43-638: Mitchell Highway is an outback state highway located in the central and south western regions of Queensland and the northern and central western regions of New South Wales in Australia. The southern part of Mitchell Highway forms part of the National Highway A32 B71 corridor, which stretches from Sydney to Brisbane via Dubbo . Mitchell Highway also forms part of the shortest route between Sydney and Darwin , via Bourke and Mount Isa , making it an important road link for
86-899: A roundabout in Bathurst, at the junction of Mid-Western Highway to Cowra , and Great Western Highway to Sydney via the Blue Mountains . The passing of the Main Roads Act of 1924 through the Parliament of New South Wales provided for the declaration of Main Roads, roads partially funded by the State government through the Main Roads Board . North-Western Highway was declared (as Main Road No. 7) on 8 August 1928, from
129-470: A long way from anywhere, or a long way away. The well-watered north of the continent is often called the " Top End " and the arid interior "The Red Centre", owing to its vast amounts of red soil and sparse greenery amongst its landscape. The outback is criss-crossed by historic tracks. Most of the major highways have an excellent bitumen surface and other major roads are usually well-maintained dirt roads. The Stuart Highway runs from north to south through
172-412: A temporary side track around the blast site suitable for cars, buses and light trucks. By 7 October, the side track had been upgraded to support road trains, ending the need to detour. In April 2015, the $ 10 million tender to reconstruct the highway and bridges were awarded and the construction work took place between June and November 2015. In early 2016, a competition was held to decide a new name for
215-411: A truck travelling on Mitchell Highway rolled off a road bridge at Angellala Creek approximately 30 km south of Charleville ( 26°39′15″S 146°10′34″E / 26.6541°S 146.1760°E / -26.6541; 146.1760 ). The truck was carrying 52 tonnes of ammonium nitrate which exploded. The blast destroyed the two road bridges and severely damaged the adjacent rail bridge. The blast
258-507: Is claimed that the saloon, named after the nearby Black Stump Run and Black Stump Creek, was an important staging post for traffic to north-west New South Wales and it became a marker by which people gauged their journeys. "The Never-Never " is a term referring to remoter parts of the Outback. The Outback can also be referred to as "back of beyond" or "back o' Bourke ", although these terms are more frequently used when referring to something
301-493: Is estimated at 607,000 people. Geographically, the Outback is unified by a combination of factors, most notably a low human population density, a largely intact natural environment and, in many places, low-intensity land uses, such as pastoralism (livestock grazing) in which production is reliant on the natural environment. The Outback is deeply ingrained in Australian heritage, history and folklore . In Australian art
344-515: Is mining. Owing to the almost complete absence of mountain building and glaciation since the Permian (in many areas since the Cambrian ) ages, the outback is extremely rich in iron, aluminium, manganese and uranium ores, and also contains major deposits of gold, nickel, copper, lead and zinc ores. Because of its size, the value of grazing and mining is considerable. Major mines and mining areas in
387-502: Is one of Australia's most renowned fossil sites and was recorded as a World Heritage site in 1994. The 100 km (39 sq mi) area contains fossil remains of ancient mammals, birds and reptiles of Oligocene and Miocene age. The largest industry across the Outback, in terms of the area occupied, is pastoralism , in which cattle, sheep, and sometimes goats are grazed in mostly intact, natural ecosystems. Widespread use of bore water, obtained from underground aquifers, including
430-625: Is relied on for mail delivery in some areas, owing to sparse settlement and wet-season road closures. Most outback mines have an airstrip and many have a fly-in fly-out workforce. Most outback sheep stations and cattle stations have an airstrip and quite a few have their own light plane. Medical and ambulance services are provided by the Royal Flying Doctor Service . In 2024 two Regional, Rural and Remote air lines collapsed, namely Bonza and REX . Great Western Highway Too Many Requests If you report this error to
473-480: The Blue Mountains just outside Sydney was led by Gregory Blaxland in 1813, 25 years after the colony was established. People, starting with John Oxley in 1817, 1818 and 1821, followed by Charles Sturt from 1829 to 1830, attempted to follow the westward-flowing rivers to find an "inland sea", but these were found to all flow into the Murray River and Darling River , which turn south. From 1858 onwards,
SECTION 10
#1732781183383516-701: The Boreal forests and Tundra regions in North America, the Sahara and Gobi deserts and the tropical forests of the Amazon and Congo Basins. The savanna (or grassy woodlands) of northern Australia are the largest, intact savanna regions in the world. In the south, the Great Western Woodlands , which occupy 16,000,000 hectares (40,000,000 acres), an area larger than all of England and Wales, are
559-541: The Darling River before heading into Bourke where it forms junctions with Kamilaroi Highway heading east and Kidman Way heading south. From this point Mitchell Highway generally heads southeast through to Nyngan, meeting with Barrier Highway, and continues south as route A32. At Nevertire the highway meets Oxley Highway, before passing through Narromine and then heads generally east to the major rural centre of Dubbo, where it meets Newell Highway, before it crosses
602-602: The Great Artesian Basin , has enabled livestock to be grazed across vast areas in which no permanent surface water exists naturally. Capitalising on the lack of pasture improvement and absence of fertiliser and pesticide use, many Outback pastoral properties are certified as organic livestock producers. In 2014, 17,000,000 hectares (42,000,000 acres), most of which is in Outback Australia, was fully certified as organic farm production, making Australia
645-533: The Macquarie River and heads south towards Wellington , crossing the Macquarie River again. At Molong , the highway generally starts to head east towards Orange , where an alternative route diverts many heavy vehicles away from the city centre; the portion of Mitchell Highway that passes through Orange city centre is known locally as Summer Street. The southern terminus of Mitchell Highway is at
688-474: The 1800s. Many Aboriginal Australians retain strong physical and cultural links to their traditional country and are legally recognised as the Traditional Owners of large parts of the Outback under Commonwealth Native Title legislation. Early European exploration of inland Australia was sporadic. More focus was on the more accessible and fertile coastal areas. The first party to successfully cross
731-509: The 2015–2016 financial year, 815,000 visitors spent $ 988 million while on holidays in the Northern Territory alone. There are many popular tourist attractions in the Outback. Some of the well known destinations include Devils Marbles , Kakadu National Park , Kata Tjuta (The Olgas), MacDonnell Ranges and Uluru (Ayers Rock) . Other than agriculture and tourism, the main economic activity in this vast and sparsely settled area
774-544: The Landsborough Highway near Augathella, Mitchell Highway heads south as route Alternative A2 through Charleville, meeting Warrego Highway heading east as Alternative A2. As route A71, the highway continues south through Cunnamulla , meeting with Balonne Highway, and then further south to the state border between Queensland and New South Wales (called Barringun Road), where it changes to route B71. Approximately 5 kilometres (3 mi) north of Bourke it crosses
817-535: The Outback continued in the 1950s when Len Beadell explored, surveyed and built many roads in support of the nuclear weapons tests at Emu Field and Maralinga and rocket testing on the Woomera Prohibited Area . Mineral exploration continues as new mineral deposits are identified and developed. 2002 was declared the Year of the Outback. While the early explorers used horses to cross the Outback,
860-573: The Outback include opals at Coober Pedy , Lightning Ridge and White Cliffs , metals at Broken Hill , Tennant Creek , Olympic Dam and the remote Challenger Mine . Oil and gas are extracted in the Cooper Basin around Moomba . In Western Australia the Argyle diamond mine in the Kimberley was once the world's biggest producer of natural diamonds and contributed approximately one-third of
903-416: The adverbial phrase referring to the back yard of a house , and came to be used meiotically in the late 1800s to describe the vast sparsely settled regions of Australia behind the cities and towns. The earliest known use of the term in this context in print was in 1869, when the writer clearly meant the area west of Wagga Wagga , New South Wales . Over time, the adverbial use of the phrase was replaced with
SECTION 20
#1732781183383946-487: The bridge. Outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia . The Outback is more remote than the bush . While often envisaged as being arid , the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a number of climatic zones, including tropical and monsoonal climates in northern areas, arid areas in the "red centre" and semi-arid and temperate climates in southerly regions. The total population
989-583: The centre of the continent, roughly paralleled by the Adelaide–Darwin railway . There is a proposal to develop some of the roads running from the south-west to the north-east to create an all-weather road named the Outback Highway , crossing the continent diagonally from Laverton, Western Australia (north of Kalgoorlie , through the Northern Territory to Winton , in Queensland. Air transport
1032-426: The early Afghan drivers . Feral horses known as ' brumbies ' are station horses that have run wild. Feral pigs , foxes , cats , goats and rabbits and other imported animals are also degrading the environment, so time and money is spent eradicating them in an attempt to help protect fragile rangelands. The Outback is home to a diverse set of animal species, such as the kangaroo, emu and dingo. The Dingo Fence
1075-416: The first woman to make the journey riding a horse was Anna Hingley , who rode from Broome to Cairns in 2006. The paucity of industrial land use has led to the Outback being recognised globally as one of the largest remaining intact natural areas on Earth. Global " Human Footprint " and wilderness reviews highlight the importance of Outback Australia as one of the world's large natural areas, along with
1118-454: The heat of the day. Birdlife is prolific, most often seen at waterholes at dawn and dusk. Huge flocks of budgerigars , cockatoos , corellas and galahs are often sighted. On bare ground or roads during the winter, various species of snakes and lizards bask in the sun, but they are rarely seen during the summer months. Feral animals such as camels thrive in central Australia, brought to Australia by pastoralists and explorers, along with
1161-535: The highway links with Balonne and Warrego Highways and its northern terminus is at its junction with Landsborough Highway . Mitchell Highway lies west of the Great Dividing Range and in New South Wales runs generally northwest–southeast and in Queensland, runs generally north–south in the central western and southwest parts of that state. From its northern terminus at a junction with
1204-545: The ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition in 1860–61 which was much better funded, but resulted in the deaths of three of the members of the transcontinental party. The Overland Telegraph line was constructed in the 1870s along the route identified by Stuart. In 1865, the surveyor George Goyder , using changes in vegetation patterns, mapped a line in South Australia , north of which he considered rainfall to be too unreliable to support agriculture. Exploration of
1247-522: The interchange with Great Western Highway and Mid-Western Highway in Bathurst, via Orange, Dubbo, Nyngan, and Bourke, to the border with Queensland; with the passing of the Main Roads (Amendment) Act of 1929 to provide for additional declarations of State Highways and Trunk Roads, this was amended to State Highway 7 on 8 April 1929. On 9 October 1936 the name was changed to Mitchell Highway , in honour of Lieutenant Colonel Sir Thomas Mitchell , who
1290-555: The lack of proper medical facilities and trained personnel. In many outback communities, the number of children is too small for a conventional school to operate. Children are educated at home by the School of the Air . Originally the teachers communicated with the children via radio, but now satellite telecommunication is used instead. Some children attend boarding school, mostly only those in secondary school. The term "outback" derives from
1333-505: The largest certified organic production area in the world. Tourism is a major industry across the Outback, and commonwealth and state tourism agencies explicitly target Outback Australia as a desirable destination for domestic and international travellers. There is no breakdown of tourism revenues for the "Outback" per se . However, regional tourism is a major component of national tourism incomes. Tourism Australia explicitly markets nature-based and Indigenous-led experiences to tourists. In
Mitchell Highway - Misplaced Pages Continue
1376-453: The largest remaining temperate woodland left on Earth. Reflecting the wide climatic and geological variation, the Outback contains a wealth of distinctive and ecologically rich ecosystems. Major land types include: The Outback is full of very important well-adapted wildlife, although much of it may not be immediately visible to the casual observer. Many animals, such as red kangaroos and dingoes , hide in bushes to rest and keep cool during
1419-610: The present day noun form. It is colloquially said that "the outback" is located "beyond the Black Stump ". The location of the black stump may be some hypothetical location or may vary depending on local custom and folklore. It has been suggested that the term comes from the Black Stump Wine Saloon that once stood about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) out of Coolah, New South Wales on the Gunnedah Road. It
1462-430: The so-called "Afghan" cameleers and their beasts played an instrumental role in opening up the Outback and helping to build infrastructure. Over the period 1858 to 1861, John McDouall Stuart led six expeditions north from Adelaide, South Australia into the Outback, culminating in successfully reaching the north coast of Australia and returning without the loss of any of the party's members' lives. This contrasts with
1505-602: The subject of the Outback has been vogue, particularly in the 1940s. In 2009, as part of the Q150 celebrations, the Queensland Outback was announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for its role as a "natural attraction". Aboriginal peoples have lived in the Outback for at least 50,000 years and occupied all Outback regions, including the driest deserts, when Europeans first entered central Australia in
1548-504: The transport of passengers and freight for regional New South Wales and Queensland. The highway is a part of route Alternative A2 between Augathella and Charleville , route A71 and B71 between Charleville and Nyngan , and part of route A32 between Nyngan and Bathurst . In New South Wales, the highway's south-eastern terminus is at its junction with Great Western and Mid-Western Highways, and it links with Golden , Newell , Oxley , Barrier and Kamilaroi Highways. In Queensland,
1591-497: The world's major manganese mines. Aboriginal communities in outback regions, such as the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands in northern South Australia, have not been displaced as they have been in areas of intensive agriculture and large cities, in coastal areas. The total population of the Outback in Australia declined from 700,000 in 1996 to 690,000 in 2006. The largest decline
1634-464: The world's natural supply, but was closed down in 2020 due to financial reasons. The Pilbara region's economy is dominated by mining and petroleum industries. The Pilbara's oil and gas industry is the region's largest export industry, earning $ 5.0 billion in 2004/05 and accounting for over 96% of the State's production. Most of Australia's iron ore is also mined in the Pilbara and it also has one of
1677-534: Was Surveyor-General of New South Wales in the 1820s and explored much of inland New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. The passing of the Roads Act of 1993 updated road classifications and the way they could be declared within New South Wales. Under this act, Mitchell Highway today retains its declaration as Highway 7, from the state border with Queensland at Barringun to the intersection with Great Western and Mid-Western Highways at Bathurst. Mitchel Highway
1720-527: Was built to restrict movements of dingoes and wild dogs into agricultural areas towards the south east of the continent. The marginally fertile parts are primarily utilised as rangelands and have been traditionally used for sheep or cattle grazing, on cattle stations which are leased from the Federal Government. While small areas of the outback consist of clay soils the majority has exceedingly infertile palaeosols . Riversleigh , in Queensland,
1763-544: Was in the Outback Northern Territory , while the Kimberley and Pilbara showed population increases during the same period. The sex ratio is 1040 males for 1000 females and 17% of the total population is indigenous. The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) started service in 1928 and helps people who live in the outback of Australia. Previously, serious injuries or illnesses often meant death owing to
Mitchell Highway - Misplaced Pages Continue
1806-503: Was signed National Route 71 between Augathella and Nygan, and National Route 32 between Nyngan and Bathurst, in 1955. With both states' conversion to their newer alphanumeric systems in 2004 and 2013, its former route numbers were updated to Alternative A2 between Augathella and Charleville and A71 between Charleville and the state border within Queensland in 2004, and B71 between the state border and Nyngan and A32 between Nyngan and Bathurst within New South Wales in 2013. On 5 September 2014,
1849-418: Was so powerful that the truck was disintegrated and the dangers posed by the remaining ammonium nitrate necessitated a 2 km exclusion zone around the site for a number of days. The large crater formed by the blast closed the highway necessitating detours of up to 600 km. The Department of Transport and Mains Road was allowed to commence work at the site on 13 September and by 23 September had constructed
#382617