Mullumbimby

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The first European to explore the area was Captain Henry Rous in 1828.{{cite web | url=https://www.aussietowns.com.au/town/mullumbimby-nsw | title=Mullumbimby, NSW }}{{Cite web |date=2004-02-08 |title=Mullumbimby |url=https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/mullumbimby-20040208-gdkq55.html |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}}

The area was used for dairy farming and fruit growing.{{Cite web |title=About the profile areas {{!}} Mullumbimby {{!}} profile.id |url=https://profile.id.com.au/byron/about?WebID=130 |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=profile.id.com.au}}

In 2022, the town was affected by floods. {{Cite news |date=2022-12-30 |title=Australia's record-breaking year of rain — and the end is now in sight |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-31/australian-weather-rain-2022-records-broken-flooding/101789262 |access-date=2024-06-07 |work=ABC News |language=en-AU}}

File:Old NSW Bank building, Mullumbimby NSW 2014.jpg building{{cite web|url=http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=1260188|title=Westpac Bank (Former) – NSW Environment & Heritage|website=www.environment.nsw.gov.au|date=22 October 2019 }}]]

In the 1850s Europeans had established a camp site at the junction of two arms of the Brunswick River. This grew to become a village and later the township of Mullumbimby. Mullumbimby was originally a centre for the timber industry. Notably, red cedar was collected in great quantities from around the area, a part of the far northern New South Wales' "Big Scrub".{{cite web|url=http://www.bhwoodchop.com/?page_id=331|title=more history}}

The town was a logical site for settlement by the timber hunters, as the Brunswick River is tidal in the town and navigable to that point, allowing logs to be floated down the river to its mouth at Brunswick Heads. The town's central location gave access to most of the catchment area, and it provided the best position for bullock teams to cross the river with their wagons loaded with timber. At low tide it is still possible to see the shallow region where the bullocks made the crossing of the Brunswick River, under the current "Federation Bridge" on Murwillumbah Road.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}

File:Aerial perspective of Mullimbimy.jpg

File:Aerial panorama of Mullumbimby, NSW.jpg

The name "Mullumbimby", meaning "small round hill", was given to the district by Aboriginal people. The name is derived from the Bandjalung-Yugambeh dialect mulubinba (possibly also pertaining to a native fern which grew in the vicinity).{{NSW GNR|id=ujjLwptLMa|title=Mullumbimby|access-date=26 October 2011}} Although some sources claim this is because of the proximity of Mount Chincogan, Chincogan is probably too prominent in the landscape to fit the name.{{cite web|title=Byron Bay Hinterland|url=http://www.australiantraveller.com/destinations/nsw/byron-bay/2887|publisher=Australian Traveller|access-date=11 May 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110218122425/http://www.australiantraveller.com/destinations/nsw/byron-bay/2887|archive-date=18 February 2011}} An alternative theory is that it refers to another smaller and rounder hill. Suggestions include a medium hill to the north of Left Bank road, on which the towns water tower is located, or a smaller hill on Coolamon Scenic Drive, situated on the Daly Family Farm, near the current golf course. This latter hill is possibly supported by the abundant grass flats which surrounded it, known as Mullumbimby Grass. These naturally open grass flats, presumably hunting grounds for the local Bundjalung tribes, were later used by early European timber hunters to graze their bullock teams. The significance of this area lay not only in the feed it provided, but that some grasses in the naturally cleared area aided bullocks which had swallowed salt water when dragging timber into the surf for collection by nearby ships.

File:The Book Barn, Mullumbimby NSW 2014.jpg

File:The Middle pub, Mullumbimby NSW 2014.jpg

Mullumbimby was a separate municipality from 1908 until 1980 when it was forced to amalgamate with the Byron Shire. The Byron Shire Council offices were relocated to Mullumbimby in September 1996.{{Cite web |last=Stubbs |first=Brett J |date=2006 |title=Byron Shire: thematic history (volume 2) |url=https://www.byron.nsw.gov.au/files/assets/public/hptrim/land-use-and-planning-programs-heritage-protection-programs-studies/dm833862-community-based-heritage-study-final-volume-2-thematic-history.pdf |access-date=2024-09-03 |website=Byron Shire Council}}

Byron Shire, including Mullumbimby and nearby Byron Bay, became a centre of alternative or counter culture alongside the extant mainstream culture in the 1970s and 1980s, and remains so today. The male choir Dustyesky performs Russian-language folk songs and received major coverage on the Russian television broadcaster Channel One.[http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-30/mullumbimby-choir-cracks-big-time-russia/8572406 "Vodka-swilling choir from Mullumbimby cracks the big time in Russia"] by Joanne Shoebridge and Samantha Turnbull, ABC News, 30 May 2017

Once the most notable specimens of the valuable timber trees had been collected (most notably red cedar, but also Australian Teak, Hoop Pine, Rosewood, Silky Oak and Black and Red Bean), the Big Scrub timber trade collapsed and Mullumbimby became primarily a farming community. Like many areas of the Big Scrub, allotments were given in Mullumbimby and the surrounding areas by the New South Wales government on the condition that the owner cleared the land for agricultural use.{{cite web|url= https://bigscrubrainforest.org.au/?p=3615 |title=Big Scrub: A cleared landscape in transition back to forest?}} Beef and dairy, along with bananas and sugar cane have traditionally been the notable products of the area. However, the subdivision of many of the larger farms and the emergence of numerous small scale farmers has led to a higher diversity of products. A weekly farmers' market has been developed to exhibit local produce.{{cite web|url= http://www.mullumfarmersmarket.org.au |title=Mullumbimby Farmers Markets}}

A static inverter plant of HVDC Directlink is located at Laverty's Gap near Mullumbimby. This inverter plant was previously the site of a 288 kW hydroelectric power scheme that powered Mullumbimby, Byron Bay and Bangalow from 1926, using water from a weir in nearby Wilsons Creek.{{cite news| url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/New-South-Wales/Mullumbimby/2005/02/17/1108500197710.html | work=The Sydney Morning Herald | title=Mullumbimby | date=2004-02-08}}{{YouTube|S0RAryS8edo|Touring The Hydro – Mullumbimby's Heritage Power Station (1 of 6)}} The scheme was the fourth hydro electric power station in NSW and only the fifth on mainland Australia.{{cite web|url= http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=5060490 |title=Mullumbimby Hydro-electric Power Station Complex|date=22 October 2019}} Powering Mullumbimby for the first time in 1925, the scheme made Mullumbimby one of the first country towns in NSW to receive electricity. Although decommissioned in 1990, it is now of state heritage significance. The hydroelectric scheme was designed by William Corin (1867–1929).{{Cite Australian Dictionary of Biography |first=Arthur |last=Corbett |id2=corin-william-5782 |title=William Corin (1867–1929) |year=1981 |volume=8}} The site is being considered for pumped-storage hydroelectricity.{{cite web|url= https://www.byronnews.com.au/news/pumped-about-hydro-in-mullum/3228463/ |title=Pumped about hydro in Mullum|publisher= Byron Shire News|date=27 September 2017 |access-date=28 September 2017}}{{cite web|url= https://www.echo.net.au/2017/09/pumped-storage-hydro-potential-mullumbimby/ |title=Pumped-storage hydro potential for Mullumbimby |date=28 September 2017|publisher=Echonetdaily |access-date=28 September 2017}}

The Mullumbimby Star, which was published under a number of names over its history, was a newspaper published in the town from 1902 to 1982.{{Cite web |title=Mullumbimby Star (NSW : 1906 - 1936) |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/title/495 |access-date=2024-09-02 |website=Trove |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Mullumbimby Star and Byron Bay-Bangalow Advocate (NSW : 1936) |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title673 |access-date=2024-09-02 |website=Trove}}

Mullumbimby has several heritage-listed sites and the controversial Slater mounds have been nominated as local heritage. The best known heritage sites include:

• Wilsons Creek Road: Mullumbimby Hydro-electric Power Station Complex{{cite NSW SHR|5060490|Mullumbimby Hydro-electric Power Station Complex|hr=01926|fn=12/19118|access-date=18 May 2018}}

{{Historical populations

|type= Australia

|1921|1329

|1933|1362

|1947|1609

|1954|2017

|1961|1966

|1966|1981

|1971|1891

|1976|2028

|1981|2234

|1986|2453

|1991|2612

|1996|2870

|2001|2989

|2006|3129

|2011|3164

|2016|3248

|2021|3589

|source=Australian Bureau of Statistics data.{{cite web |title=Statistics by Catalogue Number |publisher=Australian Bureau of Statistics |url=https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/ViewContent?readform&view=ProductsbyCatalogue&Action=Expand&Num=2.2 |access-date=22 January 2024}}{{cite web |title=Search Census data |publisher=Australian Bureau of Statistics |url=https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/search-by-area |access-date=22 January 2024}}

}}

In the 2021 Census, there were 3,589 people in Mullumbimby. 70.4% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were England at 5.9%, New Zealand at 1.9% and Germany at 1.6%. 81.0% of people spoke only English at home. The most common response for religion was No Religion at 59.2%, followed by Not stated 10.3%, Catholic 7.7%, Anglican 5.9% and Buddhism 2.9%. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 1.8% of the population in 2016. English, Australian, Irish, Scottish and German are the most common ancestries.

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File:Mullumbimby New South Wales.jpg]]

Mullumbimby is about {{convert|4|km|mi|0}} west of the Pacific Highway, near where the now closed Murwillumbah railway line crosses the Brunswick River. The line opened in 1894 and was closed in 2004 because of an argument over funding between federal and state politicians, despite community resistance across the region. Closure of the railway line between Murwillumbah and Casino has reduced transport options in the region.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}

The Brunswick River starts in Mullumbimby, at the meeting of Main Arm and Mullumbimby creeks.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}

Mullumbimby is close to the localities of Ocean Shores, Brunswick Heads and Wilsons Creek. Its hinterland area includes the locales of Goonengerry, Huonbrook, Koonyum Range, Main Arm, Montecollum, Palmwoods, Wanganui and Wilsons Creek and coincides with the postcode area of 2482{{cite web|title=Australia Post postcode 2482|url=https://auspost.com.au/postcode/2482|website=Australia Post}} which has a diamond shape of around 35 km by 45 km.

The main geographical feature of Mullumbimby, Mount Chincogan, was a minor lava plug of the now extinct Tweed shield volcano. The nearby Mount Warning was the main plug.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}

Reported stones arrangement on the Slater mounds on the western side of Saddle Ridge is thought by some to date back to the Paleolithic Age, and pre-dates Stonehenge.[http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/is-australias-stonehenge-near-mullumbimby-where-civilisation-began-or-historical-hoax/news-story/8a0fe799bf3e97d69deb9eb744a36169 Hoax or key to solving ancient mystery?]

The Courier Mail (subscription required) The arrangements were communicated in the late 1930s by the Brunswick Heads headmaster to Mr Frederic Slater who attempted to make headlines across Australia with this as a highly significant Aboriginal site. Slater and some other researchers believe the inscriptions on the stones contain the earliest form of human language. Others regard this as pure pseudoscience. There is claimed to have been intentional destruction of the site and the 1930s-described stones have disappeared.{{cite web|url=http://www.news.com.au/national/queensland/is-this-mysterious-site-australias-stonehenge/news-story/c1dc16df2aeb9003a288acf6c7e5d243|title=The photo that could rewrite history}}

Mullumbimby is a hotspot for conspiracy theorists in Australia. Many locals are hippies or live alternative lifestyles. The town has low vaccination rates and many locals have protested against vaccines, 5G technology and water fluoridation amongst other causes.{{Cite web |title=COVID NSW: Pandemic sparks conflict in Australia's anti-vaxxer capitalts |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/no-mask-we-don-t-ask-covid-sparks-conflict-in-australia-s-anti-vaxxer-capital-20210708-p5884u.html |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=amp.smh.com.au|date=17 July 2021 }}{{Cite web |title=COVID conspiracies are just the latest theories in a history stretching back centuries - ABC News |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-11/medical-conspiracies-a-history-from-covid-back-to-ancient-rome/100672978 |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=amp.abc.net.au}}

Mullumbimby is a hot spot for the anti-vaccination movement. As of 2013, the town{{'}}s vaccination rate was the lowest in Australia, with only 46% to 49% of children aged one, two and five years old in the 2482 postcode fully immunised, in contrast with a state average in the low 90s. In Mullumbimby, between 2015 and 2016 only 52% of five year olds were fully vaccinated, compared to the national average at the time of 92.9%.{{Cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-07/nsw-urged-to-rethink-no-jab-no-play-vaccination-policy/9839992|title=NSW urged to rethink no jab no play vaccination policy|last=MacKenzie|first=Bruce|date=2018-06-07|website=ABC News|language=en-AU|access-date=2019-09-18}} Richmond Valley, a region close to Mullumbimby, had the lowest overall vaccination rate, in part due to a high number of "conscientious objectors" to the practice. Health officials have cited education and timely reminders as key factors in improving the vaccination rate.{{cite web |url= http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-20/mullum-vacc/4701246 |title= Mullumbimby vaccination rate below 50 per cent |author= |date= 2013-05-20 |website= abc.net.au |publisher= ABC |access-date= 2015-04-29}}{{cite web |url= http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2014/03/28/3973394.htm |title= Low vaccination rates make Northern Rivers most "dangerous" place to raise children: State Opposition |author= |date= 2014-03-28 |website= abc.net.au/local |publisher= ABC |access-date= 2015-04-29}}

The Byron Shire, in which Mullumbimby is situated, is also the only remaining local government area in the Northern Rivers region to reject fluoridation of its water supply.{{cite web|url=http://www.northernstar.com.au/news/turbulent-times-in-our-patch/2498072/|title= Turbulent times in our patch|last1=Broome|first1=Hamish|date=2014-12-31|work=Northern Star|publisher=APN|access-date= 2015-04-29}}

During the COVID-19 pandemic, despite state government-mandated restrictions, many businesses in Mullumbimby welcomed unvaccinated and unmasked individuals into their businesses, saying that the mandates imposed by the government were discriminatory.

The Mullumbimby Giants is the local rugby league club that competes in the Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League competition.{{Cite web |date=2023-10-25 |title=Mullumbimby Giants |url=https://www.mullumbimbygiantsjrl.com.au/ |access-date=2023-10-25 |website=Mullumbimby Giants}}{{Cite web |date=2023-04-14 |title=NRRRL: your ultimate guide to the 2023 season |url=https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/sport/northern-rivers-regional-rugby-league-your-ultimate-guide-to-the-2023-season/news-story/48145fe66464af637ce77dd39a06a4fc |access-date=2023-10-25 |website=The Daily Telegraph}}

• Vic Armbruster, Australian rugby league player (1902–1984).{{Cite web |title=Vic Armbruster |url=https://www.nrl.com/hall-of-fame/players/vic-armbruster/ |access-date=2024-09-02 |website=National Rugby League Hall of Fame |language=en}}
• Iggy Azalea, Grammy-nominated multi-platinum selling rapper, songwriter and model (born 1990); her stage name was partially inspired by Mullumbimby's Azalea Street, where her childhood home was located.{{Cite news |last=Chambers |first=Geoff |date=22 August 2014 |title=The birth of Iggy Azalea: How a schoolgirl named Amethyst clung to a dream to become a rapper |work=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/sydney-confidential/the-birth-of-iggy-azalea-how-a-schoolgirl-named-amethyst-clung-to-a-dream-to-become-a-rapper/news-story/0b2c48e284dee17dede90b5eb7d5e1f0 |access-date=17 January 2023}}
• Bob Bellear, first Aboriginal judge in Australia (1944–2005).{{Cite news |last=Shand |first=Aslan |date=2017-08-16 |title=Recalling Bob Bellear, a man of firsts |url=https://www.echo.net.au/2017/08/recalling-bob-bellear-man-firsts/ |access-date=2024-09-02 |work=Byron Shire Echo}}{{Cite journal |title=His Honour Judge Bob Bellear (1944 – 2005) |url=https://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/NSWBarAssocNews/2005/33.pdf |journal=Bar News |volume=2005 |issue=Winter |pages=72–73 |via=AustLII}}
• Renee Bargh, Australian TV presenter (born 1986).{{Cite web |last=Meredith |first=Brooke |title=Renée Bargh {{!}} A Conscious Collection |url=https://aconsciouscollection.com/2019/03/25/renee-bargh/ |access-date=2024-09-02 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Brodnik |first=Laura |date=2021-05-12 |title="On my first day, Russell Crowe made it difficult," Stan's Renee Bargh on her wildest Hollywood moments. |url=https://www.mamamia.com.au/renee-bargh-interview/ |access-date=2024-09-02 |website=Mamamia |language=en-AU}}{{Cite web |title=Renee Bargh - Biography |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2818727/bio/ |access-date=2024-09-02 |website=IMDb |language=en-US}}
• Doug Deitz, rugby league player (1914–1994).{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}}
• Jy Hitchcox, rugby league player (born 1989).{{Cite news |last=Mcraig |date=2014-08-22 |title=Former Mullum junior joins NRL big league with Wests Tigers |url=https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/lismore/sport/former-mullum-junior-joins-nrl-big-league-with-wests-tigers/news-story/84da799b9837c4d2418c33472abfcc8a |access-date=2024-09-02 |work=The Northern Star}}
• Trent Knobel, AFL player with Brisbane Bears and St Kilda Football Club (born 1980).{{Cite web |date=2012-01-23 |title=Past - Trent Knobel (1999-2001) |url=https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/trent-knobel-1999-2001.905180/ |access-date=2024-09-02 |website=BigFooty Forum |language=en-US}}
• Cody Nelson, rugby league player (born 1988).{{Cite web |date=2022-06-16 |title=Captain turns in Giant mowing performance for Mullumbimby |url=https://www.nswrl.com.au/news/2022/06/16/captain-turns-in-giant-mowing-performance-for-mullumbimby/ |access-date=2024-09-02 |website=New South Wales Rugby League |language=en}}
• Audrey Oldfield, children's writer and historian (1925–2010).{{Cite web |last=Harrison |first=Sharon |title=Oldfield, Audrey (1925 - 2010) |url=https://www.womenaustralia.info/leaders/biogs/WLE0555b.htm |access-date=2024-09-02 |website=The Encyclopedia of Women and Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia |language=en-gb}}
• Amy Taylor, lead singer Amyl and the Sniffers (born 1996).{{Cite web |last=Kent |first=Ange |date=2021-09-27 |title=Amyl and The Sniffers' frontwoman weapon |url=https://www.bayfm.org/news/amyl-and-the-sniffers-frontwoman-weapon/ |access-date=2024-09-02 |website=BayFM |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |last=Waterhouse |first=Jonah |date=2021-09-10 |title=How Australian rock singer Amy Taylor became a fashion sensation |url=https://www.vogue.com.au/culture/features/how-singer-amy-taylor-went-from-rural-nsw-to-becoming-a-gucci-muse/news-story/67ba77f2ee72f77077541b068ee48965 |access-date=2024-09-02 |work=Vogue Australia}}
• Petria Thomas, swimming Olympic gold medallist (born 1975).{{Cite web |title=Mullumbimby Memorial Centre Petria Thomas Pool |url=https://www.warmemorialsregister.nsw.gov.au/memorials/mullumbimby-memorial-centre-petria-thomas-pool |access-date=2024-09-02 |website=NSW War Memorials Register}}
• Joel Turner, beatboxer, singer, songwriter, instrumentalist and record producer (born 1987).{{Cite web |date=2024-03-04 |title=Joel Turner music, videos, stats, and photos |url=https://www.last.fm/music/Joel+Turner |access-date=2024-09-02 |website=Last.fm |language=en}}
• Edwin Wilson, author of Mullumbimby Dreaming and The Mullumbimby Kid (1942–2022).{{Cite web |title=Edwin Wilson {{!}} Personal website of Edwin Wilson, Australian Poet and Painter |url=https://www.edwinwilson.com.au/ |access-date=2024-09-02 |language=en-AU}}{{Cite web |title=Edwin Wilson FRAS |url=https://www.royalart.com.au/edwin-wilson |access-date=2024-09-02 |website=Royal Art Society of NSW |language=en-US}}
• Mark Lewis, filmmaker.{{Cite web |title=Cane Toads: The Conquest: Mark Lewis interview |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/whats-on/article/cane-toads-the-conquest-mark-lewis-interview/g5uqjml9x |access-date=2024-09-02 |website=SBS What's On |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Schembri |first=Jim |date=2011-05-26 |title=Misunderstood and a bit jumpy |url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/misunderstood-and-a-bit-jumpy-20110526-1f4u9.html |access-date=2024-09-02 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}}
• Mandy Nolan, comedian, writer and Australian Greens candidate for Richmond.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}}

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{{commonscat}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Mullumbimby}}
• {{cite web|url=http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/ieo/Brunswick/maplg.htm|title=Brunswick River catchment|format=map|work=Office of Environment and Heritage|publisher=Government of New South Wales}}

{{Northern Rivers region}}

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Category:Towns in New South Wales

Category:Byron Shire