Tongala, Victoria

Tongala Victoria
Main street
Tongala
Population:	1623(2006)
Postcode:	3621
Coordinates:	36°15′S 144°57′E
Location:	198 km (123 mi) N of Melbourne 55 km (34 mi) NW of Shepparton 26 km (16 mi) S of Echuca
LGA:	Shire of Campaspe
State electorate:	Rodney
Federal Division:	Murray

Tongala ( /təŋˈɡɑːlə/) is a small town between Kyabram and Echuca in the Goulburn River valley in northern Victoria, Australia, part of the Shire of Campaspe. At the 2006 census, Tongala had a population of 1623.

History

The first Post Office in the area opened on 27 April 1878. In 1882 it was renamed Kanyapella and a new Tongala office opened to the south; this was renamed Tongala East in 1908 when a new Tongala office replaced the Tongala Railway Station office in the township.

St Patrick's Catholic church was constructed in 1909, opening on Sunday 28 November 1909. St Patrick's Catholic primary school was opened in 1959.

The Tongala water tower, designed by John Monash, was constructed in 1914 with an initial capacity of 10,000 imperial gallons (45,000 l) and extended to 20,000 imperial gallons (91,000 l) in 1923.

After World War I many blocks were opened up under the 'soldier-settler' scheme. One such soldier settler was John McEwen, who bought a block at Tongala and married a local, Anne McLeod, in the town in 1921. McEwen joined the Victorian Farmers Union in 1919, and became a leader of the Country Party, and caretaker Prime Minister on the death of Harold Holt.

With major bank branch rationalisation in the 1990s, country towns like Tongala were particularly hard hit by the closure of bank branches. Community members approached Bendigo Bank in May 1999 to evaluate a proposal to establish a Community Bank Branch of the Bendigo Bank. The Tongala Community Bank opened its doors on 11 December 2000.

In November 2003 a monument to the 24 Australian Light horse regiments and their horses was unveiled by Maurice Watson, aged 84, the last Light Horseman, who enlisted from Tongala. The statue, standing two metres, is of a horseman carrying an empty saddle, bridle and saddle cloth, walking away, head lowered. On a plaque beneath the statue is the poem Farewell Old War Horse, a tribute to the 120,000 Australian waler horses that went overseas in the First World War. Due to quarantine restrictions, only one horse returned to Australia, "Sandy", the mount of Major-General W.T. Bridges, who died at Gallipoli in May 1915.

Economy

Dairying is the most significant industry in the town's economic structure that also includes food processing at a Nestle plant. In June 2005 Nestle announced that it would cease manufacturing powdered milk in Australia and that its Tongala factory would be restructured to become a liquid milk only site with 147 jobs to be lost. The National Union of Workers is negotiating for the workers at the plant.

Sunrice operates a CopRice plant that employs thirty staff in a state of the art stockfeed mill, established in 1989, with a capacity to produce up to 100,000 tonnes of stockfeed.

Attractions

The Nestle factory

The Golden Cow Tourist and Dairy Education Centre has become a central attraction with its working dairy, landcare, salinity and irrigation displays. Milking demonstrations can be seen by visitors. On walls around town can be seen the Tongala Murals, many painted by local artist Murray Ross, which show the history of the dairy industry and Tongala.

The Donkey Retreat in Watson Road opened in April 2008 and provides care and shelter for abused, abandoned and neglected donkeys that have been rescued from throughout Victoria.

Tongala also hosts an annual Tent Town Festival in March when artists and craftsmen gather to show their wares and to discuss the state of their art.

References

• Tongala war memorial
• St. Patrick's School, Tongala
• Nestle Tongala redundancies - accessed 6 July 2005
• John McEwen (National Archives)
• Lone horseman tribute to history in The Age accessed 6 July 2005.