Tatura Tatura is a town in the Goulburn Valley region of Victoria , Australia . The town is in the City of Greater Shepparton local government area , north of the state capital , Melbourne and west of the regional centre of Shepparton . At the 2006 census , Tatura had a population of 3 , 533 . With a large corporate and manufacturing presence within the town , Tatura is a major employer within the Goulburn Valley . Organisations include Tatura Milk Industries , Goulburn - Murray Water ' s corporate headquarters , Sinclair Knight Merz , Department of Primary Industries ( Victoria ) , as well as major regional processing plants for multinational corporations such as Unilever and Snow Brand Milk Products . Attractions include the Cussen Park wetlands and the Wartime Camps and Irrigation Museum . The name of the town is an Aboriginal word meaning " small lagoon . " History . The Post Office opened on 1 February 1875 . World War II internment camps . Several internment camps were set up around Tatura , Rushworth and Murchison ( Dhurringile ) during World War II . Four of these were for civilians , and 3 were for prisoners of war . There were 10 , 000 to 13 , 000 people in the camps at different times from 1940 to 1947 . Before the war , Britain was home to around 73 , 000 Germans , who had left Germany due to the rising tensions and the rise of the Nazi regime in the country . Many of these were also young male Germans who had been in schools in Britain before the outbreak of WWII . It was believed that many of these refugees were spies , and were shipped out of the country , predominantly to Australia on the HMT Dunera and Canada . In 1941 , German Templers were shipped from Palestine and interned for the duration of the war , which led to the establishment of the Temple Society Australia . After arriving in Australia on 25 August 1941 , The Templer ' s established themselves in Camp 3 in Tatura . They were experienced in Interned living from their previous internment in World War I ( which lasted until the late 1920s ) , and established a School and a Kindergarten , and established work routines to prevent depression in the camp . After the War , the majority of Templer families remained in Australia . In 1941 , Major Julian Layton arrived from England on a mission . Layton , a Jew like many of the Dunera Boys , managed to secure the release of many of them if they enlisted in the British or Australian Army . At the end of the war all of the Dunera Boys were released . The crew of the German auxiliary cruiser " Kormoran " were also interned following the battle between HMAS " Sydney " and HSK " Kormoran " . 351 German civilians and servicemen who died during internment ( WWI and WWII ) are buried in the Tatura German Military Cemetery . There were also German detainees from the Anglo - Soviet invasion of Iran . Agriculture . The Tatura Show is held yearly in March and International Dairy Week ( which is the second largest dairy show in the Southern Hemisphere ) in January each year attracting over 6 , 000 exhibitors , vendors and onlookers from Australia as well as overseas . Food . Tatura Hot Bread has won prizes in the Professional Section of The Great Australian Vanilla Slice Triumph in 2006 and again in 2007 . The Taste of Tatura Food and Wine Festival is held on the first Sunday in March drawing many of the regions locals . Sport . Tatura has many sporting facilities located within the town , including Australian Rules football ovals , Soccer fields , Cricket pitches , Tennis courts , Lawn Bowls greens , a multipurpose Indoor Stadium and the 18 - hole Golf course of the Hilltop Golf Club . The town has an Australian Rules football team competing in the Goulburn Valley Football League , the Tatura Bulldogs . Tatura has a horse racing club , the Tatura & Shepparton Racing Club , which schedules around eight race meetings a year including the Tatura Cup meeting in March or April . Education . Tatura has three primary schools serving both the town and surrounding areas . Tatura Primary School is a Public School located south of the town ' s main street whilst Sacred Heart School and Bethel Christian College are both private schools located within the town ' s centre . Due to Tatura ' s close proximity to Shepparton secondary education options include Notre Dame College , Shepparton , Wanganui Park Secondary College , Goulburn Valley Grammar School , Mooroopna Secondary College , Shepparton High School or McGuire Secondary College . Tatura is located 20 minutes from La Trobe University Shepparton Campus as well as the Goulburn Ovens Institute of TAFE which both offer a range of tertiary and TAFE courses for the Goulburn Valley . Media . The main print publications distributed within Tatura include the daily Shepparton News , the Tatura Guardian ( released weekly ) , and the Tatura Bulletin ( released monthly ) . Milk . Tatura has an extensive dairy farming industry , mainly made up of Lang Dairies . They have won many awards , including the Trans - Tasmanian Dairy Farm of the Year .