Bonner is a suburb in the district of Gungahlin in Canberra in Australia. The suburb is named in memory after Senator Neville Bonner, Australia's first Indigenous parliamentarian who served the people of Queensland during the years 1971-1984. The suburb is bounded by Horse Park Drive, Mulligans Flat Road, and Roden Cutler Drive and is approximately from the Gungahlin Town Centre and from the centre of Canberra. It is adjacent to the suburbs of Jacka, Amaroo and Forde. Settlement of the suburb began in 2010 and it had an estimated population of 6,730 at the.
History
Bonner is situated on the former paddocks of "Horse Park", a sheep property established in 1853 by Irish immigrants John and Ann Gillespie. From these humble beginnings, the Gillespies increased their pastoral holdings through the judicious acquisitions of neighbouring properties such as "Elm Grove". Their son James Gillespie was instrumental in establishing the Mulligans Flat Public School. The remnants of the school are located in the nearby Mulligans Flat Reserve. Gillespie was a regularly contributor to the Goulburn Evening Penny Post under the pseudonym "The Wizard". "Horse Park" homestead which has been nominated for the ACT Heritage Register is situated a kilometre west in the suburb of Jacka.
Population
In the 2016 Census, there were 6,730 people in Bonner. 57.5% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were India 9.5%, Sri Lanka 2.3%, Pakistan 2.3%, China 2.3% and Philippines 2.2%. 52.9% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Hindi 3.3%, Urdu 3.3%, Punjabi 3.0%, Mandarin 2.6% and Telugu 2.5%. The most common responses for religion in Bonner were No Religion, so described 24.7%, Catholic 20.6%, Hinduism 10.4% and Islam 8.5%.
The Sisters of Mary, Queen of Peace reside in their convent in Bonner. They celebrate their annual Feast Day on February 2nd.
Local facilities
A local shopping centre is positioned at the geographical centre of the suburb close to the areas designated for medium-density housing. The local Primary School is at the centre of its catchment, which comprises Bonner, Forde and the southern portion of Jacka. It adjoins the Local Centre and playing fields. Taken together these facilities create a social nucleus for the new suburb. A local primary school site is located at the centre of Bonner to also serve Forde, to the east, and Jacka to the west. The school is close to the Local Centre, Community Facilities, the playing fields. The Mulligans Flat Nature Reserve is situated on the north-eastern edge of the suburb. In 2009 streets were named after important figures from local aboriginal communities: Lamilami, Mondalmi. Like most new Canberra suburbs, Bonner is in a cat containment area: all cats have to be kept inside the cat owner's property and within an enclosure if outside.
Rocks in Bonner are from the late middle Silurian period and are called Canberra Formation. They are mostly slatey shale and mudstone. A band of dacite follows a ridge in the north east direction in the western third. Also ashstone occurs on a hill top in the north west corner of Bonner.
