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Hay – New South Wales

12.12.2011 · Posted in Business News Article

Located next to the scenic Murrumbidgee River in idyllic South Western NSW, the Riverina Shire of Hay has changed from its modest origins in the Gold Rush era to an important agricultural and transportation nexus and popular tourist attraction. Combining natural beauty, historical significance and landmark Australian industry, the Hay Shire incorporates both the town of Hay as well as the surrounding villages of Booligal, Maude and One Tree. The great saltbrush grasslands of Hay are home to one of Australia’s foremost wool growing and sheep meat producing areas, as well as cattle properties and many agricultural outputs such as rockmelons and garlic.rnAlso around Hay are the Riverine Forest, Grey Box Woodlands and Native Scrublands, home to a substantial amount of famous native fauna, such as Kangaroos and Galahs. The plains of Hay have given ideal living conditions for human settlement going back to the Nari Nari Aboriginal community who inhabited the area. White settlement started with the founding of four squatter properties, growing into a community funded by trade with the stockmen and riverboats who traversed Langs Crossing.rnAlong with the construction of a hotel, post office and courthouse, Hay grew with the famous Cobb and Co making Hay their base of operations for Victoria and the Riverina, including the largest stagecoach factory outside of Sydney. Growing tenfold in population, Hay was later decimated due to virtually every adult male enlisting for service in World War I, of which 1/6 were did not make it back. Hay’s population would later be increased after the thousands of war prisoners and refugees held in the area during World War II were released and later resettled in Hay. Still a rural agricultural town, Hay embraces and celebrates its heritage and natural beauty with a number of locations and establishments that cater to tourists and locals alike.

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