Best 28 Real Estate Agents In Borroloola [2025]

Borroloola Suburb Overview

Borroloola is a town in the NT of Australia. It is located on the McArthur River, about 50 km upstream from the Gulf of Carpentaria. At the 2006 census, Borroloola had a population of 773, of whom 579 declared themselves indigenous.

Borroloola lies on the coastal plain between the Barkly Tablelands and the Gulf of Carpentaria. Rivers that run from the Tablelands escarpment to the Gulf regularly flood in the wet season, making travel on the unsealed section of Highway One along the coastal plain to Queensland impossible. The rivers of this region have carved spectacular gorges through sandstone deposits in their upper reaches. The rivers and coastal areas are host to barramundi, earning Borroloola a reputation among sports fisherman, and also to the deadly saltwater crocodile. The region has little rain from May to September, and is characterised by lightly treed Savanna grasslands.

The ‘Coast Track’ follows the path of cattle drovers of the late 19th century as they moved herds from north-west Queensland to stock the new stations of the NT and the Kimberley. The drovers in turn followed a well-worn Aboriginal path. Tony Roberts writes a moving and well-researched history of the region, in which the local tribes went from almost total isolation from European Australians in 1870, to a decimated collection of displaced and defeated groups, over a single decade. Entire tribes such as the Wilangarra, including women, children and babies were massacred, and most adult males were killed, by police and quasi-police groups, and by drovers and station workers involved in the cattle droves of that era.

In the local Indigenous languages of Yanyuwa, Garrwa, Marra, Gudanji and Binbingka, Borroloola would be written as Burrulula. The name belongs to a small lagoon just to the east of the present day caravan park. The name itself carries no specific meaning, other than it is the name of the lagoon and associated with the Hill Kangaroo. It was at this site that the Hill Kangaroo Ancestral Being danced his ceremonies. The white barked gum trees in the area are said to be his body decorations as they flew from his body as he danced. Other Indigenous names in the area of Borroloola are Wurrarawala this hill is associated with the backbone of the Hill Kangaroo Ancestor. Bunubunu, this creek is associated with a File Snake Ancestor. Warralungku and Mabunji, a set of specific rocks at the McArthur River Crossing that carry the imprint of the Hill Kangaroo’s tail and feet. The area of Borroloola belongs to members of the Rrumburriya clan. by Yanyuwa families, John Bradley an Nona Cameron. J.M. McGregor Publishers. Queensland)

The King Ash Bay fishing club is situated on the McArthur River about 40 km downstream from Borroloola by river, just over 40 km from Borroloola by road. Their boat ramp provides access to the mangrove-lined waterways of the McArthur estuary and the Sir Edward Pellew Group of Islands in the Gulf of Carpentaria. The largely self-contained village houses a small permanent population during the wet season, but numbers swell as tourists, mostly retired and semi-retired, arrive in April and May to enjoy the mild dry season weather. The Fishing Classic competition, held over the Easter weekend each year, marks the end of the wet season.

The Borroloola Community Education Centre contains a preschool, primary school and secondary school. The Borroloola CEC has a combined staff of more than 25. The staff are composed of mostly out-of-state teachers and local indigenous teacher aides. The CEC enjoys an average attendance of 100 students, but has far more listed on its rolls. Two of the problems facing the school are intermittent student attendance and a high staff turnover. The current Principal is Geoff Perry, who took over the school in 2008.

The CEC has seen much recent construction. In 2007 a 2m tall metal fence was constructed around the preschool and primary school. In 2008 construction began on several new buildings. After the removal of older buildings the new construction will enlarge the school by three buildings.

The Borroloola Airport is 1149 meters long at an elevation of 55 feet. The airport can be very busy during the day and the occasional Careflight services the town during the night. Two single engine Cessna aircraft are positioned at the airport permanently. One is of Katherine Aviation and the other belongs to Chartair. Both frequently service the region with chartered flights to towns and communities such as Robinson River, McArthur River Mine and Katherine. There are refuelling services for both Avgas and Avtur at the airport and limited parking areas. The runway is lit up at night by solar powered lights.

The McArthur River zinc mine, a zinc, lead and silver mine about 70 km south-west of Borroloola, is operated by McArthur River Mining, which is wholly owned by the Swiss mining company Xstrata. In October 2006, MRM had an application approved by the NT Government to expand the mine to include an open-pit excavation. This expansion will include a diversion of part of the McArthur River. Some local indigenous people, mainly the Yanyuwa saltwater people living in the Pellew Group of islands, protested the expansion application on environmental grounds.

In April 2007 the Territory Supreme Court found that the approval of the expansion of the McArthur River mine was invalid because Territory Mines Minister Chris Natt did not follow the proper process. Within days of the Supreme Court judgement, the Clare Martin Territory government rammed through legislation to sidestep the objection and ensure the continued operation of the mine. Several indigenous MLAs, including a Yanyuwa woman, Barbara McCarthy, opposed the passage of the amended legislation, but most other members of the Parliament, including members of the opposition CLP, voted for the amendment. A further challenge by the Borroloola Traditional Owners, to the Federal Court in Darwin, was heard in late July 2007. The challenge against the then federal Environment Minister argued that Senator Campbell did not follow the correct process in signing off on the Territory Government’s approval of the mine expansion. Justice Mansfield released his finding in June 2008 that, overall, the minister did not err in approving the redevelopment. The traditional owners are now considering either a political campaign or an appeal to the full bench of the Federal Court.

The Merlin diamond mine, adjacent to the McArthur River Mine, has resumed operations after a period of inactivity.

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