| Collie Western Australia | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Main street of Collie | |||||||||||||||
  Collie | |||||||||||||||
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| Coordinates | 33°21′47″S 116°09′22″E / 33.363°S 116.156°E | ||||||||||||||
| Population | 7,184 (UCL 2021)[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Established | 1897 | ||||||||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 6225 | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation | 204 m (669 ft)[2] | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 53.4 km2 (20.6 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Location | |||||||||||||||
| LGA(s) | Shire of Collie | ||||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Collie-Preston | ||||||||||||||
| Federal division(s) | O'Connor | ||||||||||||||
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Collie is a town in the South West region of Western Australia, 213 kilometres (132 mi) south of the state capital, Perth, and 59 kilometres (37 mi) inland from the regional city and port of Bunbury. It is near the junction of the Collie and Harris Rivers, in the middle of dense jarrah forest and the only coalfields in Western Australia. At the 2021 census, Collie had a population of 7,599.[3]
Collie is mainly known as a coal-producing centre, but also offers industrial, agricultural and aquaculture tourism industries. Muja Power Station is located east of the town, and to its west is the Wellington Dam, a popular location for fishing, swimming and boating.
The town is named after the river on which it is situated. James Stirling named the Collie River, which in turn is named after Alexander Collie. He and William Preston were the first Europeans to explore the area, in 1829.[4]
It has been reported that coal was discovered in the area by a shepherd named George Marsh in the early 1880s.[5] The townsite was surveyed and gazetted in 1897.[6] The first coal mine opened in 1927.
Collie was once referred to as a "dirty mining town",[7] but on 8 April 2006 it won the Australian Tidy Towns Competition from finalists from six states and the Northern Territory.[8] Collie was named the top Tidy Town because of the commitment of the community to recycling, waste management, beautification and community projects.
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Collie (urban centre and locality)". Australian Census 2021.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
abmwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Collie (WA) (Suburbs and Localities)". 2021 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
Material was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
- ^ "History of country town names – C". Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 14 March 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
- ^ Pancia, Anthony (11 March 2021). "Between a black rock and a hard place". ABC News. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
- ^ "History of country town names – C". Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 14 March 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2010.
- ^ Sustainability DoE Issue 9. Retrieved 2 November 2006.[dead link]
- ^ 2006 Tidy Town Media Release Archived 19 August 2006 at the Wayback Machine www.collie.wa.gov.au. Retrieved 13 August 2006.
