Morawa, Western Australia
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Morawa is a town in the Mid West region of Western Australia. It is located at 29°13'S, 116°01'E, roughly 370 kilometres (230 mi) north of the state capital Perth, on the railway line between Wongan Hills and Mullewa.
Morawa is also the name of the Shire in which the town of Morawa sits. The Shire of Morawa has an area of 3,428 square kilometres, and a population of about 1050. About 600 live in the town. The area is fairly arid, with a mean annual rainfall of just 337 millimetres (15 in); and quite warm, with mean daily maximum temperatures ranging from 18°C (64°F) in July to 37°C (99°F) in January.
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[edit] History
The name Morawa is an Indigenous Australian name; it probably derives from the Morowar, the local dialect's word for the dalgite. The name was first used on maps of the area in 1910, in reference to a rock hole. When the railway was being planned in 1913, it was decided to locate a siding at the location, and the name Morawa was chosen for it. The Lands Department then decided to establish a townside there, and Morawa was gazetted in September 1913. In 1921 the Railways Department decided that Morawa was too similar to Mullewa and requested a name change. In response, the town's name was changed to Merkanooka in January 1922. However the Railway Department, which had pressed for the name change in the first place, did not rename the siding, and in June the town's name reverted to Morawa at the request of the townspeople.
Most of the farmland around Morawa was given to returned servicemen after the First World War under the provisions of the Discharged Soldiers Settlement Acts which spurred the growth of the town.
Population growth in Morawa has been fairly stable since the 1990s, without much increase, possibly due to more people, young people, moving out to the Perth metropolitan area. Farms had been amalgamating for a number of years for economic reasons and the larger farms required fewer staff.
Since CALM has put a stranglehold on mining development, several businesses in Morawa have closed down, with specialist trades such as mechanics, plumbers, silo builders, fitters and turners leaving their home of many years to seek employment elsewhere.
With the present drought severely stressing Morawa's farming community, there is an atypical economic black hole in this Western Australian town, despite mining-driven boom times elsewhere.
[edit] Farming
Morawa is primarily a farming town. The area supports a range of farming activities including wheat, sheep, cattle and sandalwood.
[edit] Biodiversity
The rangeland area around Morawa has biodiversity. This has been reduced by land clearing, changed fire regimes, feral pests and weeds, pastoralism and mining but still remains an important characteristic of the region. CALM is currently undergoing a biodiversity survey of the Yilgarn, a geological area encompassing Morawa. Some of the biodiversity values are concentrated on the ranges. These sporadic ranges have been separated by large areas of land for millennia and many have evolved their own unique endemic plants. Some of these are associated only with the BIF (Banded Ironstone Formation) rocks that are targeted by iron ore mining operations. Little information regarding endangered plants et al has been promulgated by CALM to the general population of Morawa.
[edit] Mining
5.1 million tonnes of haematite iron ore was taken from the Koolanooka Hills Mine between 1966 and 1974.
Due to renewed international demand for iron ore, and dramatic increases in prices being paid, the iron ore deposits around Morawa have attracted interest from "boutique" mining companies such as Midwest Corp., Mount Gibson Mining, and Gindalbie Mining. Midwest Corp has spent several million dollars on infrastructure including roadworks to, and weighbridge facilities at, Koolanooka Mine. They are currently (May 2006) road-training haematite fines (<6 millimetres particle size) left over as waste from the 1966 - 1974 Western Mining iron ore operation. When the removal (to China) of these several million tonnes is complete, Midwest Corp will then exploit further haematite discoveries on their lease (pending environmental assessment and approval). Substantial quantities of magnetite ore are also understood to exist on their holdings.
Mount Gibson Mining is at present negotiating with CALM (Conservation and Land Management) who are concerned about a "C class reserve" and are trying to obtain offsets for the environmental damage that would be caused by the mine from Mt. Gibson Mining (as per current environmental best practice in WA) prior to permitting mining of magnetite at Koolanooka South. When and if mining proceeds, it will likely involve a concentrator plant at the deposit, a railway spur line to the concentrator plant, or less likely, a magnetite slurry pipeline from Morawa to Geraldton or Okagee (north of Geraldton).
Gindalbie Metals Ltd. has substantial holdings at Karara 85 kilometres (53 mi) east of Morawa. They claim to have 1 billion tonnes of magnetite ore as well as significant haematite there. They have had an Aboriginal heritage listing over the mine area lifted and are currently undergoing environmental assessment, hoping to gain approval and commence production by June 2007.
[edit] Tourist Information
Accommodation in Morawa includes the Shire owned Caravan Park in White Street, the Morawa Motor Hotel on Manning Road, and the Morawa Marian Convent Bed and Breakfast in Davis Street. The famous miniature John Hawes Presbytery is located opposite the Bed and Breakfast. A former Western Australian Premier, Carmen Lawrence, attended the Morawa Convent School. One of her classrooms is now a B&B en-suite unit.
[edit] External links
| Local Government Areas of the Mid West region of Western Australia | |
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Carnamah | Chapman Valley | Coorow | Cue | Geraldton | Greenough | Irwin | Meekatharra | Mingenew | Morawa | Mount Magnet | Mullewa | Murchison | Northampton | Perenjori | Sandstone | Three Springs | Wiluna | Yalgoo |
