List of disasters in Australia by death toll
Significant incidents resulting in fewer than 10 deaths
Table:
Disaster
Location
Deaths
Date
Notes

Bushfire
Gippsland, Victoria
9
1932 Feb 4
Locations affected included Gilderoy, Noojee and Erica in North Gippsland. Worst incident was at Erica where six people were killed.[229]

Bushfire
Longwood, Victoria
9
1965 Jan 17-19
Death toll included seven members of one family who were lost when their car crashed and was engulfed in the fires.[230]

Rail accident
Violet Town, Victoria
9
1969 Feb 7
Violet Town rail accident. Head-on collision after driver died at controls.[231]

Fire
Kings Cross, New South Wales
9
1981 Aug
Rembrandt Apartments Hostel Fire. Fire.[232]

Massacre
Melbourne
9
1987 Dec 8
Queen Street massacre. Shooting massacre

Air accident
Williamtown, New South Wales–Lord Howe Island
9
1994 Oct 2
Seaview Air Aero Commander 690 crashes between Williamtown, NSW and Lord Howe Island.[233]

Fire
Kew, Victoria
9
1996 Apr 8
Kew Cottages fire. Fire at a Melbourne home for the disabled kills nine men. Coronial inquest in 1997 finds there was no proper fire safety system in place at the time of the fire.

Landslide
Gracetown, Western Australia
9
1996 Sep 27
5 adults and 4 children died when a cliff face collapsed at Cowaramup Bay near Gracetown (Margaret River)[234][235]

Bushfire
Eyre Peninsula, South Australia
9
2005 Jan 11
Eyre Peninsula bushfire.[236]

Storm
Melbourne, Victoria
9
2016 Nov 21
Nine people died of thunderstorm asthma and approximately 8,500 sought hospital treatment after a storm hit Melbourne.[237][238]

Insurrection
Norfolk Island
8
1834 Jan 15
Convict mutiny. Six convicts and two guards killed. 11 convicts were later executed.[239]

Civil unrest
Broome, Western Australia
8
1920 Dec 23-26
Broome Race Riots. Brawling and rioting between Japanese and Koepanger (Malay & Timorese) pearl divers.[240]

Air accident
Snowy Mountains, New South Wales
8
1931 Mar 21
Southern Cloud

Air accident
Jervis Bay, New South Wales
8
1943 Apr 14
Two RAAF Bristol Beauforts collided whilst performing demonstration flight for war correspondents on board a naval vessel.[241]

Bushfire
Wandilo, South Australia
8
1958 Apr
8 firefighters died[242]

Explosion
Sandy Bay, Tasmania
8
1974 Sept 5
8 died when newly installed boiler at Mt. St. Canice laundry breached after transport interlocks were not removed from safety valves and boiler was subsequently fired.[243]

Bushfire
Western Victoria
8
1977 Feb
Around Streatham was the worst affected area.[244]

Road accident
Near Gordonvale, Queensland
8
1987 Feb 4
Bus returning from school camp veered off-road. All of those lost were students of Cairns State High School aged 15–17. 12 more people were seriously injured. Subsequent inquests ruled that faulty brakes on the vehicle were the cause of the accident.[245]

Cyclone
Onslow & Carnarvon, Western Australia
8
1995 Feb 24-26
Cyclone Bobby. Seven of the deaths occurred when two fishing trawlers sank near Onslow.

Air accident
Off Whyalla, South Australia
8
2000 May 31
Whyalla Airlines Disaster. All on board drowned, one body was never recovered.

Taking into account the following table plus the supporting evidence provided.

Give the answer to the question: What waterway borders the town that was the site of a 1969 rail accident ? Provide just your answer in a JSON object {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}. Use only the information given.

Gippsland is a rural region of Victoria , Australia , located in the south-eastern part of that state . It covers an area of 41,556 square kilometres ( 16,045 sq mi ) , and lies to the east of the eastern suburbs of Greater Melbourne , to the north of Bass Strait , to the west of the Tasman Sea , to the south of the Black-Allan Line that marks part of the Victorian/New South Wales border , and to the east and southeast of the Great Dividing Range that lies within the Hume region and the Victorian Alps . Gippsland is generally broken down into the East Gippsland , South Gippsland , West Gippsland , and the Latrobe Valley statistical divisions . As at the 2016 Australian census , Gippsland had a population of 271,266 , with the principal population centres of the region , in descending order of population , being Traralgon , Moe , Warragul , Morwell , Sale , Bairnsdale , Drouin , Leongatha , and Phillip Island . Gippsland is best known for its primary production such as mining , power generation and farming as well as its tourist destinations - Phillip Island , Wilsons Promontory , the Gippsland Lakes , Walhalla , the Baw Baw Plateau , and the Strzelecki Ranges .
Gilderoy is a bounded rural locality in Victoria , Australia , on the Yarra Junction Noojee Road to the west of Powelltown . Its local government area is the Shire of Yarra Ranges .
Noojee is a town in the Gippsland region of Victoria , Australia , north of Warragul and east of Melbourne , in the Baw Baw local government area . At the 2016 census , Noojee and the surrounding area had a population of 157 . The town benefits from tourists passing through to the Mount Baw Baw Alpine Resort , 48 kilometres away , as it is the last stop with tourism services . There are also a number of walks in the area , including the Noojee Trestle Bridge , a 100m wooden rail bridge . It was first settled after gold was found in the area in the 1860s . Noojee became a major timber town when the railway connected the town to Warragul in 1919 . Noojee Post Office opened on 3 May 1920 , though an earlier office had been open between 1902 and 1904 . The town was destroyed by bushfires in 1926 and again in the Black Friday fires of 1939 . The only building left standing after both fires was the Noojee Hotel which served as community meeting point during the emergency . The hotel also served as the school after the one room school was destroyed . Noojee is an Aboriginal word meaning valley of or place of rest . Noojee is widely well known for its great trout fishing .
Erica is a town in Victoria , Australia , on Rawson Road , in the Shire of Baw Baw . The area was generally known as Upper Moondarra in the early 1900s , the township of Erica beginning to grow after construction of the railway line from Moe to Walhalla , which passed through the area . When the station opened in 1910 it was named Harris , but had been renamed Erica after a nearby mountain by 1914 . As a consequence , the Post Office opened on 14 July 1910 as Upper Moondarra and was renamed Erica in 1914 . The township of Erica lived mainly from forestry and agriculture , and owing to Walhalla 's decline by the 1920s was the largest town on the Moe-Walhalla railway . The section of line past Erica closed to traffic in 1944 , save for occasional goods services to Platina station , and the line from Moe to Erica closed completely in 1954 . Erica still maintains agricultural and timber industry connections , as well as being a service town for local tourist destinations such as the Thomson Dam , the Walhalla Goldfields Railway , Mount Baw Baw and Mount St Gwinear . The history of the town and surrounding area is the focus of the Erica and District Historical Society , located in the old Rawson Police Station . At the 2011 census , Erica and the surrounding area had a population of 324 . The newer town of Rawson is located a few kilometres away .
Longwood is a town in northern Victoria , Australia . The town is located in the Shire of Strathbogie local government area , 149 kilometres ( 93 mi ) from the state capital , Melbourne . At the 2016 census , Longwood and the surrounding area had a population of 240 .
Violet Town is a town in northeastern Victoria , Australia . The town is in the Shire of Strathbogie local government area , 174 kilometres ( 108 mi ) northeast of the state capital , Melbourne on the Hume Highway . At the 2016 census , Violet Town and district ( Honeysuckle Ward ) had a population of 1,540 . The town is on Honeysuckle Creek and has many early streets named after flowers , e.g . Lily Street , Rose Street , Orchid Street , Tulip Street , and Iris Lane . Violet Town and District is bounded by Arcadia-Tamleugh Road , Clancy Road , Honeysuckle Creek , Fishers Lane , Bridge Road , Camerons Road , Croxfords Road , Dookie-Violet Town Road and the Broken River in the north , Benalla Rural City , Leggat Lane , Baddaginnie-Goomalibee Road , Depot Road , McPherson Road , McEwan Lane and Benalla Rural City in the east , the localities of Strathbogie , Kelvin View and Euroa , Collier Road and Lawrence Road in the south , and Moglonemby Road , Murchison-Violet Town Road and Violet Town Boundary Road in the west .
The Violet Town rail accident , also known as the Southern Aurora disaster , was a railway accident that occurred on 7 February 1969 following the incapacitation of the driver of one of the trains , near the McDiarmids Road crossing , approximately 1 km south of Violet Town , Victoria , Australia . The crash resulted in nine deaths and 117 injuries .
Kings Cross is an inner-city locality of Sydney , New South Wales , Australia . It is located approximately 2 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district , in the local government area of the City of Sydney . It is bounded by the suburbs of Potts Point , Elizabeth Bay , Rushcutters Bay and Darlinghurst . Colloquially known as The Cross , the area was once known for its music halls and grand theatres . It was rapidly transformed after World War II by the influx of troops returning and visiting from the nearby Garden Island naval base . It became known as Sydney 's night entertainment and red-light district , however many nightclubs , bars and adult entertainment venues closed due to the Sydney lockout laws . Today , it is a mixed locality offering both services such as a railway station , gyms , supermarket and bakeries to nearby residents and entertainment venues including bars , restaurants , nightclubs , brothels and strip clubs to visitors .
Melbourne ( /ˈmɛlbən/ ( listen ) MEL-bərn ) [ note 1 ] is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria , and the second most populous city in Australia and Oceania . Its name refers to an urban agglomeration of 9,993 km2 ( 3,858 sq mi ) , comprising a metropolitan area with 31 municipalities , and is also the common name for its city centre . The city occupies much of the coastline of Port Phillip bay and spreads into the hinterlands towards the Dandenong and Macedon ranges , Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley . It has a population of 5 million ( 19% of the population of Australia ) , and its inhabitants are referred to as Melburnians . [ note 2 ] The city was founded on 30 August 1835 , in the then-British colony of New South Wales , by free settlers from the colony of Van Diemens Land ( modern-day Tasmania ) . It was incorporated as a Crown settlement in 1837 , and named Melbourne by Governor General Richard Bourke on 10 April 1837 in honour of the British Prime Minister , William Lamb , 2nd Viscount Melbourne . In 1851 , four years after Queen Victoria declared it a city , Melbourne became the capital of the new colony of Victoria . In the wake of the 1850s Victorian gold rush , the city entered a lengthy boom period that , by the late 1880s , had transformed it into one of the world 's largest and wealthiest metropolises . After the federation of Australia in 1901 , it served as interim seat of government of the new nation until Canberra became the permanent capital in 1927 . Today , it is a leading financial centre in the Asia-Pacific region and ranks 15th in the Global Financial Centres Index . Melbourne is home to many of Australia 's best-known landmarks , such as the Melbourne Cricket Ground , the National Gallery of Victoria and the World Heritage-listed Royal Exhibition Building . It is also the birthplace of Australian impressionism , Australian rules football , and the Australian film and television industries .
The Queen Street massacre was a spree-killing that occurred on 8 December 1987 at the Australia Post offices at 191 Queen Street in Melbourne , Victoria . University dropout Frank Vitkovic entered the building on the pretext of visiting a friend , and fired on office workers at random with an illegally modified M1 carbine , killing eight and injuring five . After being disarmed , he jumped from an 11th-floor window and died from impact . Several possible motives were suggested . He had once received counselling . He had failed to build relationships with girls . His tennis-playing success had been interrupted by a serious knee injury . And the results of a Scientology test revealed that he had hit rock bottom , which may have worsened his depression .
Newcastle Airport ( IATA : NTL , ICAO : YWLM ) is 15 kilometres ; 9.2 miles ( 8 NM ) north of Newcastle , New South Wales ( 27 km ( 17 mi ) by road ) in Port Stephens . It is the 13th busiest airport in Australia , handling over 1.25 million passengers in the year ended 30 June 2017 , an increase of 6.6% on the previous year . The airport occupies a 28 ha ( 69-acre ) site on the southern border of RAAF Base Williamtown .
Lord Howe Island ( /haʊ/ ; formerly Lord Howe 's Island ) is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand , 600 km ( 320 nmi ) directly east of mainland Port Macquarie , 780 km ( 420 nmi ) northeast of Sydney , and about 900 km ( 490 nmi ) southwest of Norfolk Island . It is about 10 km ( 6.2 mi ) long and between 0.3 and 2.0 km ( 0.19 and 1.24 mi ) wide with an area of 14.55 km2 ( 3,600 acres ) , though just 3.98 km2 ( 980 acres ) of that comprise the low-lying developed part of the island . Along the west coast is a sandy semi-enclosed sheltered coral reef lagoon . Most of the population lives in the north , while the south is dominated by forested hills rising to the highest point on the island , Mount Gower ( 875 m , 2,871 ft ) . The Lord Howe Island Group comprises 28 islands , islets , and rocks . Apart from Lord Howe Island itself , the most notable of these is the volcanic and uninhabited Ball 's Pyramid about 23 km ( 14 mi ; 12 nmi ) to the southeast of Howe . To the North lies a cluster of seven small uninhabited islands called the Admiralty Group . The first reported sighting of Lord Howe Island took place on 17 February 1788 , when Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball , commander of the Armed Tender HMS Supply , was en route from Botany Bay to found a penal settlement on Norfolk Island . On the return journey , Ball sent a party ashore on Lord Howe Island to claim it as a British possession . It subsequently became a provisioning port for the whaling industry , and was permanently settled in June 1834 . When whaling declined , the 1880s saw the beginning of the worldwide export of the endemic kentia palms , which remains a key component of the Island 's economy . The other continuing industry , tourism , began after World War II ended in 1945 .
The Aero Commander 500 family is a series of light-twin piston-engined and turboprop aircraft originally built by the Aero Design and Engineering Company in the late 1940s , renamed the Aero Commander company in 1950 , and a division of Rockwell International from 1965 . The initial production version was the 200-mph , seven-seat Aero Commander 520 . An improved version , the 500S , manufactured after 1967 , is known as the Shrike Commander . Larger variants are known by numerous model names and designations , ranging up to the 330-mph , 11-seat Model 695B/Jetprop 1000B turboprop .
Kew is an inner suburb of Melbourne , Australia , 5 km east from Melbourne 's Central Business District . Its local government area is the City of Boroondara . At the 2016 Census , Kew had a population of 24,605 . Kew used to be a city in its own right . But in 1994 the cities of Kew , Hawthorn and Camberwell were amalgamated to form the City of Boroondara . The suburb borders the Yarra River to the west and north , with Hawthorn to its south and Balwyn to its east .
Kew Cottages aka Kew Idiot Asylum , Kew Idiot Ward , Kew Children 's Cottages and finally as Kew Residential Services is a decommissioned special development school and residential service located in Kew , an eastern suburb of Melbourne , Victoria , Australia . The Children 's Cottages at Kew were first opened in 1887 as the Idiot Ward of Kew Asylum . Located on the asylum 's grounds , the children 's cottages were established to provide separate accommodation for child inmates who had previously been housed with adult patients . Although the Cottages only admitted children as patients , many of those children remained in residence at the Cottages as adults . The function of the institution was to provide accommodation and educational instruction for intellectually disabled children . Some Wards of the State and other various difficult children were also admitted . Shortly after opening , the Idiot Ward began functioning separately from the Kew Lunatic Asylum , and became known as the Kew Idiot Asylum from 1887 until c.1929 . From 1929 they have been known as the Children 's Cottages , Kew or alternatively Kew Cottages Training Centre . The institution was finally closed in July 2008 , after the grounds were redeveloped from 2001 to October 2006 .
Gracetown is a small town in Western Australia . It is located 269 kilometres ( 167 mi ) south of the Perth central business district , and 21.5 kilometres ( 13.4 mi ) north-west of the township of Margaret River in the Augusta-Margaret River Shire Council area on the coast at Cowaramup Bay .
The Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia . It is bounded on the east by Spencer Gulf , the west by the Great Australian Bight , and the north by the Gawler Ranges . It is named after explorer Edward John Eyre who explored parts of the peninsula in 1839-1841 . The coastline was first charted by the expeditions of Matthew Flinders in 1801-1802 and French explorer Nicolas Baudin around the same time . The peninsula 's economy is primarily agricultural , with growing aquaculture , mining and tourism sectors . The main townships are Port Lincoln in the south , Whyalla and Port Augusta in the north east , and Ceduna in the northwest .
South Australia ( abbreviated as SA ) is a state in the southern central part of Australia . It covers some of the most arid parts of the country . With a total land area of 983,482 square kilometres ( 379,725 sq mi ) , it is the fourth-largest of Australia 's states and territories by area , and fifth largest by population . It has a total of 1.7 million people , and its population is the second most highly centralised in Australia , after Western Australia , with more than 77 percent of South Australians living in the capital , Adelaide , or its environs . Other population centres in the state are relatively small ; Mount Gambier , the second largest centre , has a population of 28,684 . South Australia shares borders with all of the other mainland states , and with the Northern Territory ; it is bordered to the west by Western Australia , to the north by the Northern Territory , to the north-east by Queensland , to the east by New South Wales , to the south-east by Victoria , and to the south by the Great Australian Bight . The state comprises less than 8 percent of the Australian population and ranks fifth in population among the six states and two territories . The majority of its people reside in greater Metropolitan Adelaide . Most of the remainder are settled in fertile areas along the south-eastern coast and River Murray . The state 's colonial origins are unique in Australia as a freely settled , planned British province , rather than as a convict settlement . Colonial government commenced on 28 December 1836 , when the members of the council were sworn in near the Old Gum Tree . [ citation needed ] As with the rest of the continent , the region has a long history of human occupation by numerous tribes and languages .
The Eyre Peninsula bushfire of 2005 , an event also known locally as Black Tuesday and by South Australian Government agencies as the Wangary bushfire , was a bushfire that occurred during January 2005 on the lower part of the Eyre Peninsula , a significant part of South Australia 's wheat belt , where most of the land is either cropped or grazed . The fire resulted in 780 square kilometres ( 301 sq mi ) of land being burnt , the loss of nine lives , injury to another 115 people , and huge property damage . It was South Australia 's worst bushfire since the Ash Wednesday fires of 1983 . Heat from the fire reached 1,000 °C ( 1,830 °F ) , with speeds up to 100 kilometres per hour ( 62 mph ) .
Victoria ( abbreviated as Vic ) is a state in south-eastern Australia . Victoria is Australia 's smallest mainland state and its second-most populous state ( after New South Wales ) , making it the most densely populated state . Most of its population lives concentrated in the area surrounding Port Phillip Bay , which includes the metropolitan area of its state capital and largest city , Melbourne , Australia 's second-largest city . Victoria is bordered by Bass Strait and Tasmania to the south , [ note 1 ] New South Wales to the north , the Tasman Sea ( a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean ) to the east , and South Australia to the west . The area that is now known as Victoria is the home of many Aboriginal people groups , including the Boon wurrung , the Bratauolung , the Djadjawurrung , the Gunai/Kurnai , the Gunditjmara , the Taungurong , the Wathaurong , the Wurundjeri , and the Yorta Yorta . There were more than 30 Aboriginal languages spoken in the area prior to the European settlement of Australia . The Kulin nation is an alliance of five Aboriginal nations which makes up much of the central part of the state . With Great Britain having claimed the half of the Australian continent that is east of the 135th meridian east in 1788 , Victoria formed part of the wider colony of New South Wales . The first European settlement in the area occurred in 1803 at Sullivan Bay , and much of what is now Victoria was included in 1836 in the Port Phillip District , an administrative division of New South Wales . Named in honour of Queen Victoria , who signed the division 's separation from New South Wales , the colony was officially established in 1851 and achieved self government in 1855 . The Victorian gold rush in the 1850s and 1860s significantly increased both the population and wealth of the colony , and by the time of the Federation of Australia in 1901 , Melbourne had become the largest city and leading financial centre in Australasia . Melbourne served as federal capital of Australia until the construction of Canberra in 1927 , with the Federal Parliament meeting in Melbourne 's Parliament House and all principal offices of the federal government being based in Melbourne .
Thunderstorm asthma is the triggering of an asthma attack by environmental conditions directly caused by a local thunderstorm . It has been proposed that during a thunderstorm , pollen grains can absorb moisture and then burst into much smaller fragments with these fragments being easily dispersed by wind . While larger pollen grains are usually filtered by hairs in the nose , the smaller pollen fragments are able to pass through and enter the lungs , triggering the asthma attack .
Norfolk Island ( /ˈnɔːrfək/ , locally /ˈnɔːrfoʊk/ ; Norfuk : Norf ' k Ailen ) , an Australian external territory , is located in the Pacific Ocean between Australia , New Zealand , and New Caledonia , 1,412 kilometres ( 877 mi ) directly east of mainland Australia 's Evans Head , and about 900 kilometres ( 560 mi ) from Lord Howe Island . Norfolk Island , together with the two neighbouring islands Phillip Island and Nepean Island , form the Territory of Norfolk Island , one of the Commonwealth of Australia 's external territories . At the 2016 Australian census , it had 1748 inhabitants living on a total area of about 35 km2 ( 14 sq mi ) . Its capital is Kingston .
Broome , traditionally known as Rubibi by the Jaburu people , is a coastal , pearling and tourist town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia , 1,681 km ( 1,045 mi ) north of Perth . The urban population was 14,445 in June 2018 growing to over 45,000 per month during the peak tourist season ( June to August ) .
A series of riots involving some members of the Japanese and Indonesian ( mainly from Kupang in Timor ) communities took place in Broome , a town in northern Western Australia in December 1920 . At the time of the riots , Broome - a town of around 5,000 people - had an ethnically diverse population with whites ( European Australians ) , a minority of 900 . The industry of the town was mostly based on pearl fishing , and the majority of the town worked in this occupation . The Japanese had established themselves as a tight knit community , and were successful in the pearling business . The background to the racial violence was based around the layoff period , in December 1920 . This was a period in the pearling season when diving stopped and crews were laid off until the next season , generally resulting with the crews being let at loose ends in the town . There had previously been race based violence between the Japanese and the Koepanger population in 1907 and 1914 . The Japanese had attained a high position in the social ladder in Broome , and often used this against the Koepanger population who were generally not as fortunate . The exact origins of the start of the conflict was unclear , but the a number of small fights broke out between the two groups . The Koepangers were smaller in stature and number , only 400 of them while there were 2000 Japanese . While the European population were celebrating Christmas , tension spread , and more violence occurred , eventually resulting in a death . The police tried to quell the disturbances , eventually having to fire warning shots against crowds of up to 400 Japanese , some of whom were armed with guns .
The Snowy Mountains , known informally as The Snowies , is an IBRA subregion and the highest mountain range on the continent of mainland Australia . It contains the Australian mainland 's highest mountain , Mount Kosciuszko , which reaches to a height of 2,228 m ( 7,310 ft ) above sea level . The range also contains the five highest peaks on the Australian mainland ( including Mount Kosciuszko ) , all of which are above 2,100 m ( 6,890 ft ) . They are located in southern New South Wales and are part of the larger Australian Alps and Great Dividing Range . Unusual for Australia , the mountain range experiences large natural snowfalls every winter . Snow normally falls during June , July , August and early September , with the snow cover melting by late spring . The Tasmanian highlands makes up the other ( major ) alpine region present in Australia . The range is host to the mountain plum-pine , a low-lying type of conifer . It is considered to be one of the centres of the Australian ski industry during the winter months , with all four snow resorts in New South Wales being located in the region . The Alpine Way and Snowy Mountains Highway are the major roads through the Snowy Mountains region .
New South Wales ( abbreviated as NSW ) is a state on the east coast of Australia . It borders Queensland to the north , Victoria to the south , and South Australia to the west . Its coast borders the Coral and Tasman Seas to the east . The Australian Capital Territory is an enclave within the state . New South Wales ' state capital is Sydney , which is also Australia 's most populous city . In March 2019 [ update ] , the population of New South Wales was over 8 million , making it Australia 's most populous state . Just under two-thirds of the state 's population , 5.1 million , live in the Greater Sydney area . Inhabitants of New South Wales are referred to as New South Welshmen . The Colony of New South Wales was founded as a British penal colony in 1788 . It originally comprised more than half of the Australian mainland with its western boundary set at 129th meridian east in 1825 . The colony then also included the island territories of New Zealand , Van Diemen 's Land , Lord Howe Island , and Norfolk Island . During the 19th century , most of the colony 's area was detached to form separate British colonies that eventually became New Zealand and the various states and territories of Australia .
The Southern Cloud , registered VH-UMF , was one of five Avro 618 Ten three-engined aircraft flying daily airline services between Australian cities for Australian National Airways in the early 1930s . On 21 March 1931 , the Southern Cloud departed at 8:10 AM from Sydney for Melbourne . On board were six passengers and two crew , including pilot Travis Shorty Shortridge . Weather conditions en route were hazardous and much worse than predicted . The aircraft never reached its destination and disappeared . The search for the missing aircraft lasted 18 days and involved over 20 aircraft . No trace of the missing aircraft was found . Airline co-owner Charles Kingsford Smith joined the search and may have flown over the crash site , but with the aircraft having burned it would be very difficult to distinguish from the air and so the discovery was n't made . It was Australia 's first major airline disaster . Australian National Airways folded later that year as a result of both this and another loss . A film inspired by the accident , Secret of the Skies , was released in 1934 . The Southern Cloud 's fate remained a mystery for 27 years until 26 October 1958 .
Jervis Bay ( /ˈdʒɜːrvɪs/ , /ˈdʒɑːr-/ ) is a 102-square-kilometre ( 39 sq mi ) oceanic bay and village on the south coast of New South Wales , Australia , said to possess the whitest sand in the world . It is surrounded by Jervis Bay and Wreck Bay . A 70-square-kilometre ( 27 sq mi ) area of land around the southern headland of the bay is a territory of the Commonwealth of Australia known as the Jervis Bay Territory . The Australian Navy base , HMAS Creswell , is in the Jervis Bay Territory between Jervis Bay Village and Greenpatch Point .
The Bristol Beaufort ( manufacturer designation Type 152 ) was a British twin-engined torpedo bomber designed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company , and developed from experience gained designing and building the earlier Blenheim light bomber . At least 1,180 Beauforts were built by Bristol and other British manufacturers . The Australian government 's Department of Aircraft Production ( DAP ) also manufactured variants of the Beaufort . These are often known collectively as the DAP Beaufort . More than 700 Australian-built Beauforts saw service with the Royal Australian Air Force in the South West Pacific theatre , where they were used until the end of the war . Beauforts first saw service with Royal Air Force Coastal Command and then the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm from 1940 . They were used as torpedo bombers , conventional bombers and mine-layers until 1942 , when they were removed from active service and were then used as trainer aircraft until being declared obsolete in 1945 . Beauforts also saw considerable action in the Mediterranean ; Beaufort squadrons based in Egypt and on Malta helped interdict Axis shipping supplying Rommel 's Deutsches Afrikakorps in North Africa . Although it was designed as a torpedo-bomber , the Beaufort was more often used as a medium day bomber . The Beaufort also flew more hours in training than on operational missions and more were lost through accidents and mechanical failures than were lost to enemy fire . The Beaufort was adapted as a long-range heavy fighter variant called the Beaufighter , which proved to be very successful and many Beaufort units eventually converted to the Beaufighter .
Wandilo is a settlement in the Australian state of South Australia . It was named after the railway station on the Mount Gambier railway line , and is recorded to mean a swamp where native companions resort . Wandilo was a junction on the railway line , 8 miles ( 13 km ) north of Mount Gambier , with a branch line to Glencoe constructed in 1904 , until it was decommissioned in 1959 then along with the Wolseley line to freight on 12 April 1995 and tourist services 1 July 2006 . [ citation needed ] The 2016 Australian census which was conducted in August 2016 reports that Wandilo had a population of 176 people . Wandilo is located within the federal division of Barker , the state electoral district of Mount Gambier and the local government area of the District Council of Grant .
Most of the land at Sandy Bay was granted to Norfolk Islanders when the colonial authorities forced them to relocate to Van Diemen 's Land in 1808 . The suburb 's long sandy beach was one of the first venues for horseracing in Tasmania 's early days . The tides had to be considered when scheduling the races to ensure there was sufficient space available . The races attracted large crowds and there was a lot of rash betting , loud shouting and uninhibited consumption of refreshments . The Queenborough Road Trust was initiated in 1861 . The Trust was created under the Cross and Bye Roads Act 1852 ( 15 Vict No.8 . ) , proposed on the 24 Nov 1860 , and held its first meeting on 22 Jan 1861 . Its purpose was to construct , maintain and regulate cross and bye roads in the Queenborough Road District . The Browns River Road District was proclaimed on 8 Nov 1852 , under the Cross and Bye Roads Act 1852 ( 15 Vict No.8 . ) and abolished on 4 Sep 1871 . The Browns River and Sandy Bay Rivulet Road District was proclaimed on 4 Sep 1871 , under the Cross and Bye Roads Act 1870 ( 33 Vict No.8 . ) and abolished on 26 Sep 1881 .
Streatham /ˈstrɛθəm/ is a town in the Western District of Victoria , Australia , located on the Glenelg Highway , 80 kilometres ( 50 mi ) west of Ballarat , in the Rural City of Ararat . At the 2016 census , Streatham had a population of 156 . Streatham is one of the earliest settlements established in the area covered by the current-day Rural City of Ararat Council . In the 1840s the site was known as Fiery Creek , after the waterway by which it is located , but was named after Streatham , London , England , in 1852 . The Post Office opened on 1 September 1844 as Fiery Creek ( Streatham from 1 January 1854 ) . Fiery Creek was the region 's first Post Office and was also a meeting place for settlers . The main industry is agriculture , a variety of crops are grown , canola , lupins , wheat , oats , triticale and barley . Sheep , fine wool , meat , and cattle are also a product of the area . On 12 February 1977 , Streatham was partially destroyed by a bushfire which was one of many that spread rapidly across the plains of Western Victoria that day . The fire left five men dead and a further seven people suffering heart attacks while defending their properties and the town . The Church , post office , community hall , shops and eighty-one homes were all destroyed in the blaze . Other fires were reported at Lismore , Tatyoon , Pura Pura , Penshurst and at Cressy .
Gordonvale is a small sugar-growing town and locality situated on the southern side of Cairns in the Cairns Region , Queensland , Australia . In the 2016 census , Gordonvale had a population of 6,671 people .
Cairns State High School ( CSHS ) is an independent public secondary school located near the centre of Cairns , North Queensland , Australia . It was founded in 1917 as an annex of Cairns Central State School and is the oldest high school in Cairns . The school caters for grades 7 though to 12 and has the capacity for 1500 enrolled students . The school motto is 'Vincit Qui Se Vincit ' ( 'He Conquers Who Conquers Himself ' ) and its executive principal is Christopher Zilm .
Onslow is a coastal town in the Pilbara region of Western Australia , 1,386 kilometres ( 861 mi ) north of Perth . It has a population of 848 people and is located within the Shire of Ashburton local government area .
Carnarvon is a coastal town situated approximately 900 kilometres ( 560 mi ) north of Perth , Western Australia . It lies at the mouth of the Gascoyne River on the Indian Ocean . The popular Shark Bay world heritage area lies to the south of the town and the Ningaloo Reef and the popular tourist town of Exmouth lie to the north . Within Carnarvon is the Mungullah Aboriginal Community . Inland , Carnarvon has strong links with the town of Gascoyne Junction and the Burringurrah Community . At the 2016 census , Carnarvon had a population of 4,426 .
Severe Tropical Cyclone Bobby set numerous monthly rainfall records in parts of the Goldfields-Esperance regions of Western Australia , dropping up to 400 mm ( 16 in ) of rain in February 1995 . The fourth named storm of the 1994-95 Australian region cyclone season , Bobby developed as a tropical low embedded within a monsoon trough situated north of the Northern Territory coastline on 19 February . The storm gradually drifted southwestward and later southward under low wind shear , strengthening enough to be assigned the name Bobby by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology ( BoM ) . The storm rapidly deepened as it approached the coast of Western Australia , and attained its peak intensity of 925 mbar ( hPa ; 27.32 inHg ) at 0900 UTC on 24 February with 10-minute maximum sustained winds of 195 km/h ( 120 mph ) . After making landfall as a somewhat weaker cyclone near Onslow , the remnants of Bobby drifted southeastward , gradually weakening , before dissipating over the southern reaches of Western Australia . Bobby inflicted minor damage throughout Western Australia , dropping copious rainfall and forcing the closure of many facilities and roads . The storm 's destruction was most severe in Onslow , where 20 residences suffered damage . Elsewhere , Bobby knocked out power and water supplies , unroofed houses , tore off rain gutters , toppled fences , and smashed windows . The flooding of a 17 km ( 11 mi ) stretch of the Eyre Highway stranded approximately 1000 vehicles , although the backup was later cleared more than a week later . Flooding disrupted mining and drilling operations throughout southwestern Australia , costing the industry upwards of $ 50 million ( 1995 AUD ; $ 38.7 million USD ) . Numerous Australian Army and State Emergency Service ( SES ) personnel were involved in cleanup and recovery efforts after the cyclone 's passage , while power and water service was restored to those cut off during the storm . Overall , the cyclone caused eight deaths and $ 11 million ( 1995 AUD ; $ 8.5 million USD ) in damage along its course across Western Australia .
Whyalla /hwaɪˈælə/ was founded as Hummocks Hill , and was known by that name until 1916 . It is the fifth most populous city in the Australian state of South Australia after Adelaide , Mount Gambier , Gawler and Mount Barker . As at June 2018 , Whyalla had an urban population of 21,742 , having declined at an average annual rate of -0.75% year-on-year over the preceding five years . It is a seaport located on the east coast of the Eyre Peninsula and is known as the Steel City due to its integrated steelworks and shipbuilding heritage . The port of Whyalla has been exporting iron ore since 1903 .
Whyalla Airlines Flight 904 was a scheduled commuter flight , operated by a Piper PA-31 Navajo which crashed while attempting to ditch in the Spencer Gulf , South Australia after suffering failures of both engines on the evening of 31 May 2000 . All 8 people on board the aircraft were killed as a result of the accident . The findings of a subsequent investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau highlighting the airline 's operating procedures as a key factor leading to the accident were later overturned after they were contradicted by evidence presented at a Coronial inquiry into the deaths of those on board the flight . The safety implications arising from the accident were subject to a recall by engine manufacturer Textron Lycoming which saw close to 1000 aircraft grounded worldwide while defects were rectified at an estimated cost of $ A66 million . Australia 's aviation regulator , the Civil Aviation Safety Authority also mandated lifejackets be carried on all aircraft operating over water after the crash .