Numurkah ( ) is a town in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

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 ...

, located on the

Goulburn Valley Highway Goulburn Valley Highway is a highway located in Victoria, Australia, linking Tocumwal on the Murray River through North Central Victoria to Eildon. The section north of the Hume Freeway (part of which is Goulburn Valley Freeway) is part of the ...

, north of

Shepparton Shepparton () (Yorta Yorta language, Yortayorta: ''Kanny-goopna'') is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River (Victoria), Goulburn River in northern Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, approximately north-northeast of Mel ...

, in the

Shire of Moira Moira Shire Council is a Local Government Area in the Northern Victoria Region of Victoria, Australia. Located in the north-east part of the state, it covers an area of . As at August 2021 the population was 30,522. It includes the towns of C ...

. At the , Numurkah had a population of 4,768.

History

The area was occupied by the

Yorta Yorta people The Yorta Yorta, also known as Jotijota, are an Aboriginal Australian people who have traditionally inhabited the area surrounding the junction of the Goulburn and Murray Rivers in present-day north-eastern Victoria and southern New South Wale ...

prior to European settlement. Squatters moved into the area from NSW in the late 1830s. After the pastoral runs were made available for farm selection, the township of Numurkah was surveyed in 1875, the Post Office opening 2 November 1878. The local railway station was opened on the Goulburn Valley railway in 1881, but has not seen any passenger services since 1993 when the train to Cobram was withdrawn. The station building remains in private ownership, and a footbridge crosses the line. Numurkah became the headquarters of the Murray Valley Soldier Settlement Area - one of the largest soldier settlements in Australia - after World War I. Under this scheme 700 ex-servicemen were given land to develop for agriculture. The name is thought to be derived from an Aboriginal word meaning war shield, (2003 facsimile edition). The town hosts an art show in March, a

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

competition in April,

go-kart A go-kart, also written as go-cart (often referred to as simply a kart), is a type of small sports car, close wheeled car, open-wheel car or quadracycle. Go-karts come in all shapes and forms, from non-motorised models to high-performanc ...

championships in September and a car show in December. The Numurkah Magistrates' Court closed on 1 January 1990.

Recreation

The town has an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

team competing in the

Murray Football League The Murray Football Netball League is an Australian rules football and netball league affiliated with the Victorian Country Football League. The league covers a large area of northern Victoria and southern New South Wales from Shepparton in ...

. Golfers play at the course of the Numurkah Golf Club on Tunnock Road. Other popular sports include: Tennis, Lawn Bowls & Boxing. A Gymnasium & Outdoor Swimming Pool are operated during the warmer months.

Biodiversity and natural features

Numurkah is a low lying town located on the floodplain of the

Broken Creek Broken Creek is a creek in northern Victoria, Australia. The creek diverges from Broken River immediately downstream from the former Lake Mokoan (now decommissioned) near Benalla and flows in a north-west direction. The creek passes through ...

. The Broken Creek flows into the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray; Ngarrindjeri language, Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta language, Yorta Yorta: ''Dhungala'' or ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is List of rivers of Australia, Aust ...

just north of the township of

Barmah Barmah is a town in the state of Victoria, Australia. Barmah has the distinction of being located north of the border with the state of New South Wales. New South Wales is north of Victoria, with the border being the westward-flowing Murray Ri ...

. The riparian area adjacent to the creek has a dominant over-storey of ''

Eucalyptus camaldulensis ''Eucalyptus camaldulensis'', commonly known as river red gum, is a flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae, and is Endemism, endemic to Australia. It is a tree with smooth white or cream-coloured bark, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flow ...

'' (''Red Gum''). Above the floodplain tree species include ''

Eucalyptus microcarpa ''Eucalyptus microcarpa'', commonly known as grey box, is a species of tree that is Endemism, endemic to southeastern continental Australia. It has rough, fibrous or flaky bark on the trunk, smooth whitish bark above, lance-shaped adult leaves, ...

'' (Grey Box), ''

Eucalyptus melliodora ''Eucalyptus melliodora'', commonly known as yellow box, honey box or yellow ironbark, is a species of medium-sized to occasionally tall tree that is endemic to south-eastern, continental Australia. It has rough, flaky or fibrous bark on part o ...

'' (Yellow Box) and ''

Callitris glaucophylla ''Callitris'' is a genus of coniferous trees in the Cupressaceae (cypress family). There are 16 recognized species in the genus, of which 13 are native to Australia and the other three (''C. neocaledonica, C. sulcata'' and ''C. p ...

'' (Murray Pine). There is a small roosting population of Grey-headed flying foxes ('' Pteropus poliocephalus'')and Little Red flying foxes (Pteropus Scapulatus). These mega-bats are important pollinators of native tree species. Their diet is nectar, pollen, and fruit. The Little Red flying fox has translucent wings and eats nectar from flowers almost exclusively. Both have long tongues for getting deep into flowers. Numurkah also is home to many species of insect eating microbats (small bats) with the Goulds Wattled Bat being the most common. These small bats live in tree hollows and play an important role in insect control eating large quantities of insects each night. Adjacent to the Golf Course, is also one of the easternmost remnants of the Northern Plains Grassland community known as the Numurkah Grassland. It is home to many native wildflowers and grasses such as Billy Button, Small Vanilla Lily, Everlasting etc.

Natural disasters

In 2012 Numurkah had some devastating floods which saw a large portion of the town inundated by flood water including the local hospital which was demolished as a result. The rebuilt hospital facilities include 16 multi-day beds, six same-day treatment spaces, an operating theatre, imaging services, and an urgent care centre. In 2014, the township was threatened when three fires north of Shepparton in the Wunghnu, Numurkah and Bunbartha area merged into one bushfire (Wunghnu Complex Fire) over 12,000 hectares in size. Large amounts of livestock were lost and extensive damage to properties was incurred. Aerial support, tankers from other Victorian Regions and N.S.W. attended the fire, diverting the fire front around the town to the east.

Notable residents

* George Moss (1913-85), member of the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the states and territories of Australia, state lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the state upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament H ...

for Murray Valley (1945-73) * Joe Ritchie (1886-1975), Australian rules footballer with St Kilda (1909) *

Peter Wellington Peter William Wellington (born 21 August 1957) is an Australian politician. He was the independent member for Nicklin in the Queensland Legislative Assembly from 1998 to 2017, and served as Speaker from 2015 to 2017. Wellington has held the ...

(born 1957),

Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland The speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland is elected by the Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly to preside over sittings of the Assembly and to maintain orderly proceedings. T ...

(2015-17) * Sir Harold Leslie White (1905–92), Parliamentary Librarian of

(1947–60) and National Librarian (1960–70)

History

Recreation

Biodiversity and natural features

Natural disasters

Notable residents

References

See also