Junee () is a medium-sized town in the

Riverina The Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation ...

region of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. The town's prosperity and mixed services economy is based on a combination of agriculture, rail transport, light industry and government services, and in particular correctional services. In 2015 Junee's urban population was 4,762.

Place name

One theory is that word ''Junee'' which originates from the

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

word 'Junee' means "speak to me". Another theory is that it is an

word "Choo-nee" meaning "frog".

History

The

Wiradjuri The Wiradjuri people (; ) are a group of Aboriginal Australian people from central New South Wales, united by common descent through kinship and shared traditions. They survived as skilled hunter-fisher-gatherers, in family groups or clans, a ...

people are the traditional owners of the local area prior to European settlement. Leopold de Salis (1816-1898), pastoralist and later politician was one of the first squatters to open up the Riverina region to grazing. He established the 'Junee' pastoral run in 1845. Leopold held the licence for this run for a total of three years. Other run licencees followed until Thomas Hammond and Richard Gwynne bought the licence in 1857. The Junee run progressively reduced in area as selectors took up land but Hammond lived on it until his death in 1899, the remaining property having been named "Wyoming" in 1887. A post office opened in 1862 and a village called 'Junee' was gazetted in 1863 on the wool road to Sydney. That same year, Ben Hall and his bushranging gang raided the village. Culture and History
/ref> CountryLink XPT 2018 at Junee 01

In 1866 Junee's population was recorded as twelve but the discovery of reef and alluvial gold during the 1860s triggered a gold rush. The main sites- Junee Reefs (to the north), was mined on and off until after World War 1, as well as Wantiool and Eurongilly (to the east) until the 1880s. By 1878 with the southward expansion of the

Main South line The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railway line that runs north and south from Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the South Island to Inv ...

in New South Wales, the main railway line between Sydney and

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

passed 8 kilometres east of the Village. Junee's Post Office was renamed Old Junee in 1885 (

Junee railway station Junee railway station is a heritage-listed railway station located on the Main South line in New South Wales, Australia. It serves the town of Junee in the Junee Shire. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April ...

). Loftus was the original name of the locality being farm land and as the settlers moved in for the rail line it was renamed. Junee Railway Station Post Office opened on 6 July 1878, was renamed Junee Junction in 1881 and later still, Junee in 1893.

Rail and road

The Main South line between Sydney and Melbourne runs through Junee, as does the

Olympic Highway Olympic Highway is a rural road in the central western and south-eastern Riverina regions of New South Wales, Australia. The highway services rural communities and links Hume Highway with Mid-Western Highway and provides part of an alterna ...

, named for the route of the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, wh ...

Torch Relay. The advent of rail transport in 1878 provided the impetus for an economic boom providing local agricultural producers with affordable direct access to markets in Sydney. In 1952 the largest wheat terminal in the Southern Hemisphere was constructed at Junee, adjacent to the South West Railway, providing both rail and road transport. Rail transport makes an important contribution to the local economy with Regional Rail Logistics operating a containerised freight service that delivers various goods from Junee to Sydney, with interstate freight trains also passing through the town. Ray Warren

Local Government

On 1 January 1981, Junee Municipal Council amalgamated with the surrounding "Illabo Shire Council', creating Junee Shire Council. Junee visitors and residents are served by

NSW TrainLink NSW TrainLink is a train and coach operator in Australia, providing services throughout New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, along with limited interstate services into Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. Its primary inter ...

XPT services on their way between Melbourne and Sydney. The local Council maintains an online tourism map includin
local places of interest

Ray Warren statue

On 6 August 2011, a bronze statue of rugby league commentator Ray Warren was erected at Dobbyn Park.

Climate

Junee experiences a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: ''Cfa'', Trewartha: ''Cfak''); with hot summers and cool winters; and experiences moderately low precipitation year-round. The highest temperature recorded at Junee was 46.1 °C (115.0 °F) on 31 January 1968; the lowest recorded was -5.0 °C (23.0 °F) on 1 July 1971 and 6 August 1974 . The average annual rainfall is 527.7 millimetres (20.78 in).

Heritage listings

Junee has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * 119 Lorne Street: Junee Post Office * Main Southern railway:

* The Broadway: Athenium Theatre

Population

According to the

2016 census Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17 *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * ''Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film dir ...

of Population, there were 4,762 people in Junee. * Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 9.4% of the population. * 81.5% of people were born in Australia and 70.9% of people spoke only English at home.

Notable people

Laurie Daley Laurie William Daley AM (born 20 October 1969), also known by the nicknames of "Lozza" and "Loz", is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and a former player who played as a and in the 1980s and 1990s. He represented A ...

, a professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer and

and Australian captain *

Bill Heffernan William Daniel Heffernan (born 3 March 1943), is an Australian former politician who was a Liberal Party member of the Senate representing the state of New South Wales from September 1996 to May 2016. Early life and background Heffernan was b ...

, a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

for New South Wales, representing the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a l ...

* Adam Commens, an Olympian

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

player *

Lawrence Legend Lawrence Legend (born Lawrence Ryan, 28 March 1971 in Junee, New South Wales) is an Australian stunt motorcyclist. Legend obtained his first motorcycle when aged 14 and has since gone on to become a notable stunt performer and world record ...

, a motorcycle stuntman * Ray Warren, sports commentator * Bernie Fraser, former governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia

Communications

Junee Post Office on Lorne Street in Junee

Junee is served by:
Junee Southern Cross
newspaper * Radio 1RPH transmitter (99.5FM)

References

External links

Junee Shire Council

Junee -VisitNSW.com
{{authority control Towns in the Riverina Towns in New South Wales Junee Shire Junee, New South Wales