Mataranka is a town and 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 ...

of Australia located about 420 km (260 mi.) southeast of the territory capital of Darwin, and 107 km (66 mi.) south of

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 ...

. At the 2016 census, Mataranka recorded a population of 350. 29.5% of residents are Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. The town is located near

Roper River The Roper River is a large perennial river located in the Katherine region of the Northern Territory of Australia. Location and features Formed by the confluence of the Waterhouse River and Roper Creek, the Roper River rises east of Mataranka ...

and Mataranka Hot Springs. This area is the setting for Jeannie Gunn's autobiographical account of the year 1902, '' We of the Never Never''. The homestead, which she shared with her husband, Aeneas Gunn, until his death, has been reconstructed near to the hot springs. The Mataranka Station is part of the Katherine Rural College of

Charles Darwin University Charles Darwin University (CDU) is an Australian public university with two campuses in Darwin and six satellite campuses in metropolitan and regional areas of the Northern Territory. It was established in 2003 after the merger of Northern Ter ...

History

Establishment

The name Mataranka means "home of the snake" in the Yangmanic language of the Aboriginal people who inhabit the area. The name was given to a sheep farm around 1915 by

John A. Gilruth John Anderson Gilruth (17 February 1871 – 4 March 1937) was a Scottish-Australian veterinary scientist and administrator. He is particularly noted for being Administrator of the Northern Territory from 1912 to 1918, when he was recalled afte ...

, who was the

Administrator of the Northern Territory The administrator of the Northern Territory is an official appointed by the governor-general of Australia to represent the Crown in right of the Northern Territory. They perform functions similar to those of a state governor. Strictly speaking ...

at that time. The town of Mataranka was first

gazetted A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers ...

on 24 May 1928 after the arrival of the North Australia Railway. The locality of Mataranka, which include the town and surrounding land were re-gazetted on 4 April 2007.

World War II

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 ...

set up No. 42 Australian Camp Hospital near Mataranka. The 10th Australian Advanced Ordnance workshops camped in buildings made from paper bark trees and serviced wrecked and damaged vehicles. An ammunition depot was also in the locality. These depots were served by railway sidings off the main line. It was also home to a 'Native labour gang' with a large control camp established in the town; these are now sometimes referred to as the 'Aboriginal labour force' in recognition of the offensiveness of the original name given. The army, through the Native Affairs Branch, employed Aboriginal men to perform key roles throughout the Northern Territory and these gangs completed many large scale infrastructure projects and were instrumental to the war effort. In 1943 200 Aboriginal labourers were employed through this scheme and based at Mataranka; many of these men were working on railway gangs.

Railways

Mataranka was served by the original narrow gauge railway that closed in 1976 after cyclone damage. The new standard gauge

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

opened in 2003. It passes about 20 km to the west of the town.

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20140528073257/http://www.auinfo.com/mataranka-Northern-Territory.html * http://www.smh.com.au/news/Northern-Territory/Mataranka/2005/02/17/1108500201643.html * http://www.wilmap.com.au/nt/nttowns/mataranka.html
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