Bourke, New South Wales
Bourke is a town and Local Government Area in the north of New South Wales, Australia. The town is located approximately 800 kilometres north-west of Sydney, on the south bank of the Darling River, which is known as the Barwon River upstream from Bourke. It has a population of 4000, about 50-percent of which are Indigenous peoples.
The site of Bourke was first reached by British settlers in the 1820s and the town originally called Prattenville, was later named after Governor Richard Bourke of New South Wales in the 1830s. The railway reached Bourke in 1885 and closed in 1989 after flooding caused significant damage to the line.
Bourke can be reached by the Mitchell Highway, with additional sealed roads from town to the north (Cunnamulla), east (towards Moree and Goondiwindi) and south (Cobar). The town is also served by a local airport and has Countrylink bus service to other regional centres, like Dubbo. It was also formerly an important inland port for river shipping on the Darling River. The countryside around Bourke is used mainly for sheep farming with some irrigated fruit and cotton crops near the river.
Additionally, the town is served by 7 FM and 2 AM stations, and 4 TV stations. There are two regional radio stations based in Bourke. 2 WEB broadcasts on 585 AM. 2CUZ FM is the regional Indigenous radio sation in Bourke. It broadcasts locally on 106.5 FM. Both station broadcast to a myriad of communities in the region. The local paper, The Western Herald, is also published on a weekly basis (every Thursday) year-round, except during a short break at Christmas.
Bourke is considered to represent the edge of the settled agricultural districts and the gateway to the Outback which lies north and west of Bourke. This is reflected in the traditional Australian expression "back o' Bourke", referring to the Outback.
Bourke was mentioned in the trial of Bradley John Murdoch on Nov 24, 2005, as the place where alleged murder victim Peter Falconio was allegedly seen, 8 days after his disappearance from near Barrow Creek, Northern Territory.
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