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Griffith is a major regional city in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area that is located in the north-western part of the Riverina region of New South Wales, known commonly as the food bowl of Australia. It is also the seat of the City of Griffith local government area. Like the Australian capital, Canberra, and extensions to the nearby town of Leeton, Griffith was designed by Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin.^[3] Griffith was named after Arthur Hill Griffith, the then New South Wales Secretary for Public Works.^[4] Griffith was proclaimed a city in 1987,^[5] and had a population of 20,251^[1] in June 2018.

It can be accessed by road from Sydney and Canberra via the Hume Highway and the Burley Griffin Way and from Melbourne, via the Newell Highway and either by using the Kidman Way or the Irrigation Way. Griffith can be accessed from other places like Adelaide, Orange, and Bathurst through the Mid-Western Highway and the Rankins Springs road from Rankins Springs and the Kidman Way from Goolgowi.

History

Griffith and other towns were created as part of the New South Wales State Government’s Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA) project, a plan to supply irrigation from the Murrumbidgee river to open up western New South Wales for farming.^[5]

The town plan for Griffith, and nearby Leeton, was designed by Walter Burley Griffin in 1914, an unusual geometric pattern centred on a set of circular streets, with broad avenues radiating out in an octagonal arrangement.^[6][7] The streets were surveyed mostly according to that plan, and Griffith was declared a town in August 1916.^[8]

The main dam of the scheme was the large Burrinjuck Dam on the Murrumbidgee between Gundagai and Canberra, but was not completed until 1928. The Berembed Weir, near Narrandera, was built in 1912, diverting water from the Murrumbidgee River into the Bundidgerry Creek then into the Main Canal of the MIA at Narrandera.^[9] The Canal, almost a river in its own right, flows through the MIA, supplying water to the entire area, then flows through Griffith as part of the geometric plan, and peters out to the northwest of the town in rice farms.

The water supply was further enhanced with the construction of the Snowy River scheme by the Australian Federal Government in the 1950s and 1960s. The Blowering Dam, a large dam near Tumut, stores a significant amount of water to be released down the Murrumbidgee for irrigation around Leeton, Griffith and the newer Coleambally area south of the river and Griffith.^[5]

From the start of the MIA, citrus and other fruit and vegetables were grown in abundance around Griffith. In the 1950s the irrigation area expanded to include large rice farms. Vineyards were established early, and wineries followed, beginning with McWilliam’s Wines at Hanwood and Yenda, two villages just outside the city.

From its earliest days, the MIA was populated by Italian workers, some of whom were initially employed by Australian farmers to run steamboats on the Murrumbidgee and Murray Rivers. Approximately 60% of today’s Griffith population claim Italian background.^[10] These include the initial settlement of Italians from the boat crews and other Italians who came out to Australia in the Depression, or from a second wave of immigrant Italians who came to Griffith in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

In the 1970s, Griffith was often associated with drug distribution (particularly marijuana) and organised crime,^[11] as depicted in 2009 by Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities. However, Griffith is now associated with good wine and food, primarily as a result of its diverse population, with notable contributions by Italian-Australians. Griffith’s multi-ethnic population is now absorbing new national groups, including a significant Sikh Indian community.^[12] The city is sister city with the Italian city of Treviso in the Veneto Region. Many Italians in Griffith are from the Veneto Region or the Calabria Region of Italy.

The Italian influence expanded the range of fruit and vegetables, and also significantly increased the number of wineries and the range of wines produced by the existing wineries in the region, such as McWilliam’s. De Bortoli, Rosetto, Calabria and other wineries were established by Italian immigrants, and today they are well known around Australia. In recent times they have been joined by one of the country’s best known wine labels, Yellow Tail, produced by Casella Family Brands. Casella, DeBortoli, McWilliam’s, Warburn and Berton Vineyards are now among the top 20 wine producers in Australia.^[13]

Griffith is the cathedral city of the Anglican Diocese of Riverina. The foundation stone of the Parish Church of St Alban the Martyr was dedicated in 1954. It was proclaimed as a cathedral in 1984.

Transport

Griffith is a major junction for the Kidman Way, Burley Griffin Way and Irrigation Way. Griffith is located 550 km (340 mi) south west of Sydney via Burley Griffin Way and Irrigation Way and 450 km (280 mi) north of Melbourne via the Kidman Way. Griffith has daily bus services to the major metropolitan areas.

Griffith Airport has daily flights to Sydney (operated by Rex Airlines) and, from 15 July 2019, to Melbourne (operated by Sharp Airlines). There are also regular flights to Broken Hill and Narrandera.

Griffith Buslines operates buses through Griffith and surrounding towns and villages, with seven main services and routes.

The railway reached Griffith on 3 July 1916 and since that date has provided a service transporting passengers and goods to and from the area. Regular goods trains continue, making it a unique railway centre.^[21]

Griffith railway station is served by a twice weekly NSW TrainLink Xplorer service from Sydney. NSW Trainlink also operates several coach services connecting to Sydney-Melbourne XPT trains at either Wagga Wagga or Cootamundra:

• 0538 Ex. Wagga Wagga to Griffith (Saturday & Monday mornings)
• 0920 Griffith to Wagga Wagga (daily)
• 0936 Ex. Mildura to Cootamundra (daily)
• 1653 Ex. Wagga Wagga to Griffith (daily)
• 1731 Ex. Cootamundra to Mildura (daily)
• 2055 Griffith to Wagga Wagga (Friday & Sunday nights)

V/Line operates a daily rail/road coach service between Melbourne and Griffith, changing with the train at Shepparton. Melbourne (Southern Cross Station) to Griffith (Bus Terminal at Visitors Centre) is an evening service (daily), and Griffith to Melbourne service is overnight on Monday to Saturday and afternoon on Sunday. Travel time is approximately six and a half to seven hours.^[22]

In February 2010, the city’s first set of traffic lights was installed at the intersection of Burrell Place and Wakaden Street to reduce traffic congestion in the Griffith CBD.^[23][24]

External links

• Media related to Griffith, New South Wales at Wikimedia Commons
• Griffith travel guide from Wikivoyage