| Gabbin Western Australia | |
|---|---|
  Gabbin | |
| Coordinates | 30°48′00″S117°40′59″E / 30.8°S 117.683°E Coordinates: 30°48′00″S117°40′59″E / 30.8°S 117.683°E |
| Population | 107 (2006 census) [1] |
| Established | 1918 |
| Postcode(s) | 6476 |
| Elevation | 343 m (1,125 ft) |
| Location | |
| LGA(s) | Shire of Mount Marshall |
| State electorate(s) | Central Wheatbelt |
| Federal Division(s) | Durack |
Gabbin is a small town in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia.
The Wheatbelt is one of nine regions of Western Australia defined as administrative areas for the state's regional development, and a vernacular term for the area converted to agriculture during colonisation. It partially surrounds the Perth metropolitan area, extending north from Perth to the Mid West region, and east to the Goldfields-Esperance region. It is bordered to the south by the South West and Great Southern regions, and to the west by the Indian Ocean, the Perth metropolitan area, and the Peel region. Altogether, it has an area of 154,862 square kilometres (59,793 sq mi).
Western Australia is a state occupying the entire western third of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, and the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Australia is Australia's largest state, with a total land area of 2,529,875 square kilometres, and the second-largest country subdivision in the world, surpassed only by Russia's Sakha Republic. The state has about 2.6 million inhabitants – around 11 percent of the national total – of whom the vast majority live in the south-west corner, 79 per cent of the population living in the Perth area, leaving the remainder of the state sparsely populated.
The townsite originally served as a railway station for the Wyalkatchem to Mount Marshall line that was constructed through the area in 1913. The townsite was gazetted in 1918 and was named after the railway station. [2]
Wyalkatchem townsite is located in the central agricultural region, 192 kilometres (119 mi) east-north-east of Perth and 35 kilometres (22 mi) east of Dowerin. At the 2006 census, Wyalkatchem had a population of 344.
In 1932 the Wheat Pool of Western Australia announced that the town would have two grain elevators, each fitted with an engine, installed at the railway siding. [3] Work on the bulk handling depot commenced late in 1933. [4]
The CBH Group, is a grain growers' cooperative that handles, markets and processes grain from the wheatbelt of Western Australia.
