Sunraysia is an illdefined district, sometimes incorrectly referred to as an

economic An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with t ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

, located in northwestern Victoria and southwestern

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

in Australia. The region is renowned for its sunshine, intensive

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

including grapes and oranges, and grain farms. Its main centre is

Mildura, Victoria Mildura is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 in 2021. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point and Merbein are included, the area h ...

Etymology

The name ''Sunraysia'' derives from a contest that entrepreneur

Jack De Garis Clement John ("Jack") De Garis (22 November 188417 August 1926) was an Australian entrepreneur and aviator. He worked in the dried fruits industry in the Sunraysia area around Mildura in the early 20th century, and was noted for his vibrant pe ...

held in 1919, as part of a promotion on behalf of the Australian Dried Fruits Association. The public were invited to submit a name to describe the dried fruits grown in the Mildura area. The winning name was ''Sun-Raysed'', which was modified as ''Sunraysia'' to describe the district as a whole. In 1920, De Garis started a newspaper in Mildura called the ''

Sunraysia Daily The ''Sunraysia Daily'' is a local newspaper in the north-western Sunraysia region of Victoria, Australia, it is published on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. From its first publication in 1920 until 14 September 2007, it was published ...

'', helping to establish the name. The area of Victoria to the west of Sunraysia is known as the

Millewa The Millewa is a region of north western Victoria in Australia. History The County of Millewa was proclaimed in the area in the nineteenth century. In the 1960s the then dryland farming areas of Nangiloc and Colignan were irrigated. Subsequently, ...

, the main distinction being that Sunraysia is the irrigated area and the Millewa is the dryland cropping area.

Pest Free Area

The Greater Sunraysia district forms part of the Fruit Fly Free Exclusion Zone, a Pest Free Area (PFA) that was created in 2007 located between north-west Victoria and south-west New South Wales. It is renowned for the production of high value horticultural crops including citrus, table grapes and stone fruit. The PFA is aligned to this production area to provide greater

fruit fly Fruit fly may refer to: Organisms * Drosophilidae, a family of small flies, including: ** ''Drosophila'', the genus of small fruit flies and vinegar flies ** ''Drosophila melanogaster'' or common fruit fly ** '' Drosophila suzukii'' or Asian fruit ...

control measures. The Victorian Department of Environment and Primary Industries (DEPI) and

New South Wales Department of Primary Industries The New South Wales Department of Primary Industries (DPI) is an agency of the New South Wales Government, responsible for the administration and development for agriculture, fisheries, aquaculture, forestry, and biosecurity in New South Wales. ...

(DPI) have implemented stringent legislative controls on the movement of host fruit and vegetables into the PFA to keep it free from the Queensland fruit fly (QFF) and maintain high value markets, which are worth millions of dollars to local industries. The PFA enables commercial horticultural products to be marketed without postharvest chemical treatments for QFF. The PFA follows the course of the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) ( Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longe ...

from

Kerang Kerang is a rural town on the Loddon River in northern Victoria in Australia. It is the commercial centre to an irrigation district based on livestock, horticulture, lucerne and grain. It is located north-west of Melbourne on the Murray ...

to and the

Darling River The Darling River (Paakantyi: ''Baaka'' or ''Barka'') is the third-longest river in Australia, measuring from its source in northern New South Wales to its conflu ence with the Murray River at Wentworth, New South Wales. Including its longes ...

from Wentworth to

Pooncarie Pooncarie is a village in south-western New South Wales, Australia in Wentworth Shire. It is on the eastern side of the Darling River between Wentworth and Menindee. The surrounding region of Pooncarie is semi-arid with an outback landscape ri ...

. Sunraysia is mostly contained in the Murray Darling wine region.

Major centres and towns

In addition to Mildura, the other major centres and towns in the district are

Merbein Merbein is a town just north of Mildura, Victoria, in the Sunraysia region of Australia. It is on the Calder Highway between Mildura and the Murray River crossing at the Abbotsford Bridge to Curlwaa. At the , the town had a population of 1,98 ...

(Vic), Red Cliffs (Vic), Irymple (Vic), Wentworth (NSW) and

Robinvale Robinvale is a town on the south bank of the Murray River in north western Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. It is Murray River crossings, connected by a bridge to Euston, New South Wales, Euston on the other side of the river in New S ...

(Vic).

Education facilities

The

Sunraysia Institute of TAFE The Sunraysia Institute of TAFE, also known as SuniTAFE is a provider of vocational education and training services in north-west Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1980, its first campus is located in Mildura, Victoria, with additional campuses ...

and the Sunraysia campus of the

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora, Victoria, Bundoora. The university was established in 196 ...

, are located on Benetook Ave between 11th and 14th Streets.

Media

The main newspaper that services the region is the ''

'', and is published on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. Sunraysia is also serviced by two free papers; the ''Sunraysia Life'' and the ''Mildura Weekly'' both published on Fridays. The ''Mildura Independent'' was another free weekly, published from 1982 to 2007. ''My Mildura'' is a free monthly magazine. There are also a number of paid weeklies covering smaller areas within Sunraysia. Local radio stations include ABC Local Radio, RIVER1467 (1467AM 3ML), 97.9 3MA FM, 99.5 Star FM, and Hot FM. Localised television stations in Sunraysia include a local relay of the ABC's Melbourne television station, WIN Television Mildura, PTV (a

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australi ...

O&O) and MDV (a

Network 10 Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of fi ...

affiliate owned by Seven and WIN).

Gallery

Image:Fruit Fly exclusion zone.jpg, Fruit disposal bins and warning signs along the

Calder Highway Calder Highway is a rural highway in Australia, linking Mildura and the Victoria/New South Wales border to Bendigo, in North Central Victoria. South of Bendigo, where the former highway has been upgraded to freeway-standard, Calder Freeway li ...

, approaching

Mildura Mildura is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 in 2021. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point and Merbein are included, the area h ...

. Image:Silo Merrinee.jpg, Storage silo at Merrinee, Victoria.

Notes

References

{{coord, 34, 12, 22.17, S, 142, 08, 08.61, E, display=title, region:AU_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Regions of New South Wales Regions of Victoria (Australia) Mildura Murray-Darling basin