MOREE, NEW SOUTH WALES

'Moree' is a large town in Moree Plains Shire in northern New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the banks of the Mehi River.
Moree is a major centre for the Australian cotton growing industry, located near the Newell Highway and the Gwydir Highway and can be reached by daily train service from Sydney. It is located in the Shire of Moree Plains. Like many towns and cities in Australia, Moree shares its name with a much smaller community in Northern Ireland Moree County Tyrone. At the 2001 census, Moree had a population of 9,247.^[1]
The town is served by the daily Countrylink Xplorer train service to Sydney as well as regular Qantas & REX airline service.^[2]

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★ QF2180 07:00 09:00 Weekdays & Saturday

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★ QF2186 09:25 11:25 Sunday

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★ QF2192 17:50 19:50 Weekdays & Sunday
Moree is home to artesian hot springs famous for their reputed healing qualities.

Contents

History

Notable Moree People

Media

References

History

Moree was one of the destinations of the famous 1965 Freedom Bus ride, an historic trip through northern NSW led by the late Charles Perkins to bring media attention to discrimination against Indigenous Australians. It brought racial segregation in rural Australia to the attention of urban Australians, in particular at the Moree public swimming pool as well as pubs and theatres, where Aborigines were refused entry. At the Moree swimming pool, after a confrontation with the council and pool management, it was agreed that Indigenous children could swim in the pool outside school hours.^[3] However, this was immediately reversed when the bus left Moree. Jim Spigelman, one of the Freedom riders who later became Chief Justice of the NSW Supreme Court, was king hit by a local outside the Moree baths after making sexual comments to a married woman, according to a Sydney Morning Herald report on the 40th anniversary of the Freedom Bus Rides.^[4][5]

Notable Moree People

The youngest child of English author Charles Dickens, Edward Bulwer Lytton Dickens (1852-1902) emigrated to Australia, living in Moree and became MP for Wilcannia. He is buried in Moree cemetery.^[6]
Ewan "Panda" McGrady from Moree played for the ARL side the Canterbury Bulldogs. In 1991 he received the Rothmans medal for the best and fairest player in the competition.
Mary Gaudron was the first female Justice of the High Court of Australia.
Mary Brand was the first European woman to own a shop in Moree. A replica of her shop and house are situated in Mary Brand Park in Moree. She is also buried in the Moree Cemetery.

Media

Moree is served by The Moree Champion newspaper owned by Rural Press which is published on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Radio stations 2VM and 98.3 NOW FM also broadcast from Moree. The NOW FM transmitter site is located on Mt Dowe, whilst the 2VM transmitter is located 5 kilometers east of Moree on the Gwydir Highway. Both stations are owned by the Broadcast Operations Group and broadcasts weekday breakfast and afternoon programs.
Prime Television's Tamworth station also had a News Bureau in Moree, but this was closed down in 2000 due to budget deficiencies.

References

1.
2. Flights to Moree
3. The Freedom Ride – Its Significance Today
4. Unknown
5. Violence explodes in racist rown
6. Grave Photo Link