Newman

Newman lies some 15 kilometres north of the Tropic of Capricorn and is the largest town in the East Pilbara. A real oasis in the outback it is sometimes referred to as the Heart of the Pilbara, the Gateway to the Western Desert and Australia’s Largest Shire. The Shire has been focusing on revitalising the town, further enhancing it as a key regional centre, with aspirations to increase its current population base as a resource town of 8,000 people into a subregional centre that caters for 15,000 permanent residents.

Newman is in the East Pilbara region of Western Australia, located about 1,186km north of Perth and 9km north of the Tropic of Capricorn, it can be reached by the Great Northern Highway.

Newman is Nyiyaparli Country. Many years ago, Nyiyaparli asked Martu to look after Jigalong when they travelled from their desert lands, now Nyiyaparli and Martu live in Newman together.

Newman was built in the 1960s by the Mount Newman Mining Company, following the discovery of rich iron deposits on nearby Mount Whaleback, now the world’s largest open-cut iron ore mine. It is a well-resourced town, with a shopping mall, several hotels, bars and restaurants, an airport and, importantly, a town swimming pool. There are childcare services, a recreation centre, sports ovals and clubs, medical facilities and a hospital.

Newman is also the gateway to some of Australia’s best outback 4WD tracks and some of Western Australia’s most beautiful National Parks. The surrounding landscape is picturesque with the blue, green and red colours of the outback, natural waterholes, ancient aboriginal art sites and an abundance of Australian flora and fauna.

In 2017 an ambitious revitalisation of Newman Town Centre was complete, please view our video of the New Newman.

History

In 1896, Bamboo Road Board (renamed Marble Bar Road Board in 1904) was gazetted, and in 1898 Nullagine Road Board followed.

On 1 July 1961, both became Shire Councils following changes to the Local Government Act. On 27 May 1972 the two merged to form East Pilbara Shire.

Located about 1186 kilometres north of Perth Newman is a modern mining town that has seen unprecedented growth since 2003.

Originally marginal cattle country, Newman was built in the 1960s by the Mount Newman Mining Company, with the discovery of rich iron deposits on nearby Mount Whaleback. The discovery marked the start of the resource boom in Western Australia in the 1970s. The town takes its name from nearby Mount Newman, named in honour of A.W. Newman, an early explorer who died of typhoid just before reaching the area in 1896.

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