Editing Broken Hill (section)

==History==
The earliest human settlers in the area around Broken Hill are thought to have been the [[List of Indigenous Australian group names#W|Wiljakali]] [[Indigenous Australians]],<ref name = "vgh"/><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Broken Hill {{!}} Aboriginal Housing Office|url=https://www.aho.nsw.gov.au/applicants/era/about/chapters/locations/Broken-Hill|access-date=2021-07-10|website=www.aho.nsw.gov.au}}</ref> once thought to have only intermittently lived in the area because of the lack of permanent water sources.<ref name=smh>{{cite web|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/New-South-Wales/Silverton/2005/02/17/1108500198942.html|title=Silverton|date=8 February 2004|access-date=17 December 2007|work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071212230332/http://www.smh.com.au/news/New-South-Wales/Silverton/2005/02/17/1108500198942.html|archive-date=12 December 2007|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Town Hall at Broken Hill (3700348724).jpg|thumb|right|The Broken Hill Town Hall, completed in 1890, was the council seat until 1968.]]
[[File:Township of Broken Hill(GN05318).jpg|thumb|The Township of Broken Hill in the early 1900s]]
The first British to enter the area was the 1844 expedition led by soldier and explorer [[Charles Sturt]]. He was guided there along Stephens Creek by an Indigenous teenager from [[Menindee]] called [[Topar]]. Sturt saw and named the [[Barrier Range]] while searching for an inland sea; so naming it because it blocked his journey north.<ref name="sturt">{{cite book |last1=Sturt |first1=Charles |title=Narrative of an expedition into Central Australia |date=1849 |publisher=T & W Boone |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/b2932550x_0001/mode/1up}}</ref>

[[Pastoralism|Pastoralists]] first began settling the area in the 1850s, and the main trade route to the area was along the [[Darling River]].<ref name="vgh" />
[[File:Argent Street, Broken Hill(GN03190).jpg|thumb|Argent Street in 1907]]
Broken Hill was founded in 1883 by [[boundary rider]] [[Charles Rasp]], who patrolled the [[Mount Gipps Station|Mount Gipps]] fences. In 1883, he discovered what he thought was [[tin]], but the samples proved to be [[silver]] and [[lead]]. The [[orebody]] they came from proved to be the largest and richest of its kind in the world. Rasp and six associates founded the Broken Hill Proprietary Company (BHP), later BHP Billiton, and now [[BHP]] again, in 1885 as the [[Syndicate of Seven]]. By 1915, BHP had realised that its [[ore reserves]] were limited and began to diversify into [[steel production]]. Mining at the BHP mines at Broken Hill ceased 28 February 1939. BHP was not the only mining operation at Broken Hill though, and mining continued at the southern and northern ends of the Line of Lode. In the early 20th century, Broken Hill was a centre of mining innovation resulting in a viable froth flotation process.<ref>{{cite web |title=Historical Note: Minerals Separation Ltd |url=http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/guides/mine/historicalnote.htm |publisher=Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre |access-date=16 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190606022948/http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/guides/mine/historicalnote.htm |archive-date=6 June 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> Currently{{when|date=June 2016}} the southern and northern operations are run by Perilya Limited, who plan to open further mines along the Line of Lode.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.perilya.com.au/our-business/operations |title=Operations: Worldwide Perilya Operations Map |access-date=4 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309223438/http://www.perilya.com.au/our-business/operations |archive-date=9 March 2016 |url-status=live  }}</ref>

In 1892 [[Broken Hill Gaol]] was built, designed by the [[New South Wales Government Architect|Colonial Architect]], [[James Barnet]], who also designed the [[Sydney Museum]], among others. Its construction cost £15,000, and was carried out by Dobbee and Son. It opened on 8 November 1892 as a 90-bed facility with five [[prison warden]]s and initially holding two female and 19 male prisoners.<ref name=125years>{{cite web| url=https://www.justice.nsw.gov.au/Documents/Media%20Releases/2017/broken-hill-correctional-centre-marks-125-years.pdf| series= Media release| title=Broken Hill Correctional Centre celebrates 125 years|date=2017 | access-date=9 August 2022}}</ref>

[[The Battle of Broken Hill]] took place on New Year's Day 1915 when two [[Afghan (Australia)|Afghan]] men, pushing an ice-cream cart, hoisted a Turkish Flag and fired upon a trainload of people who were headed to a New Years Day picnic. Since Australia was at war at the time with the [[Ottoman Empire]], the men were first thought to be [[Turkish people|Turkish]], but were later identified as being from the British colony of India (modern day Pakistan).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/gnt/history/Transcripts/s1051016.htm|title=Battle of Broken Hill: Ron visits this Outback area of New South Wales|website=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]|access-date=25 July 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114002130/http://www.abc.net.au/gnt/history/Transcripts/s1051016.htm|archive-date=14 November 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.travelintelligence.com/travel-writing/1000030/Australasia/Australia/New-South-Wales/Broken-Hill/Of-Art-and-War-on-Broken-Hill.html|title=Of Art and War on Broken Hill|access-date=25 July 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080605042239/http://www.travelintelligence.com/travel-writing/1000030/Australasia/Australia/New-South-Wales/Broken-Hill/Of-Art-and-War-on-Broken-Hill.html|archive-date=5 June 2008|url-status=live}}</ref> They killed four and wounded six, before they were killed by a group of policemen and soldiers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.postcards.sa.com.au/features/battle_broken_hill.html |title=Battle of Broken Hill |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060824091155/http://www.postcards.sa.com.au/features/battle_broken_hill.html |archive-date=24 August 2006}}</ref> The battle witnessed one of the first shots on Australian soil during [[World War I]].

In 1918, the Italian Ambassador to Australia, Emilio Eles, with the help of the Australian police and the army, organised the roundup of Italian deserters working there as miners, to be forcibly sent back to Italy to fight in the war.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Agutter|first=Karen|date=2011|title=Belligerent Broken Hill Fighting the Forced Repatriation of Allied Aliens During World War I|journal=History Australia|volume= 8| issue = 2, 2011|pages=46–65|doi=10.1080/14490854.2011.11668373|s2cid=142746301}}</ref>
[[File:Broken Hill Trades Hall.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Broken Hill Trades Hall]] was commissioned and built by trade unions of the late 19th century]]
Broken Hill is also known for its input into the formation of the labour movement in Australia, and has a rich [[trade union]] history. Some of the most bitter industrial disputes have been fought in Broken Hill in 1892, 1909, and 1919. The last of these led to the formation in 1923 of the [[Barrier Industrial Council]], a group of 18 trade unions, which became one of the most influential organisations in the politics of the city. Like many "outback" towns, Broken Hill was built on precious metals, having once had the world's richest deposits of lead, zinc and silver. Although now depleted somewhat, mining still yields around two million tonnes annually. Some mine tours are available. [[Sheep farming]] is now one of the principal industries in the area and there are considerably more sheep than people – almost 2&nbsp;million Merino sheep.

On 10 January 2007, the [[City of Broken Hill|Broken Hill City Council]] was dismissed by the [[Minister for Local Government (New South Wales)|NSW Minister for Local Government]] following a public inquiry.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/broken-hill-council-sacked-amid-infighting/news-story/ef9d1918d6344609652e2a8db7b615b6|title=Broken Hill council sacked amid infighting|date=9 January 2007|work=The Australian|access-date=15 May 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.olg.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/Broken-Hill-public-inquiry-final-report.pdf|title=Broken Hill City Council Public Inquiry|last=Simmons|first=Davvid|date=13 December 2006|website=Office of Local Government|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401202008/https://www.olg.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/Broken-Hill-public-inquiry-final-report.pdf|archive-date=1 April 2019|url-status=live|access-date=15 May 2019}}</ref>

Parts of the town received record rainfall totals since records began in 1884, with total exceeding {{cvt|140|mm}} fell in a 24-hour period on 16 March 2022. The main street resembled a river in the floods that followed resulting in the death of one man.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-16/parts-of-broken-hill-record-most-rain-in-their-history-/100912786|title=Broken Hill's rainfall record smashed as deadly storm downs phones, floods CBD|author1=Bill Ormonde|author2=Andrew Schmidt|date=16 March 2022|accessdate=16 March 2022|publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]}}</ref>