Kyabram, Victoria

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Kyabram
Victoria

Main street

Population:

7108 (2006)^[1]

Established:

1876

Postcode:

3620

Elevation:

104.5 m (343 ft)

Location:

198 km (123 mi) from Melbourne
40 km (25 mi) from Shepparton
44 km (27 mi) from Echuca

LGA:

Shire of Campaspe

State District:

Rodney

Federal Division:

Murray

Mean Max Temp	Mean Min Temp	Rainfall
21.4 °C ^{71 °F}	8.5 °C ^{47 °F}	449.9 mm ^{17.7 in}

Kyabram is located in the centre of a rich irrigation district in the Goulburn River Valley, 200 kilometres north of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Kyabram, the second largest town in the Shire of Campaspe. is situated between the towns of Echuca and Shepparton and is close to the Murray River. As of the 2006 census the town had a population of 7108 people and provides services to a district population of around 16,000.

The township started in the 1870s with town blocks sold in 1876. The town was called Sheridan with the establishment of the post office, but local usage prevailed and by the time of the arrival of the railway in 1887 was known as Kyabram. The name of the town is thought to derive from an Aboriginal word Kiambram meaning "Thick Forest". The Yorta Yorta people were the previous settlers in the Goulburn valley. The Kyabram Mechanics Institute was built in 1891.

John Allan, who lived in Kyabram from 1873, became Premier of Victoria in 1924 and Australia's first Country Party premier. Allan was associated with the Kyabram Reform Movement at the start of the twentieth century, a political campaign which succeeded in reducing the number of state parliamentarians.

Kyabram was formally proclaimed a town on 4 July 1973.

The district is dependent on the primary industries of dairying and fruit orchards. Henry Jones IXL, a subsidiary of SPC Ardmona, operate a plant in the town, manufacturing IXL jams. The town provides engineering, financial advisors, solicitors and accounting services to the district. Nestlé (Tongala), Heinz (Girgarre) and Bonlac (Stanhope) all have food processing plants nearby.

Medical and aged care services in the town include a 46 bed hospital, a 30 bed home for the aged, infant welfare centre, ambulance station, several doctors, dentists and other health practitioners. In education Kyabram has one state secondary college, Kyabram Secondary College, two state primary schools (Dawes Rd PS and Haslem St PS), a Roman Catholic primary and secondary school (St Augustine's), one kindergarten and the Kyabram Community & Learning Centre providing community services and adult learning opportunities for the people of Kyabram and the surrounding region. The local newspaper is called the Kyabram Free Press, a part of the McPherson media group in the region, with a circulation of roughly 3300 copies (Victorian Country Press Association 2008).

Surrounding smaller towns include Merrigum (pop. 490), Lancaster, Undera, Cooma, Wyuna, Kyvalley, Girgarre, Stanhope and Tongala.

Attractions include the Kyabram Fauna Park, a 55 hectare reserve housing five hundred species of wildlife. There are free-roaming kangaroos and emus and hides to observe a variety of water birds.

Popular sports in Kyabram include Australian rules football and cricket . The local football team is known as the Bombers. Kyabram has produced a number of AFL recruits such as Brett Deledio and Kayne Pettifer, both at Richmond.

[edit] Trivia

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Kyabram is referenced by Irish singer-songwriter Declan O'Rourke on his debut album Since Kyabram. O'Rourke picked up his first acoustic guitar while living in the town as a teenager.

In the Kath and Kim episode The Moon from Series 2, Kath and Kel win a mystery flight to Kyabram, but don't make it out of the airport.^{[citation needed]}