Manbulloo is a locality in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It is located within the Katherine Town Council

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

, approximately south-west of the town

Katherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Ch ...

on the

Victoria Highway The Victoria Highway links the Great Northern Highway in Western Australia with the Stuart Highway in the Northern Territory. The highway is a part of the Perth– Darwin National Highway link. It is signed as National Highway 1, and is par ...

. The locality was officially defined in April 2007, with the name being a corruption of a word meaning "pallid cuckoo" in the

Wardaman language Wardaman is an Australian Aboriginal language isolate. It is one of the northern non-Pama–Nyungan languages. Dagoman and Yangman were either dialects or closely related languages; as a family, these are called Yangmanic. Classification Thoug ...

, and was first settled by Europeans as a pastoral station. Established in 1917 by the North Australia Meat Company to support the operations of Vestey's Meatworks, Manbulloo Station was located close to the recently extended

North Australia Railway The North Australia Railway was a narrow gauge railway in the Northern Territory of Australia which ran from the territory capital of Darwin, once known as Palmerston, to Birdum, just south of Larrimah. Initially its name was the ''Palmerst ...

, allowing direct rail access for livestock to be transported to Vestey's Meatworks in Darwin. The area was the site of Manbulloo Airfield, a

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

base built in 1942 that hosted squadrons of the

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

and

United States Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

. During the war, a field abattoir and fresh food processing camp was also established by the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

at Manbulloo. Today, Manbulloo is a sparsely populated rural locality containing commercial mango plantations and a

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency that is responsible for scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications. CSIRO works with leading organisations arou ...

research station. Much of the land is still occupied by the Manbulloo Station, carrying 20,000 head of cattle. The station was sold to foreign investors in 2019, to be leased back to its current operators. The original riverside homestead now functions as tourist accommodation, with a surrounding

caravan park Caravan or caravans may refer to: Transport and travel * Campervan, a type of vehicle also known as a motor caravan *Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together **Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop * Caravan (tra ...

References

{{Suburbs in Katherine Town Council , state=expanded Populated places in the Northern Territory