1.
New South Wales
–
New South Wales is a state on the east coast of Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south and it has a coast line with the Tasman Sea on its east side. The Australian Capital Territory is an enclave within the state, New South Wales state capital is Sydney, which is also Australias most populous city. In March 2014, the population of New South Wales was 7.5 million. Just under two-thirds of the population,4.67 million. Inhabitants of New South Wales are referred to as New South Welshmen, the Colony of New South Wales was founded as a penal colony in 1788. It originally comprised a more than half of the Australian mainland with its western boundary set at 129th meridian east in 1825, in addition, the colony also included the island territories of New Zealand, Van Diemens Land, Lord Howe Island, and Norfolk Island. During the 19th century, most of the area was detached to form separate British colonies that eventually became New Zealand. However, the Swan River Colony has never administered as part of New South Wales. Lord Howe Island remains part of New South Wales, while Norfolk Island has become a federal Territory, as have the now known as the Australian Capital Territory. The prior inhabitants of New South Wales were the Aboriginal tribes who arrived in Australia about 40,000 to 60,000 years ago, before European settlement there were an estimated 250,000 Aboriginal people in the region. The Wodi Wodi people are the custodians of the Illawarra region of South Sydney. The Bundjalung people are the custodians of parts of the northern coastal areas. The European discovery of New South Wales was made by Captain James Cook during his 1770 survey along the eastern coast of the Dutch-named continent of New Holland. In his original journal covering the survey, in triplicate to satisfy Admiralty Orders, Cook first named the land New Wales, however, in the copy held by the Admiralty, he revised the wording to New South Wales. After years of chaos and anarchy after the overthrow of Governor William Bligh, macquaries legacy is still evident today. During the 19th century, large areas were separated to form the British colonies of Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria. Responsible government was granted to the New South Wales colony in 1855, following the Treaty of Waitangi, William Hobson declared British sovereignty over New Zealand in 1840
2.
City of Sydney
–
The City of Sydney is the local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. On 6 February 2004, the local government area of the City of South Sydney was formally merged into the City of Sydney. The leader of the City of Sydney holds the title of the Lord Mayor of Sydney, the current Lord Mayor is Councillor Clover Moore who has been in office since 27 March 2004. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 1. 3% of the population, the median age of people in the City of Sydney was 32 years. Children aged 0 –14 years made up 7. 1% of the population and people aged 65 years, of people in the area aged 15 years and over,25. 5% were married and 10. 1% were either divorced or separated. Population growth in the City of Sydney between the 2001 Census and the 2006 Census was 3. 31%, and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 Census, population growth was 4. 57%. The median weekly income for residents within the City of Sydney was more than 1.5 times the national average. The proportion of dwellings in the City of Sydney that are apartments or units is 73. 6%, the proportion of residents in the Sydney local government area that claimed Australian ancestry was approximately half the national average. ^a 1996 Census figures refer to the City of Sydney prior to its merger with the City of South Sydney, in 1972 the Council had prepared the City of Sydney Strategic Plan, only the second city to prepare a comprehensive assessment and plan of major issues for the future. With triennial reviews, this development of the City for twenty years. A1987 Liberal re-organisation saw Sydney Council split, with southern suburbs forming a new South Sydney Council and this was thought to advantage the Liberal government of the day, as the southern suburbs had traditionally voted Labor. In 2004, the Labor State Government undid this change, again merging the councils of the City of Sydney, critics claimed that this was performed with the intention of creating a super-council which would be under the control of Labor, which also controlled the State Government. Critics of the claimed that this was a result of a voter backlash against the party for attempting to create the super-council. The daily administration of the City of Sydney is performed by its General Manager, currently Monica Barone, Sydney City Council is composed of ten Councillors, including the Lord Mayor, for a fixed four-year term of office. The Lord Mayor is directly elected while the nine other Councillors are elected proportionally. On 26 January 1788, he named it after Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney, who was the secretary at the time. The City of Sydney was established on 20 July 1842 by the Corporation Act which encompasses present-day Woolloomooloo, Surry Hills, Chippendale and Pyrmont, there were six wards established by boundary posts. A boundary post still exists in front of Sydney Square, the boundaries of the City of Sydney have changed fairly regularly since 1900
3.
Parramatta
–
Parramatta is a suburb of Sydney, Australia,23 kilometres west of its central business district on the banks of the Parramatta River. Parramatta is the seat of the City of Parramatta, one of four cities within the Sydney metropolitan area. Parramatta, founded by the British in 1788, the year as Sydney, is the oldest inland European settlement in Australia. Since 2000, government agencies such as the New South Wales Police Force, Parramatta is a major business and commercial centre, and home to Westfield Parramatta, the ninth largest shopping centre in Australia. It is colloquially known as Parra, radiocarbon dating suggests human activity occurred in Parramatta from around 30,000 years ago. The Darug people who lived in the area before European settlement regarded the area as rich in food from the river, the Parramatta Eels Rugby League club chose their symbol as a result of this phenomenon. Parramatta was founded in 1788, the year as Sydney. As such, Parramatta is the second oldest city in Australia, during 1788, Governor Arthur Phillip had reconnoitred several places before choosing Parramatta as the most likely place for a successful large farm. Parramatta was the furthest navigable point inland on the Parramatta River and also the point at which the river became freshwater, as a settlement developed, Governor Phillip gave it the name Rose Hill after George Rose, Secretary for the British Treasury. In 1791 he changed the name to Parramatta, approximating the term used by the local Aboriginal people, a neighbouring suburb acquired the name Rose Hill. In an attempt to deal with the crisis, Phillip in 1789 granted a convict named James Ruse the land of Experiment Farm at Parramatta on the condition that he develop a viable agriculture. There, Ruse became the first person to grow grain in Australia. The Parramatta area was also the site of the pioneering of the Australian wool industry by John Macarthurs Elizabeth Farm in the 1790s, Philip Gidley Kings account of his visit to Parramatta on 9 April 1790 is one of the earliest descriptions of the area. Walking four miles with Governor Phillip to Prospect he saw undulating grassland interspersed with magnificent trees, Governor Arthur Phillip built a small house for himself on the hill of The Crescent. It was used as a retreat by Governors until the 1850s, the house, Old Government House, is currently a historic site and museum within Parramatta Park and is Australias oldest surviving public building. In 1803, another incident occurred in Parramatta, involving a convicted criminal named Joseph Samuel. Samuel was convicted of murder and sentenced to death by hanging, in the second attempt, the noose slipped off his neck. In the third attempt, the new rope broke, Governor King was summoned and pardoned Samuel, as the incident appeared to him to be divine intervention
4.
Penrith, New South Wales
–
Penrith is a suburb and major centre in the metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located in Greater Western Sydney 50 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district on the banks of the Nepean River, Penrith is the administrative seat of the local government area of the City of Penrith. It is also acknowledged on the register of the Geographical Names Board of New South Wales as one of four cities within the Sydney metropolitan area. Penrith was named after the town of Penrith in Cumbria, England, the name is of Cumbric origin, a Celtic language of northern Britain related to Welsh. Pen is Cumbric and Welsh for Head or Chief and the Cumbric Rid means Ford giving the name Chief Ford or Hill Ford, how it got the name is unclear. One theory is that in the days, development in Penrith was entirely on one road, like the English Penrith. The earliest known reference to the name Penrith dates back to 1819. Prior to the arrival of the Europeans, the Penrith area was home to the Mulgoa tribe of the Darug people. They lived in huts called gunyahs, hunted native animals such as kangaroos, fished in the Nepean River. They lived under a system of Law which had its origins in the Dreamtime. Most of the Mulgoa were killed by smallpox or galgala shortly after the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, early British explorers such as Watkin Tench described them as friendly, saying, they bade us adieu, in unabated friendship and good humour. Watkin Tench was the first British explorer to visit the area in 1789 and named the Nepean River after Lord Evan Nepean, under-secretary to the home department. Governor King began granting land in the area to settlers in 1804 with Captain Daniel Woodriffs 1,000 acres on the banks of the river the first land grant in the area. In 1814, William Cox constructed a road across the Blue Mountains which passed through Woodriffs land at Penrith, initial settlement in the area was unplanned but substantial enough for a courthouse to be established in 1817. The post office was established in 1828, the Anglican church, St Stephens, was opened and consecrated 16 July 1839 followed by the Catholic Church, St Nicholas of Myra, in 1850. In 1824, Sir John erected the colonys finest Georgian mansion, Regentville House, near Penrith, Sir John established an impressive agricultural estate at Regentville and became a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council. His grave can be seen in St Stephens graveyard, Regentville House burned down in 1868 but most of its stonework was salvaged and used for building projects in and around Penrith. Another well-known early settler was Thomas Frost who arrived from Buckinghamshire in 1810 and his wife Sarah had been baptised by Samuel Marsden and her brother, Robert Rope, was reputed to be the first European born in Australia
5.
Campbelltown, New South Wales
–
Campbelltown is a suburb and major centre in the metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located in Greater Western Sydney 50 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, Campbelltown is the administrative seat of the local government area of the City of Campbelltown. It is also acknowledged on the register of the Geographical Names Board of New South Wales as one of four cities within the Sydney metropolitan area. Campbelltown gets its name from Elizabeth Campbell, the wife of former Governor of New South Wales Lachlan Macquarie, originally called Campbell-Town, the name was later simplified to the current Campbelltown. The area that later became Campbelltown was inhabited prior to settlement by the Tharawal people. Not long after the arrival of the First Fleet in Sydney in 1788 and they were spotted, however, by the Tharawal people. In a rock art site called Bull Cave near Campbelltown, they drew a number of cattle with pronounced horns, the Tharawal described the cattle to British explorers and in 1795 the British found a herd of around 60 cattle grazing in the area now known as Camden. The colonial administration was keen for the herd to establish itself so forbade killing of the cattle or settlement in the area, but John Macarthur, who wanted to establish sheep in the colony, took a liking to the prime grazing land. He convinced the British government to overrule the local administration and grant him 5,000 acres just south of the Nepean River in 1805, four years later a number of other grants were made to farmers between Camden and Liverpool. The Tharawal initially worked with the farmers but a drought in 1814 led to large numbers of neighbouring Gandangara people moving into the area in search of food. Tensions developed between the British and the Gandangara leading to skirmishes and a number of deaths on each side, Governor Macquarie felt a permanent settlement would lead to order in the area and so Campbell-Town was born in 1820. Development of the town was particularly after the departure of Macquarie. However, it was during this period that Campbelltowns most famous incident occurred, in 1826, local farmer Frederick Fisher disappeared. According to folklore, his ghost appeared sitting on a rail over a creek just south of the town. In memory of the incident, the Fishers Ghost festival is held each November in Campbelltown, Campbelltowns population increased steadily in the decades following. The southern rail line was extended to Campbelltown in 1858, leading to further development, and in 1882, Campbelltown Council was established allowing municipal works to occur in earnest. Campbelltown became the first country town in New South Wales to have piped water in 1888, Campbelltown was designated in the early 1960s as a satellite city by the New South Wales Planning Authority, and a regional capital for the south west of Sydney. There was extensive building and population growth in the intervening time, Campbelltown has a humid subtropical climate with mild to cool winters and warm to hot summers
6.
Newcastle, New South Wales
–
Located 162 kilometres north-northeast of Sydney, at the mouth of the Hunter River, it is the predominant city within the Hunter Region. Famous for its coal, Newcastle is the largest coal exporting harbour in the world, beyond the city, the Hunter Region possesses large coal deposits. Geologically, the area is located in the part of the Sydney basin. Newcastle and the lower Hunter Region were traditionally occupied by the Awabakal and Worimi Aboriginal People, in September 1797 Lieutenant John Shortland became the first European settler to explore the area. His discovery of the area was largely accidental, as he had sent in search of a number of convicts who had seized HMS Cumberland as she was sailing from Sydney Cove. While returning, Lt. Shortland entered what he described as a very fine river. He returned with reports of the port and the areas abundant coal. Over the next two years, coal mined from the area was the New South Wales colonys first export, Newcastle gained a reputation as a hellhole as it was a place where the most dangerous convicts were sent to dig in the coal mines as harsh punishment for their crimes. By the start of the 19th century the mouth of the Hunter River was being visited by groups of men, including coal diggers, timber-cutters. Philip Gidley King, the Governor of New South Wales from 1800, in 1801, a convict camp called Kings Town was established to mine coal and cut timber. In the same year, the first shipment of coal was dispatched to Sydney and this settlement closed less than a year later. A settlement was attempted in 1804, as a place of secondary punishment for unruly convicts. The settlement was named Coal River, also Kingstown and then renamed Newcastle, the new settlement, comprising convicts and a military guard, arrived at the Hunter River on 27 March 1804 in three ships, HMS Lady Nelson, the Resource and the James. The convicts were rebels from the 1804 Castle Hill convict rebellion, Morpeth, New South Wales is a similar distance north of Newcastle as Morpeth, Northumberland is north of Newcastle upon Tyne. Under Captain James Wallis, commandant from 1815 to 1818, the conditions improved. The quality of these first buildings was poor, and only breakwater survives, during this period, in 1816, the oldest public school in Australia was built in East Newcastle. Newcastle remained a settlement until 1822, when the settlement was opened up to farming. As a penal colony, the rule was harsh, especially at Limeburners Bay
7.
Gosford
–
Gosford is a city located on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia, about 76 km north of the Sydney central business district. The city is situated at the extremity of Brisbane Water. The city is the centre of the Central Coast region. Gosford has been designated as an important growth centre under the NSW Metropolitan Strategy, the suburbs population was 3,392 in the 2011 census. Until white settlement, the area around Gosford was inhabited by the Guringai peoples, who were principally coastal-dwellers, along with the other land around the Hawkesbury River estuary, the Brisbane Water district was explored during the early stages of the settlement of New South Wales. In the early 19th century some pioneering European settlers began occupying the land, for timber-cutting, lime production, Gosford itself was explored by Governor Phillip between 1788 and 1789. The area was difficult to access and settlement did not start before 1823, by the late 19th century the agriculture in the region was diversifying, with market gardens and citrus orchards occupying the rich soil left after the timber harvest. The road between Hawkesbury and Brisbane Water was a wheel track even in 1850. Convicts once lived and worked in the Gosford area, in 1825, Gosfords population reached 100, of whom 50% were convicts. East Gosford was the first centre of settlement, Gosford was named in 1839 after Archibald Acheson, 2nd Earl of Gosford – a friend of the then Governor of New South Wales George Gipps. Achesons title derives its name from Gosford, a townland of Markethill in County Armagh in Northern Ireland, in 1887, the rail link to Sydney was completed, requiring a bridge over the Hawkesbury River and a tunnel through the sandstone ridge west of Woy Woy. The introduction of this link and then the Pacific Highway in 1930 accelerated the development of the region. Gosford became a town in 1885 and was declared a municipality in 1886. In the 2011 census, the most common countries of birth of people in Gosford were Australia 63. 6%, England 4. 4%, Mainland China 2. 4%, India 1. 9%, New Zealand 1. 9% and South Korea 1. 1%. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 24. 3%, Catholic 21. 6%, Anglican 18. 0%, Buddhism 3. 4%, Gosford Community News has been published fortnightly by Ducks Crossing Publications since 2010. Express Advocate, News Limited publish a weekly suburban style newspaper in the News Local group. 2GO - part of Southern Cross Austereo Sea FM ABC92.5 CoastFM96.3 StarFM104.5 EVT FM - Chinese radio network Gosford has a subtropical climate with warm summers. In summer, temperatures average about 27-28 °C in the day with high humidity, winters are mild with cool overnight temperatures and mild to occasionally warm daytime temperatures with lower humidity
8.
Wollongong
–
Wollongong, informally referred to as The Gong, is a seaside city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. Wollongong lies on the coastal strip between the Illawarra Escarpment and the Pacific Ocean,82 kilometres south of Sydney. Wollongong had an urban population of 295,842 at June 2016, making it the third largest city in New South Wales after Sydney and Newcastle. The Wollongong metropolitan area extends from Helensburgh in the north to Shell Cove in the south and it has two cathedrals, churches of many denominations and the Nan Tien Temple, the largest Buddhist temple in the southern hemisphere. Wollongong has a history of coalmining and industry. The city attracts tourists each year, and is a regional centre for the South Coast fishing industry. The University of Wollongong has around 37,000 students and is internationally recognised, the name Wollongong is believed to mean seas of the South in the local Aboriginal language, referring to NSWs Southern Coast. Other meanings have been suggested, such as great feast of fish, hard ground near water, song of the sea, sound of the waves, many snakes, the area was originally inhabited by the Dharawal Indigenous Australians. The first Europeans to visit the area were the navigators George Bass and Matthew Flinders, the first settlers in the region were cedar cutters in the early nineteenth century, followed by graziers in 1812. Charles Throsby established a stockmans hut in the area in 1815, the first land grants were made in 1816. In 1830, a barracks was constructed near the harbour. Further settlers arrived and in 1834 a town was planned, on 26 November 1834, the town was first gazetted and George Brown erected the first court house. The main road down the Escarpment through Bulli Pass was built by labour in 1835-6, although other passes were built during the 1800s as well, such as OBriens Road. By 1856 Wollongong had a population of 864, in 1858, a court house was built. In 1861, a tramway from Mount Keira to the harbour was completed. In 1862 a telegraph line was opened between Wollongong and Bellambi, in 1865, the first gas supply in Wollongong was provided from a gas plant in Corrimal Street. In 1868 the extensions to the harbour were opened by Lady Belmore, patrick Lahiff established a coke works at Wollongong Harbour in the 1870s. He erected two beehive ovens between the north eastern end of the basin and Pulpit Rock
9.
Lismore, New South Wales
–
Lismore had an estimated urban population of 29,413 at June 2015. The city of Lismore lies in the Bundjalung peoples nation area, however, the actual area of the Bundjalung people from Evans Head is currently under examination, as well as the actual origin of the name Bundjalung. It has been suggested that the Aboriginal people called the area Tuckurimbah meaning glutton. The European history of the city begins in c. 1843, ward Stephens took up the run in the same year, but the subtropical climate was unsuited for sheep grazing, so it was eventually abandoned. In January 1845, William and Jane Wilson took it over, the Wilsons were Scottish immigrants, who arrived in New South Wales in May 1833. In 1855, the surveyor Frederick Peppercorne was instructed by Sir Thomas Mitchell to determine a site for a township in the area, Peppercorne submitted his map of the proposed village reserve on 16 February 1856. The chosen site was William Wilsons homestead paddock and the area was proclaimed the Town of Lismore in the NSW Government Gazette on 1 May 1856, the township was soon settled and its Post Office was opened on 1 October 1859. Lismore was incorporated as a municipality on 5 March 1879, and was proclaimed a city on 30 August 1946. From the mid-1950s until the early 1960s Lismore hosted an annual Floral Carnival in early September, the week-long programme of events culminated in a street parade of decorated floats, crowning of the Floral Queen and a fireworks display. Lismore and surrounding towns were part of the rainforest referred to as The Big Scrub. A section of this rainforest is viewable in the grounds of the Southern Cross University and at Wilsons Nature Reserve on Wyrallah Road. Lismore is located on the Bruxner Highway and it lies at the confluence of the Wilsons River and Leycester Creek, brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, is 200 kilometres to the north. Lismores central business district is located 35 kilometres from the eastern coast, the coastal town of Ballina is 36 kilometres away. There are a number of rainforest patches in the area, remnants of the Big Scrub and these are preserved today, with a small pocket known as Boatharbour Reserve just east of town on the Bangalow road. The nearest large and publicly accessible national park is Nightcap National Park, Lismore experiences a humid subtropical climate with mild to warm temperatures all year round and ample rainfall. Temperatures in summer range between 20 °C and 35 °C, the subtropical climate combined with geographical features means the urban area is unusually humid when compared with surrounding areas, with humidity levels often reaching 100% in summer. Lismore has 109.6 clear days annually, although no major environmental hazards affect the area, Lismore is renowned for frequent floods. One of the worst of these occurred in 1974, when waters rose to a height of 12.1 metres, in 1954, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh almost became flood-bound by one such inundation when they were staying at the Gollan Hotel
10.
Governor of New South Wales
–
The Governor of New South Wales is the viceregal representative of the Australian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the Governor-General of Australia at the national level, the Governor is appointed by the queen on the advice of the Premier of New South Wales, for an unfixed period of time—known as serving At Her Majestys pleasure—though five years is the norm. The current Governor is retired General David Hurley, who succeeded Dame Marie Bashir on 2 October 2014, the office has its origin in the 18th-century colonial governors of New South Wales upon its settlement in 1788, and is the oldest continuous institution in Australia. The office of Governor is required by the New South Wales Constitution Act,1902, besides the administration of the oaths of office, there is no set formula for the swearing-in of a governor-designate. The sovereign will also hold an audience with the appointee and will at that time induct the governor-designate as a Companion of the Order of Australia. The incumbent will generally serve for at least five years, though this is only a convention. The premier may therefore recommend to the Queen that the remain in her service for a longer period of time. A governor may also resign and three have died in office, furthermore, if the Lieutenant Governor becomes incapacitated while serving in the office of Governor, the next most senior judge of the Supreme Court is sworn in as the Administrator. Between 1788 and 1957, all governors were born outside of New South Wales and were members of the Peerage. Taylor once noted that out and governing New South Wales became the British aristocracys abiding consolation. Coincidentally the first Australian-born Governor, Sir John Northcott on 1 August 1946, was also the first Australian-born Governor of any state, the first Governors were all military officers and the majority of governors since have come from a military background, numbering 19. Samuels was the first governor in New South Wales history without either a political, public service or military background, the first woman to hold this position is also the first Lebanese-Australian governor, Dame Marie Bashir. In this capacity, the governor will issue royal proclamations and sign orders in council, the Governor alone is constitutionally mandated to summon parliament. The governor grants Royal Assent in the Queens name, legally, if the governor withholds the Queens assent, the sovereign may within two years disallow the bill, thereby annulling the law in question. No modern viceroy has denied Royal Assent to a bill, with most constitutional functions delegated to Cabinet, the governor acts in a primarily ceremonial fashion. He or she will host members of Australias royal family, as well as foreign royalty, also as part of international relations, the governor receives letters of credence and of recall from foreign consul-generals appointed to Sydney. The governor is also tasked with fostering unity and pride, the governor also traditionally serves as Honorary and Regimental Colonel in the Royal New South Wales Regiment and as Honorary Air Commodore of No.22 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force. Since 1946, the governor has also always made the Chief Scout of New South Wales
![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small}
