Maffra Victoria | |||||||||
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![]() Maffra streetscape, 2013 | |||||||||
Coordinates | 37°57′S146°59′E / 37.950°S 146.983°E Coordinates: 37°57′S146°59′E / 37.950°S 146.983°E | ||||||||
Population | 4,316 (2016 census) [1] | ||||||||
Postcode(s) | 3860 | ||||||||
Elevation | 27 m (89 ft) | ||||||||
Location |
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LGA(s) | Shire of Wellington | ||||||||
State electorate(s) | Gippsland East | ||||||||
Federal division(s) | Gippsland | ||||||||
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Maffra is a town in Victoria, Australia, 220 kilometres (140 mi) east of Melbourne. It is in the Shire of Wellington local government area and it is the second most populous city of the Shire. It relies mainly on dairy farming and other agriculture, [2] and is the site of one of Murray-Goulburn Cooperative's eight processing plants in Victoria. Maffra is a detour off the Princes Highway and is near Sale, Stratford, Newry, Tinamba, Heyfield and Rosedale. [2] At the 2016 census, Maffra had a population of 4,316. [1]
The town began as an outstation of the region's first cattle run, Boisdale, named by pioneer grazier Lachlan Macalister after a village on the island of South Uist in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. The town appears to have taken its name from a group of squatters from Maffra, a village in the Monaro region of NSW, with its location between current Maffra and Newry being written on an early map. The squatters moved on, but the name remained. The Monaro Maffra was probably connected to Mafra, a town in Portugal.
The township was settled in the 1860s, the Post Office opening on 20 July 1864. [3] Maffra railway station on the Maffra railway line opened in 1887. The last regular passenger service ran in 1977. The station precinct is now an industrial precinct and the former station building is used for community purposes.
Maffra was long the beef cattle capital of West Gippsland and, for many years, the only beet sugar processing center in the country. The Beet Museum, set in the Port of Maffra Park, has relics from the defunct sugar beet industry. The building is a relocated historic weighbridge building, and is lined with pine boards from the home of Charles and Grace Quirk, one of Maffra's first cottages. [2]
Maffra hosts a Mardi Gras every March, the Maffra and District Agricultural, Pastoral and Horticultural Show in October and a tennis tournament at Easter.
The Wellington Shire Council removed a row of 100+ year old trees that line the main street because of disease, but has since replaced them with young oaks.
Maffra has two primary schools, the Maffra Primary School and St Mary's Primary School (Catholic). Maffra also has a public secondary school, Maffra Secondary College, which has a student enrolment of around 700. Maffra Secondary has a strong academic program and is involved in a number of community service programs.
In July 2021, Victoria had over 50 pet dogs suffering liver toxicity, with 14 dogs known to have died from the condition. The source of the issue was traced to indospicine sourced from Indogofera plants. Many of the dogs had eaten raw pet food sourced from a knackery at Maffra. No specific source for the contamination was immediately identified, as these plants are not normally found in southern Australia. [4] This toxicity has previously been seen in dogs fed meat from Australian feral camels, common in northern Australia.
The town has an Australian Rules football team competing in the Gippsland Football League. Its senior side was at one point the most successful in the league, winning 6 premierships in the early 2000s. In 2023 they have a child prodigy, Elliot Stables carrying the under 18's on his way to the AFLW [5]
Maffra is also home to a field hockey club, fielding junior, women's and men's teams in the East Gippsland Hockey Association playing at Cameron Sports Complex, Morison Street. Also at this complex, is Maffra's Amateur Basketball Association. This hosts junior and senior teams, as well as Men and Women's CBL teams.
Golfers play at the course of the Maffra Golf Club on Fulton Road. [6]
Sale is a city situated in the Gippsland region of the Australian state of Victoria and the council capital of the Shire of Wellington. It had an estimated urban population of 15,682 according to the 2021 census. The total population including the immediate area around the town designated for the future development of Sale currently sits at approximately 19,000 according to shire website.
Morwell is a town in the Latrobe Valley area of Gippsland, in South-Eastern Victoria, Australia approximately 152 km (94 mi) east of Melbourne.
Warragul is a town in Victoria, Australia, 102 kilometres south-east of Melbourne. Warragul lies between the Strzelecki Ranges to the south and the Mount Baw Baw Plateau of the Great Dividing Range to the north. As of the 2021 census, the town had a population of 19,856 people. Warragul forms part of a larger urban area that includes nearby Drouin that had an estimated total population of 42,827 as of the 2021 census.
The Shire of Wellington is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the eastern part of the state. It covers an area of 10,817 square kilometres (4,176 sq mi) and in June 2018 had a population of 44,019.
The township of Yarram is in Victoria, Australia, in the Shire of Wellington, located in the southeast of Gippsland. At the 2016 census, the population of the town was 2,135. The town is the regional centre of a prosperous farming district. It has a vibrant community, which remains dedicated to a strong sporting culture. The town also has a strong tourism industry, with Tarra Bulga National Park, Port Albert, Ninety Mile Beach and Agnes Falls all being within a 30-minute commute from Yarram. The town is located about one and a half hours from Wilsons Promontory. Nearby towns include Welshpool, Alberton and Foster.
Leongatha is a town in the foothills of the Strzelecki Ranges, South Gippsland Shire, Victoria, Australia, located 135 kilometres (84 mi) south-east of Melbourne. At the 2021 census, Leongatha had a population of 5,869.
Bairnsdale is a city in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia in a region traditionally inhabited by the Tatungalung clan of the Gunaikurnai people.
Orbost is a historic early settlers town in the Shire of East Gippsland, Victoria, 375 kilometres (233 mi) east of Melbourne and 235 kilometres (146 mi) south of Canberra where the Princes Highway crosses the Snowy River. It is about 16 kilometres (10 mi) from the surf and fishing seaside town of Marlo on the coast of Bass Strait and 217 km drive to Hotham Alpine Resort. Orbost is the service centre for the primary industries of beef, dairy cattle and sawmilling. More recently, tourism has become an important and thriving industry, being the major town close to several national parks that are between the east access to either the surf or the snow, including the famous Snowy River National Park, Alpine National Park, Errinundra National Park, Croajingolong National Park and Cape Conran Coastal Park.
Wonthaggi is a seaside town located 132 kilometres (82 mi) south east of Melbourne via the South Gippsland and Bass Highways, in the Bass Coast Shire of Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Known originally for its coal mining, it is now the largest town in South Gippsland, a regional area with extensive tourism, beef and dairy industries.
Drouin is a town in the West Gippsland region, 90 kilometres (56 mi) east of Melbourne, in the Australian state of Victoria. Its local government area is the Shire of Baw Baw, and is home to the shire council’s headquarters despite being the second-largest town in the shire, behind neighbouring Warragul. The town’s name is believed to be an Aboriginal word meaning "north wind". New housing developments have accelerated the town's residential growth in recent years. As at the 2016 census, Drouin had a population of 11,887 people.
Moe is a town in the Latrobe Valley in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. It is approximately 130 kilometres east of the central business district of Melbourne, 45 kilometres due south of the peak of Mount Baw Baw in the Great Dividing Range and features views of the Baw Baw Ranges to the north and Strzelecki Ranges to the south.
Newry is a town in Victoria, Australia, located on Newry - Boisdale Road, north west of Maffra, in the Shire of Wellington. The town had a population in 2016 of 427 people.
Boisdale is a town in the Central Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia, located on Briagolong Road, north of Maffra, in the Shire of Wellington. At the 2016 census, Boisdale and the surrounding area had a population of 275. It is a small town in the heart of Gippsland's dairying distinct. Boisdale includes not only the town itself, but the area surrounding the town, comprising mostly dairy and vegetable farms. It is situated approximately 9 km north of the larger town of Maffra. Boisdale is 176 km east of Australia's second largest city, Melbourne, the capital of Victoria.
Rosedale is a pastoral and agricultural town 184 kilometres east of Melbourne via the Princes Highway. It is situated on the southern side of the LaTrobe River. Once a staging post on the Port Albert to Sale and Port Albert to Walhalla coach runs, it was the administrative centre of the Shire of Rosedale which extended to the east and included the Ninety Mile Beach. It is now part of the Wellington Shire centred in Sale. At the 2006 census, Rosedale had a population of 1,077. The town is in the area of Gippsland explored separately by the Scotsman, Angus McMillan, and the Polish aristocrat, Count Paul von Strzelecki, in 1840. A memorial to McMillan is located in Rosedale, and one to Strzelecki near Traralgon to the west. Strzelecki named the region Gippsland after Governor Gipps.
The area known as Central Gippsland, also termed North Gippsland, is a region of Gippsland in Victoria, Australia, roughly corresponding to Shire of Wellington. Often this region is considered part of a larger "East Gippsland".
The Gippsland League is an Australian rules football and netball league in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. It is considered the only AFL Victoria major league in Gippsland.
The Shire of Maffra was a local government area about 20 kilometres (12 mi) north-northwest of Sale, the major regional centre in central Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of 4,167.43 square kilometres (1,609.1 sq mi), and existed from 1875 until 1994.
The Gippsland Plains Rail Trail is a 67 km recreational trail following the former historic Gippsland Plains railway line/ Maffra railway line route between Traralgon and Stratford in Central Gippsland, Victoria. The trail passes through dairy country, the foothills of the Great Dividing Range to the north, and across the Great Gippsland Plains.
Churchill is a town in the Latrobe Valley, located in central Gippsland in the east of Victoria, Australia. The town had a population of 4,568 at the 2016 census, and is part of the Latrobe City local government area. The town was named in honour of former British prime minister Sir Winston Churchill, who had died earlier in the year the town's establishment was announced.
The Sale Football Netball Club, nicknamed the Magpies, is an Australian rules football and netball club based in Sale, Victoria and are based at the Sale Oval.
Media related to Maffra, Victoria at Wikimedia Commons