Wee Waa is a town located on the north-western slopes of the New England region in New South Wales, Australia. The town is within the Narrabri Shirelocal government area and is on the Namoi River. Wee Waa is north-west of Narrabri and northwest of Sydney on the Kamilaroi Highway. At the, Wee Waa had a population of 2,080. Wee Waa is 42 kilometres from the Newell Highway, and is referred to as a gateway to the far west centres of Walgett, Collarenebri, Lightning Ridge opal fields and beyond. The Aboriginal meaning of Wee Waa is "Fire for Roasting" from the language of the Kamilaroi people. The town is known to be the "Cotton Capital of Australia" as a rural community situated in the rich agricultural heartland of the Lower Namoi Valley in NSW. The town services a far greater rural community as well as the villages of Burren Junction, Pilliga and Gwabegar. The town is situated approximately above sea level.
History
Before the arrival of European settlers, the Wee Waa area was inhabited by the Gamilaraay/Kamilaroi aboriginal people. The Wee Waa run was taken up by squatter George Hobler in 1837 and the settlement developed. It became an administrative centre in the late 1840s. A police station and court of petty sessions were established in 1847 and a post office opened two years later. It is the oldest established town in the area and is the birthplace of the commercial cotton industry in Australia. Rail services were extended in 1901 from Narrabri to Walgett, passing through the town. The first commercial cotton plantation was established in 1961, irrigated with water from the Keepit Dam on the Namoi River. It was the first town built on the Namoi River. The town is subject to regular floods and is protected by a levee bank. However thousands of people were isolated on properties around Wee Waa in February 2012.
Environment
Natural
The Wee Waa district has a mean summer minimum temperature of and a maximum of. Mean winter temperatures range from to. Mean annual rainfall is, falling on 80 days of the year.
Man made
The town has two motels, four schools, a preschool, ABC Learning Centre, two hotels and two caravan parks as well as eating-places, a public swimming pool, a nine-hole golf course, bowling club, tennis courts, a modern sporting complex, a hostel for the aged and a new medical centre. Wee Waa is serviced by NSW TrainLink rail services, interstate coaches, and daily air services offered through Narrabri.
Notable events
In 1973 Arthur Murray led the Aboriginal cotton-chippers on strike for better pay and working conditions. The Wee Waa Echo called them "radicals and professional troublemakers", adding that "it is not fanciful to see the Aboriginal problem as the powder keg for Communist aggression in Australia". It was in Wee Waa police station that rugby player Eddie Murray was killed in 1981, one of the Aboriginal deaths in custody that prompted a Royal Commission to be set up. It was also the first town in Australia to use DNA testing to find a rapist. On 17 May 2013 at the 79th Annual Wee Waa Show, Columbia Records held the global launch party for the French electronic music duo Daft Punk's album Random Access Memories. This caused much excitement in the town and it attracted an estimated 2,500 tourists. It was initially believed that footage recorded from the event would be used for a music video; however, this did not come to fruition.
Sport
The town has a multi-function Sports Complex, which acts as a de facto community centre. The main sport in Wee Waa is Rugby league, the name of the town's club is The Wee Waa Panthers. This is also Jamie Lyon's home club in which he played before his international career. Lyon later left his professional career with the Parramatta Eels to return for a season with the Wee Waa Panthers. The first-grade team went on to win that year against Moree, 55 to 12. Lyon returned to professional football with the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles playing from 2007 to 2016 winning a premiership in 2008 and 2011. He was part of the highest winning margin record 40-0 winning side of which the record still stands.
