broken hill, australia

Broken Hill is an isolated mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. The world's largest mining company, BHP Billiton, has roots in the town.

Broken Hill is located near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (national route 32) and the Silver City Highway (national route 79), in the Barrier Range. It is 220 m (722 ft) above sea level, has an average rainfall of 235 mm (9 in) and summer temperatures that reach well over 40 °C (104 °F). The closest major city is Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, which is more than 500 km (311 mi) to the southwest. Unlike the rest of New South Wales, Broken Hill (and the surrounding region) observes Australian Central Standard Time (UTC+9:30) a time zone it shares with South Australia and the Northern Territory.

Broken Hill has been called "The Silver City", the "Oasis of the West", and the "Capital of the Outback". Although over 1,100 km (684 mi) west of Sydney and surrounded by semi-desert, the town has colourful park and garden displays and offers a number of attractions such as the Living Desert Sculptures.

Broken Hill is Australia's longest-lived mining city. In 1844, the explorer Charles Sturt saw and named the Barrier Range, and at the time referred to a "Broken Hill" in his diary. Silver ore was later discovered on this broken hill in 1883 by a boundary rider named Charles Rasp. The "broken hill" that gives its name to Broken Hill actually comprised a number of hills that appeared to have a break in them. The broken hill no longer exists, having been mined away.

The area was originally known as Willyama.

Before Charles Sturt's naming of the town, the surrounding area was referred to by the local Aboriginal population as the "Leaping Crest".

The earliest human settlers in the area around Broken Hill are thought to be the Wiljakali Aborigines, although this was probably only intermittent, owing to the lack of permanent water sources. As in much of Australia, a combination of disease and aggression by white settlers drove them from their lands.

The first European to visit the area was the then Surveyor General of New South Wales, Major Thomas Mitchell, in 1841. Three years later, in 1844, the explorer Charles Sturt saw and named the Barrier Range while searching for an inland sea; the range was so named as it was a barrier to his progress north. Burke and Wills passed through the area in their famous 1860–61 expedition, setting up a base camp at nearby Menindee. Pastoralists first began settling the area in the 1850s, with the main trade route to the area along the Darling River.

Broken Hill was founded in 1883 by boundary rider Charles Rasp who patrolled the Mount Gipps fences. In 1883 he discovered what he thought was tin, but the samples proved to be silver and lead. The ore body they came from became the largest and richest of its kind in the world. The Broken Hill Proprietary Company (BHP) (later BHP Billiton) was founded by the Syndicate of Seven to mine the ore body of Broken Hill in 1885. By 1915 BHP realised its ore reserves were limited and began to diversify into steel production and on 28 February 1939 mining at the BHP mines at Broken Hill had ceased.

BHP was not the only miner at Broken Hill, and mining continued at the southern and northern ends of the Line of Lode. Currently the southern and northern operations are run by Perilya Limited who plan to open further mines along the Line of Lode.

The Battle of Broken Hill took place on New Year's Day 1915 when two Afghani men fired upon a trainload of people who were headed to a New Years Day picnic. Since, at that time, Australia was at war with the Ottoman Empire, those people were first speculated to be Turkish, but later identified as being from British colony of India (modern day Afghanistan). They killed four and wounded six, before they were killed by a group of policemen and soldiers.

It is also known for its input into the formation of the labour movement in Australia, and has a rich trade union history. Some of the most bitter industrial disputes have been fought in Broken Hill in 1892, 1909 and 1919. The last of these led to the formation in 1923 of the Barrier Industrial Council, a group of 18 trade unions, which became one of the most influential organisations in the politics of the city.

Like many "outback" towns, Broken Hill was built on precious metals, having once had the world's richest deposits of lead, zinc and silver. Although now depleted somewhat, mining still yields around two million tonnes annually. Some mine tours are available. Sheep farming is now one of the principal industries in the area and there are considerably more sheep than people — almost 2 million Merino sheep.

On 10 January 2007, the Broken Hill City Council was dismissed by the New South Wales Minister for Local Government following a public inquiry.

Broken Hill has never had a permanent local water supply which meets the town's needs. By 1888 when the town's population had reached 5000, the state government built a series of small storage tanks.

By the 1890s, mining development had increased to the point that there was a severe water shortage and the mines and the people fought for water. Emergency water supplies were shipped by rail from the Darling River. In 1891, the Stephens Creek Reservoir was completed by a private company. The cost of water was high but not excessive and people were willing to pay because the environment was arid. Another reservoir was built at Umberumberka, however variable rainfall meant supplemental supplies by rail and rationing was still needed.

In 1952, Broken Hill's demands for a permanent water supply were met with the completion of a 24 in (61 cm) pipeline from Menindee. The pipeline can supply 1.6 megalitres of water per hour. Water storage facilities that are part of the Menindee Lakes Scheme on the Darling River, have secured water supply to Broken Hill, making it a relative oasis amid the harsh climate of the Australian outback. High evaporation rates have resulted in the policy of using the local storages for supply before using the pipeline.

Broken Hill and the surrounding area has many natural and man-made attractions on offer for the tourist. These include mining operations, a visitor's centre and lookout on top of the original Line of Lode mine, historic buildings, town history walking trails, many resident artists and galleries, the Sculpture Symposium, COBB & Co coach & wagon rides, Silverton Camel Farm, Stephen's Creek, several quarries, lakes, the Mundi-Mundi plains, and terrific sunsets.

Broken Hill is a major base for both the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia and School of the Air.

The Brushmen of the Bush was a group of artists who formed in Broken Hill in 1973. Members included Pro Hart and Jack Absalom. The Pro Hart Gallery and Sculpture Park contains a large collection of Hart's paintings and sculptures, as well as many artworks of others that he collected during his lifetime. The gallery also features the Rolls Royce that he painted in his unique style.

Surprisingly, for a town with such a small population, Broken Hill has a burgeoning nightlife. Many clubs exist and are open most nights of the week until late. Establishments catering to both locals and tourists include the Musician's Club and the Democratic Club.

Broken Hill has many literary connections. Crime writer Arthur Upfield developed a nostalgic association with the city after his first visit in 1910, and published The Bachelors of Broken Hill in 1958. Kenneth Cook's 1961 novel Wake in Fright—set in the fictional mining town of Bundanyabba—is a thinly disguised portrait of Broken Hill. Cook based the novel on eccentric ocker characters he befriended in Broken Hill, drawing on their penchant for ritualistic drinking, two-up, and aggressive mateship. The novel was adapted into a 1971 film of the same name, shot on location in Broken Hill and starring Broken Hill native Chips Rafferty in his final film role. Wake in Fright is now regarded as a seminal film of the Australian New Wave, attracting many more film productions to Broken Hill and the surrounding region, including Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981), Spirits of the Air, Gremlins of the Clouds (1989) and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994). Mario's Palace, now trading as The Palace Hotel, has the "tack-o-rama" mural featured in The Adventures of Priscilla.

Visitors are often fascinated by the houses with corrugated iron walls. Although corrugated iron is widely used as a roofing material throughout Australia, it is not commonly used for walls of houses.

Because of its rich historic heritage, the City of Broken Hill has been nominated for listing on the Commonwealth National Heritage list (the highest level of heritage protection in Australia) and the nomination will be assessed.

Transport: Broken Hill is one of the stops of the Indian Pacific passenger service, operated by the Great Southern Railway, from Sydney in New South Wales to Perth in Western Australia via Adelaide in South Australia. The popular weekly NSW TrainLink Xplorer service between Broken Hill and Sydney, which was introduced in 2005, arrives from Sydney on Mondays at 19:10, departing Broken Hill on Tuesdays at 7:45 for the return to Sydney. NSW TrainLink also operates a daily road coach service, departing the Broken Hill Tourist Information Centre at 3:45, connecting at Dubbo to the Central West XPT to Sydney. The return journey arrives daily at 22:45. Regional Express operates air services from Broken Hill Airport to and from Adelaide, Dubbo, Melbourne via Mildura and Sydney. Buses R Us operates a mini-bus service to Adelaide on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays with return journeys on Sunday, Tuesday and Friday. They also provide a service to Mildura on Wednesdays and Fridays, connecting with road coaches to Melbourne and Sydney.

Local Public Transport is provided by Murtons Staff Pty Ltd, operating four city bus routes, Monday to Saturday. The city is also serviced by two urban Taxi companies.

Health effects related to the mining industry were endemic to Broken Hill for many years. In 1892, as many as 1 in 50 miners were affected by lead poisoning. As recently as 1991, over 80% of children under 5 years of age had blood lead levels higher than government guidelines.

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