Bourke is located in North West NSW on the banks of the Darling River. It's approximately 772km from Sydney, 1000km from Melbourne, 930km from Brisbane and 1130km from Adelaide.
About our town
Bourke Shire is located in north western NSW and covers an area of over 40,000 km+. The township of Bourke sits at the junction of three highways, the Kidman Way, Mitchell Highway and Kamilaroi Highway.
The Shire's main industries include cotton, soft fruit, citrus, cattle production, irrigated wheat, wild goat and kangaroo harvesting, and of course the wool industry, part of the Bourke area since the 1860s.
Main Industry
Traditionally a wool growing area, Bourke was once the biggest wool railhead in the world. Today, while wool is still grown, cotton has taken over as the major industry.There are two cotton gins in Bourke which feature the latest technology in ginning processes. The cotton industry is a main source of direct "on farm" employment and indirect employment through businesses established to service the industry. The industry continues to expand.
Bourke also boasts a thriving horticultural industry, which produces an abundance of grapes, citrus, plums, apricots and melon as well as a variety of vegetable crops. Opportunities to establish new enterprises based on this growing industry are being explored. Value adding industries are particularly being sought and would stimulate local growth in this area.