast, the state is the worlds sixth largest sub-national entity, with an area of 1,852,642 km2. The capital and largest city in the state is Brisbane, Australias third largest city, often referred to as the Sunshine State, Queensland is home to 10 of Australias 30 largest cities and is the nations third largest economy. Tourism in the state, fuelled largely by its tropical climate, is a major industry. Queensland was first inhabited by Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders, the first European to land in Queensland was Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon in 1606, who explored the west coast of the Cape York Peninsula near present-day Weipa. In 1770, Lieutenant James Cook claimed the east coast of Australia for the Kingdom of Great Britain. The colony of New South Wales was founded in 1788 by Governor Arthur Phillip at Sydney, New South Wales at that time included all of what is now Queensland, Queensland was explored in subsequent decades until the establishment of a penal colony at Brisbane in 1824 by John Oxley. Penal transportation ceased in 1839 and free settlement was allowed from 1842, the state was named in honour of Queen Victoria, who on 6 June 1859 signed Letters Patent separating the colony from New South Wales. The 6th of June is now celebrated statewide as Queensland Day. Queensland achieved statehood with the Federation of Australia on 1 January 1901, the history of Queensland spans thousands of years, encompassing both a lengthy indigenous presence, as well as the eventful times of post-European settlement. The north-eastern Australian region was explored by Dutch, Spanish and French navigators before being encountered by Lieutenant James Cook in 1770, the Australian Labor Party has its origin as a formal organisation in Queensland and the town of Barcaldine is the symbolic birthplace of the party. June 2009 marked the 150th anniversary of its creation as a colony from New South Wales. The Aboriginal occupation of Queensland is thought to predate 50,000 BC, likely via boat or land bridge across Torres Strait, during the last ice age Queenslands landscape became more arid and largely desolate, making food and other supplies scarce. This led to the worlds first seed-grinding technology, warming again made the land hospitable, which brought high rainfall along the eastern coast, stimulating the growth of the states tropical rainforests. In February 1606, Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon landed near the site of what is now Weipa and this was the first recorded landing of a European in Australia, and it also marked the first reported contact between European and Aboriginal Australian people. The region was explored by French and Spanish explorers prior to the arrival of Lieutenant James Cook in 1770. Cook claimed the east coast under instruction from King George III of the United Kingdom on 22 August 1770 at Possession Island, naming Eastern Australia, including Queensland, the Aboriginal population declined significantly after a smallpox epidemic during the late 18th century
5.
Station (Australian agriculture)
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In Australia, a station is a large landholding used for producing livestock, predominantly cattle or sheep, that need an extensive range of grazing land. It corresponds to American ranches that operate under the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934 on public lands, the owner of a station is called a pastoralist or a grazier. Originally station referred to the homestead – the owners house and associated outbuildings of a pastoral property, stations in Australia are on Crown land pastoral leases, and are known colloquially as sheep stations or cattle stations as most are stock specific, dependent upon the country and rainfall. The operators or owners are known as pastoralists. Sheep and cattle stations can be thousands of kilometres in area. Anna Creek Station in South Australia is the worlds largest working cattle station, because of the extended distances, there is a School of the Air so that children can attend classes from their homes, originally using pedal powered radios to communicate with the teachers. The larger stations have their own school and teacher to educate the children on the station until at least they commence high school, large isolated stations have their own stores to supply workers with their needs. A station hand is an employee, who is involved in duties on a station. Some stations are in areas that are not easy to access. Accommodation for couples and families may be limited, consequently, many station employees are young and temporary. An important example is the jackaroo or jillaroo, a person who works on a station for several years in a form of apprenticeship. Aborigines have played a big part in the cattle industry where they were competent stockmen on the cattle stations. Nowadays staff on these stations may work in the homestead and in stock camps, stockmen, especially ringers, may be seasonal employees. Others include boremen, managers, mechanics, machinery operators, station and camp cooks, veterinary surgeons also fly to some of the more distant cattle and sheep stations. The long-running television drama McLeods Daughters is set on an Australian cattle station, the film Australia was set on a fictional station Faraway Downs, but parts were filmed on Home Valley Station. Jeannie Gunn arrived at Elsey Station in 1902, leaving after her husband died, Elsey also featured in the 1946 film The Overlanders, the crew set up camp on the property for a month. The river crossing sequence was shot at the Roper River, pastoral lease List of ranches and stations § Australia List of the largest stations in Australia Outstation Station Media related to Sheep and cattle stations in Australia at Wikimedia Commons
6.
Indigenous Australians
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Indigenous Australians are the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia, descended from groups that existed in Australia and surrounding islands prior to European colonisation. In present-day Australia these groups are divided into local communities. At the time of initial European settlement, over 250 languages were spoken, it is estimated that 120 to 145 of these remain in use. Aboriginal people today mostly speak English, with Aboriginal phrases and words being added to create Australian Aboriginal English, a population collapse following European settlement, and a smallpox epidemic spreading three years after the arrival of Europeans may have caused a massive and early depopulation. Since 1995, the Australian Aboriginal Flag and the Torres Strait Islander Flag have been among the flags of Australia. The word aboriginal has been in the English language since at least the 16th century, to mean, first or earliest known and it comes from the Latin word aborigines, derived from ab and origo. The word was used in Australia to describe its indigenous peoples as early as 1789 and it soon became capitalised and employed as the common name to refer to all Indigenous Australians. Strictly speaking, Aborigine is the noun and Aboriginal the adjectival form, however, use of either Aborigine or Aboriginal to refer to individuals has acquired negative connotations in some sectors of the community, and it is generally regarded as insensitive and even offensive. The more acceptable and correct expression is Aboriginal Australians or Aboriginal people, the term Indigenous Australians, which also includes Torres Strait Islander peoples, has found increasing acceptance, particularly since the 1980s. The broad term Aboriginal Australians includes many groups that often identify under names from local Indigenous languages. Anindilyakwa on Groote Eylandt off Arnhem Land, Palawah in Tasmania and these larger groups may be further subdivided, for example, Anangu recognises localised subdivisions such as Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara, Ngaanyatjarra, Luritja and Antikirinya. It is estimated that prior to the arrival of British settlers, the Torres Strait Islanders possess a heritage and cultural history distinct from Aboriginal traditions. The eastern Torres Strait Islanders in particular are related to the Papuan peoples of New Guinea, accordingly, they are not generally included under the designation Aboriginal Australians. This has been another factor in the promotion of the inclusive term Indigenous Australians. Six percent of Indigenous Australians identify themselves fully as Torres Strait Islanders, a further 4% of Indigenous Australians identify themselves as having both Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal heritage. The Torres Strait Islands comprise over 100 islands which were annexed by Queensland in 1879, eddie Mabo was from Mer or Murray Island in the Torres Strait, which the famous Mabo decision of 1992 involved. The term blacks has been used to refer to Indigenous Australians since European settlement, while originally related to skin colour, the term is used today to indicate Aboriginal heritage or culture in general and refers to people of any skin pigmentation. In the 1970s, many Aboriginal activists, such as Gary Foley, proudly embraced the term black, the book included interviews with several members of the Aboriginal community including Robert Jabanungga reflecting on contemporary Aboriginal culture
7.
Unincorporated area
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Occasionally, municipalities dissolve or disincorporate, which may happen if they become fiscally insolvent, and services become the responsibility of a higher administration. In some countries, such as in Brazil, Japan, France or the United Kingdom, unlike many other countries, Australia has only one level of local government immediately beneath state and territorial governments. A local government area often contains several towns and even entire cities, thus, aside from very sparsely populated areas and a few other special cases, almost all of Australia is part of an LGA. Unincorporated areas are often in locations, cover vast areas or have very small populations. Postal addresses in unincorporated areas, as in parts of Australia. Thus, there is any ambiguity regarding addresses in unincorporated areas. The Australian Capital Territory has no municipalities and is in some sense an unincorporated area, the territorial government is directly responsible for matters normally carried out by local government. The far west and north of New South Wales constitutes the Unincorporated Far West Region, a civil servant in the state capital manages such matters as are necessary. The second unincorporated area of state is Lord Howe Island. In the Northern Territory,1. 45% of the area and 4. In South Australia, 60% of the area is unincorporated and communities located within can receive services provided by a state agency. Firstly, the remote area that is unincorporated is the Abrolhos Islands. Secondly, the unincorporated areas are A-class reserves either in, or close to. In Canada, depending on the province, a settlement is one that does not have a municipal council that governs solely over the settlement. It is usually, but not always, part of a municipal government. This can range from hamlets to large urbanized areas that are similar in size to towns. In British Columbia, unincorporated settlements lie outside municipal boundaries entirely, Unincorporated settlements with a population of between 100 and 1,000 residents may have the status of designated place in Canadian census data. In some provinces, large tracts of undeveloped wilderness or rural country are unorganized areas that fall directly under the provincial jurisdiction
8.
Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
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The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory is the only house of the Parliament of the Northern Territory, Australia. The Legislative Assembly has 25 members each elected for single-member electorates, the voting method changed in February 2016 from full-preferential voting to optional preferential voting. The last election for the Legislative Assembly was the 2016 election held on 27 August 2016, the next election is scheduled for 22 August 2020. Voting is compulsory for all those over 18 years of age, since 2004, elections have been conducted by the Northern Territory Electoral Commission, which also organises regular electoral redistributions. The federal government retains control of certain areas, including Aboriginal land, industrial relations, national parks. For inter-governmental financial purposes the Northern Territory has been regarded by the Commonwealth as a State since 1 July 1988, all questions arising in the Assembly are determined by a majority of votes and the Speaker, or other member presiding, is also entitled to vote. Where there is an equality of votes the Speaker, or other member presiding, under Australian constitutional practice, assent is usually a formality. The federal government also retains power to legislate for the Territory in all matters, the party or coalition with the most seats in the Assembly is invited by the Administrator to form government. The leader of that party becomes the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory. As Australian political parties traditionally vote along party lines, most legislation introduced by the party commanding a majority will pass through the Legislative Assembly. The Northern Territory Legislative Assembly was created in 1974 by the Northern Territory Act 1974, an act of the Australian federal parliament, the Legislative Assembly consisted of 19 fully elected members, but initially lacked significant powers, until limited self-government was granted in 1978. For the 1983 election, the number of members was increased to 25, in 2001, the Australian Labor Party won a one-seat majority, and Clare Martin became the Territorys first Labor and first female chief minister. Labor lost its majority when Marion Scrymgour went to the cross-benches as an independent and she re-joined the party after Alison Anderson left the party to sit as an independent. Anderson joined the CLP in September 2011, the 2012 election resulted in the return of the CLP under Terry Mills with 16 seats to the ALPs 8. Mills resigned in 2013 and Adam Giles became CLP leader, the CLP was reduced to a one-seat majority in 2014 when three CLP members defected to join the Palmer United Party. One defector later rejoined the CLP, after further defections, CLP numbers fell to minority government status in July 2015. The 2016 election saw a landslide CLP defeat which brought Labor to power led by Chief Minister Michael Gunner, the position of Speaker of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly has been held by CLP-turned-independent MP Kezia Purick since 23 October 2012. Despite Labors massive majority following the 2016 election, the incoming Labor government re-appointed Purick as Speaker, Chan Contemporary Artspace is an exhibition gallery located in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
9.
Northern Territory Police
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The Northern Territory Police is the police body that has legal jurisdiction over the Northern Territory of Australia. This police service has 1302 gazetted police positions made up of 55 senior sergeants,200 sergeants,741 constables,159 auxiliaries, the rest of the positions are members of commissioned rank and 10 inoperative positions. It also has a staff of 297 across 48 stations. Police in the Northern Territory are part of a Tri-Service, the Northern Territory Police, Fire, sworn police can be recruited in two divisions, police constables and police auxiliaries. The Northern Territory Police traces its roots back to the South Australian Mounted Police from 1870 when Inspector Paul Foelsche, a small rural constabulary had existed earlier but was disbanded. The Native Police Corps was formed in 1884 and their role was mostly as a security force to protect the early inhabitants of the Northern Territory than as a police force. The current NTP came into existence in 1911, in December 1869, the governor commissioned Paul Foelsche, a Corporal in the SA Mounted Police stationed at Strathalbyn, to be the first sub-inspector of police at Palmerston. He sailed for Darwin soon afterwards, the police uniform then worn in the Territory was the same as that worn in South Australia. It consisted of a short cut-away blue serge tunic with nine regulation buttons, silver twisted cord shoulder knots, black braid on the sleeves, the riding breeches were dark blue corkscrew serge with a white stripe. The first firearms were a Schneider rifle or carbine, calibre.577 and these were the first breech loaded rifles used in the British Army, and the original cartridges had a cardboard case. Later Martini-Henry rifles were used, and Webley revolvers were issued, like their predecessors, the Rural Constabulary at Escape Cliffs, the first detachment of police at Palmerston had as their first responsibility the maintenance of law and order in the community. With the discovery of gold near Pine Creek in 1872 the police themselves with never a dull moment. Stations were established at Adelaide River, Yam Creek, Pine Creek, the first police fatality occurred in 1872 when Mounted Constable Davis, a noted swimmer, disobeyed a local Standing Order and had a dip in the sea. He was killed by a crocodile, darwin’s first police station was constructed of poles and plaster measuring 20 ft by 12 ft. The inspector lived nearby in three rooms, a small stone building with two cells was the accommodation for those in custody. These are now incorporated in the Administrator’s offices on the Esplanade, in Central Australia the police were part of the South Australian Mounted Police. Mounted Constable Shirley was the first mounted trooper in charge at Alice Springs, at one time there were two Commissioners of Police in the Northern Territory, one for the Territory of North Australia and one for the Territory of Central Australia. In 1931, the two Territories became the Northern Territory of Australia and the authority of the Commissioner of Police was vested in the Administrator of the Northern Territory, events connected with search and rescue operations at sea, in swamps and the desert have also made the news
10.
Darwin, Northern Territory
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Darwin /ˈdɑːrwᵻn/ is the capital city of the Northern Territory of Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin is the largest city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory and it is the smallest and most northerly of the Australian capital cities, and acts as the Top Ends regional centre. Darwins proximity to South East Asia makes it a link between Australia and countries such as Indonesia and East Timor, the Stuart Highway begins in Darwin, ending at Port Augusta in South Australia. The city itself is built on a low bluff overlooking the harbour and its suburbs spread out over some area, beginning at Lee Point in the north and stretching to Berrimah in the east. Past Berrimah, the Stuart Highway goes on to Darwins satellite city, Palmerston, the Darwin region, like the rest of the Top End, has a tropical climate, with a wet and a dry season. Prone to cyclone activity during the wet season, Darwin experiences heavy monsoonal downpours, during the dry season, the city is met with blue skies and gentle sea breezes from the harbour. The greater Darwin area is the home of the Larrakia people. On 9 September 1839, HMS Beagle sailed into Darwin harbour during its surveying of the area, John Clements Wickham named the region Port Darwin in honour of their former shipmate Charles Darwin, who had sailed with them on the ships previous voyage which had ended in October 1836. The settlement there became the town of Palmerston in 1869, and was renamed Darwin in 1911. The city has been almost entirely rebuilt four times, following devastation caused by the 1897 cyclone, the 1937 cyclone, Japanese air raids during World War II, the Aboriginal people of the Larrakia language group are the traditional custodians and the first inhabitants of the greater Darwin area. They had trading routes with Southeast Asia, and imported goods from as far afield as South, established songlines penetrated throughout the country, allowing stories and histories to be told and retold along the routes. The extent of shared songlines and history of multiple groups within this area is still contestable. The Dutch visited Australias northern coastline in the 1600s and landed on the Tiwi Islands only to be repelled by the Tiwi peoples, the Dutch created the first European maps of the area. This accounts for the Dutch names in the area, such as Arnhem Land, the first British person to see Darwin harbour appears to have been Lieutenant John Lort Stokes of HMS Beagle on 9 September 1839. The ships captain, Commander John Clements Wickham, named the port after Charles Darwin, in 1863, the Northern Territory was tranferred from New South Wales to South Australia. In 1864 South Australia sent B. T. Finniss north as Government Resident to survey, Finniss chose a site at Escape Cliffs, near the entrance to Adelaide River, about 60 km northeast of the modern city. This attempt was short-lived, however, and the settlement abandoned by 1865, on 5 February 1869, George Goyder, the Surveyor-General of South Australia, established a small settlement of 135 people at Port Darwin between Fort Hill and the escarpment. Goyder named the settlement Palmerston, after the British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston, in 1870, the first poles for the Overland Telegraph were erected in Darwin, connecting Australia to the rest of the world
11.
Katherine, Northern Territory
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Katherine is a town in Northern Territory, Australia. It is situated on the Katherine River below the Top End,320 kilometres southeast of Darwin and it is the fourth largest settlement in the Territory. Katherine had an population of 6,094 on the 2011 Census night. In the 2011 census, the base had a population of 742, with 27. 6% of the workforce engaged in employment outside of defence. The region is known to experience flooding during the wet season. The first inhabitants of the area were Indigenous Australian tribes, specifically the Dagoman people, Jawoyn people and it was important meeting place for these tribes and remains a place of convergence. Today the Walpiri People from the Victoria River District and Tamani Desert areas now have a community based at Katherine East. Explorer John McDouall Stuart passed through the area in 1862 on his third journey across the continent from north to south. On 4 July 1862, Stuart crossed the Katherine River and recorded in his diary, Came upon another large creek, having a running stream to the south of west and this I have named Katherine, in honour of the second daughter of pastoralist James Chambers Esq. There is some conjecture over Stuarts accuracy, chamberss wifes name was Katherine but, according to most sources, his daughters name was Catherine. Katherine benefited from the proximity to gold fields including Pine Creek 90 kilometres to the north. Gold was discovered 50 kilometres to the north in 1889 at Mount Todd, the North Australia Railway was extended to Katherine with construction beginning in 1923 of the Katherine railway bridge. During construction of the railway, the centre was relocated to the eastern side of the river. The bridge was completed in 1926 and the first train crossed on 21 January 1926, on 15 July 1926, the towns present site was gazetted. During World War II, the Australian Army set up two hospitals around Katherine, the 101st Australian General Hospital and 121st Australian General Hospital, the army also set up a Katherine Area Headquarters. On 22 March 1942, Katherine sustained its only air raid during World War II, one man was killed when a Japanese aircraft bombed the town. The river flooded the town in 1957 and 1974, on Australia Day in 1998 a major flood devastated the town, and the area was declared a national disaster. The flood resulted from the 300–400 mm of rainwater brought by Cyclone Les that caused the already full Katherine River to peak at 20.4 metres, the floodwaters inundated the town and much of the surrounding region, requiring the evacuation of many residents
12.
Palmerston, Northern Territory
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Palmerston is a planned satellite city of Darwin, the capital and largest city in Australias Northern Territory. Palmerston is situated near Darwin Harbour and had a population of 27,618 at the 2011 census, Palmerston is currently the fastest growing city in the Northern Territory and has briefly in the past held the title of the fastest growing city in Australia. There are eighteen suburbs in Palmerston, ten of which are close to the Palmerston city centre, Palmerston is mostly residential with two light industrial areas in the north of the city. Like the rest of the Top End, Palmerston has a climate, with a wet season. It receives heavy rainfall during the Wet, and is known for its spectacular lightning. The town was officially renamed Darwin in April 1911 after responsibility for the Northern Territory passed to the Commonwealth of Australia and was gazetted as the City of Darwin in 1959. The land for a new city of Darwin was acquired in 1971 by the Australian government after concerns of under-supply of residential land in Darwin. The site was selected as the land was adjacent to existing transportation corridors, the decision to proceed with the development was made in 1980 and for the third time, the name of Palmerston was selected for the new city. Planning and development was managed by the Palmerston Development Authority, Development of Palmerston began during the early 1980s. Suburbs of Palmerston were built in stages, the first suburbs built were Gray and Driver, followed by Moulden, then Woodroffe and Marlow Lagoon. The urban area continued to grow throughout the 1990s, with the new suburbs of Bakewell, Rosebery, the population growth of Palmerston continues to be the highest in the Northern Territory. The population increased by almost 8,000 people between 1991 and 2001 to a total of 21,000 people, Palmerstons population growth is expected to continue and reach over 40,000 people in the next 10 –15 years. It was initially anticipated that Palmerston would house 50,000 residents, since 1995/1996 the construction commenced on 5 new Palmerston suburbs, Rosebery, Bakewell, Durack, Gunn, and Farrar. These were developed in stages with only the stages of new Palmerston suburbs yet to begin. In 2000 the Palmerston Town Council sought and obtained a change in the name of the municipality to City of Palmerston. Palmerston is approximately a 15-minute drive away from the Darwin city centre, 15–18 minutes from Darwins Northern suburbs and 10 –20 minutes from Howard Springs, the major land-mark in Palmerston is the Power and Water Corporations water storage tank, which supplies the city with fresh potable water. The urban area of Palmerston extends from the Stuart Highway in the north, the city itself is located in the centre, with the outer rural area proposed for development as the population grows. Palmerston like Darwin has a climate, with a wet season
