 |
| Broadcast area | Kimberley region |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 675 kHz AM |
| Programming | |
| Format | Talk |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Australian Broadcasting Corporation |
| History | |
First air date | 1990 |
| Technical information | |
Transmitter coordinates | 17°57′15.18″S122°14′24.18″E / 17.9542167°S 122.2400500°E |
| Links | |
| Website | https://www.abc.net.au/kimberley/ |
ABC Kimberley is an ABC Local Radio station based in Broome, Western Australia, owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Its callsign is 6BE and it transmits on AM.
Before 1986, the ABC did not have any presence in the north west of Western Australia, until the construction of 6KP Karratha. As a result, the ABC realised no presence had been created in the Kimberley, and thus plans were made to trial a twelve-month ABC station based in Broome broadcasting to the region.
The station officially opened on 26 January 1990, with sole employee George Manning broadcasting from a small back-studio on 14 Napier Terrace in Broome. After the station's success, the station became a permanent broadcasting facility in 1991. In 1994 plans were made to find a new presenter to present the Kimberley Mornings program, and Desiree Sutherland, fresh out of an ABC cadetship in Sydney, got the job. More staff joined through the years, and the station assisted in creating Aboriginal community radio stations across the Kimberley.
In 1997, a new outpost administered by Broome was established in the East Kimberley town of Kununurra. The studio was located in a back bedroom on a house at 14 Sandalwood Street. Greg Hayes was the debutant reporter based there, before Matt Brann took over the reins in 2007. While the Broome studio was sturdy, it suffered a few leaks during emergency cyclone broadcasting, with water seeping down the walls and onto the floor.
In the late-2000s, plans were made to fit out two new studios in Broome and Kununurra and have both studios move there. The Sandalwood Street studio, while today still owned by the ABC, was stripped bare in 2010, and in 2011, ABC Kimberley moved to new premises on 23 Hammersley Street in Broome, and to 114b Coolibah Drive in Kununurra.
Western Australia is a state of Australia occupying the western 33 percent of the land area of Australia, excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, 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 2,527,013 square kilometres (975,685 sq mi). It is the second-largest country subdivision in the world, surpassed only by Russia's Sakha Republic. As of 2021, the state has 2.76 million inhabitants—11 percent of the national total. The vast majority live in the south-west corner; 79 percent of the population lives in the Perth area, leaving the remainder of the state sparsely populated.
Broome, also known as Rubibi by the Yawuru people, is a coastal pearling and tourist town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, 2,046 km (1,271 mi) north of Perth. The town recorded a population of 14,660 in the 2021 census. It is the largest town in the Kimberley region.
Kununurra is a town in far northern Western Australia located at the eastern extremity of the Kimberley approximately 45 kilometres (28 mi) from the border with the Northern Territory. Kununurra was initiated to service the Ord River Irrigation Scheme. It's language is Miriwoong.
The Kimberley is the northernmost of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is bordered on the west by the Indian Ocean, on the north by the Timor Sea, on the south by the Great Sandy and Tanami deserts in the region of the Pilbara, and on the east by the Northern Territory.
ABC Radio Melbourne is an ABC Local Radio station in Melbourne, Australia. It began transmission on 13 October 1924, and was Melbourne's second licensed radio station after 3AR.
The NORFORCE is an infantry regiment of the Australian Army Reserve. Formed in 1981, the regiment is one of three Regional Force Surveillance Units (RFSUs) employed in surveillance and reconnaissance of the remote areas of Northern Australia. It consists of a regimental headquarters, four surveillance squadrons, and an operational support squadron and training squadron.
Derby is a town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. At the 2016 census, Derby had a population of 3,325 with 47.2% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent. Along with Broome and Kununurra, it is one of only three towns in the Kimberley to have a population over 2,000. Located on King Sound, Derby has the highest tides in Australia, with the differential between low and high tide reaching 11.8 metres (39 ft).
The Ord River is a 651-kilometre long (405 mi) river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The river's catchment covers 55,100 square kilometres (21,274 sq mi).
ABC Radio Brisbane is an ABC Local Radio station in Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of the largest stations in the network, serving as a base for Queensland programming – many programs are broadcast across the ABC Local Radio network in regional and rural areas of Queensland when those stations are not carrying local programming.
Fitzroy Crossing is a small town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, 400 kilometres (250 mi) east of Broome and 300 kilometres (190 mi) west of Halls Creek. It is approximately 2,524 kilometres (1,568 mi) from the state capital of Perth. It is 114 metres (374 ft) above sea level and is situated on a low rise surrounded by the vast floodplains of the Fitzroy River and its tributary Margaret River.
Elizabeth Durack Clancy CMG, OBE was a Western Australian artist and writer.
Kimberley is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, located in the state's far north and named after the Kimberley region. The electorate has one of the highest Aboriginal enrolments of any seat in the Parliament.
Pearling in Western Australia includes the harvesting and farming of both pearls and pearl shells along the north-western coast of Western Australia.
Carol Anne Martin is a former Australian politician who served as a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia between 2001 and 2013, representing the seat of Kimberley. She was the first Aboriginal woman to be elected to any Australian parliament.
Stephen "Baamba" Albert was an Indigenous Australian actor and singer. He starred in the musicals Bran Nue Dae and Corrugation Road.
Ivanhoe or Ivanhoe Station is a pastoral lease and cattle station located just north of Kununurra in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Founded in 1893 by the Durack brothers, station is presently owned by the Consolidated Pastoral Company.
Main Roads Western Australia controls the major roads in the state's Kimberley region. Great Northern Highway is the major road connection through the region, with sealed roads spurring off it to connect to population centres, and unsealed roads offering an alternative route between Derby and Wyndham.
Severe Tropical Cyclone Kelvin was a strong tropical cyclone that impacted Western Australia in February 2018, causing moderate damage. The system was first identified as a weak tropical low on the morning of 11 February over the Northern Territory's Tiwi Islands by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM). The low moved southwestwards over land and emerged over the Indian Ocean near Broome on 16 February. The storm intensified into a Category 1 tropical cyclone on the following day, becoming the sixth named storm of the 2017–18 Australian region cyclone season. Kelvin subsequently moved slowly eastwards and began to rapidly intensify in the hours prior to landfall. On 18 February, the storm crossed the coast along Eighty Mile Beach as a Category 3 severe tropical cyclone on the Australian scale, and a high-end Category 1 hurricane-equivalent cyclone on the Saffir–Simpson scale. Despite being over land, Kelvin weakened at a slow rate over the next few days, and was downgraded to a tropical low on 19 February. The remnant low of the system drifted over the Outback before being last noted by BoM on 21 February.
Aviair Pty Ltd, previously known as Slingair Heliwork, is an airline and air charter company based in Kununurra, Western Australia. It operates air charter services and regular passenger services. Its main bases are Kununurra Airport, Broome International Airport and Karratha Airport.