Extract date: 08/06/2026
| Name | Durack |
|---|---|
| Type Designation | Suburb |
| Place Id | 2032 |
| Place Type | Administrative Area |
| Status | Registered |
| Date Registered | 15 May 1996 |
| Location (Datum GDA94) | |
| Latitude: -12° 28' S (Decimal degrees -12.4725) | |
| Longitude: 130° 58' E (Decimal degrees 130.9745) | |
| Locality / Suburb | |
| (None Found) | |
| Local Government Area | |
| Palmerston City Council | |
| History/Origin | This suburban area was left unnamed when Palmerston was divided into suburbs as the area was set aside for a University. With urban development of this area in 1996, it became necessary to give the area a name. The suburb is named after the Durack family, pastoral pioneers of the Northern Territory and the Kimberleys. The Durack brothers Darby and Michael came out to Australia from an area of Ireland on the border of the Counties of Galway and Clare in 1849 & 1853 respectively. Michael with son Patrick and family settled at Grabben Gullen near Yass and Goulburn. Patrick had married Mary Costello from nearby Tea Tree Station in 1862 and this began the search for far off lands in Queensland, the Northern Territory and the Kimberleys in later years. Settling at Thylungra in Qld, Patsy and his brother "Stumpy" Michael had read Alexander Forrest's reports on the Kimberley District. "Stumpy" Michael Durack led an expedition in 1882 to inspect the area, naming the Durack River. By 1886 the Duracks had established Lissadel, Argyle and J J Durack and Tom Kilfoyle had areas around Halls Creek. The Durack brothers from the Michael & Darby arms of the family divided their Kimberley properties, planning to stock them in 1883/84 from four mobs cattle (7500 head) brought up from Queensland. The epic journey of 1883/84 had problems with the loss of stock and also the deaths of John Urquhart and Jack Sherringham at the Roper River. By 1886, the Duracks had settled on their individual selections in the Kimberleys and had applied to secure Auvergne Station in NT from McCartney. This began the 6000 sq mile (15,500 sq kms) pastoral empire on the Western Australian/Territory Border. In 1896, young Michael had left college to join the Kimberley group where the port of Wyndham had just been proclaimed and the Hall's Creek gold rush had commenced the year before. By 1893, with the rise of Francis Connor & Denis Doherty in the business world of the Kimberleys, there began a partnership with the Duracks which had a firm base. Michael Patrick ("MP" or "Miguel") began to co-ordinate the Durack base in the area, Ivanhoe being established in 1895. By 1917, he had entered State Parliament as the Member for the Kimberleys promoting northern development. The decade following the depression found the Connor, Doherty & Durack group properties struggling with poor beef prices. Michael Durack sold most of his properties in 1950 at age 85 years and a monument was erected at Argyle to his pioneering kinsman, dying at Perth on 3 September, 1950. Dame Mary Durack Miller, born in 1913, was the eldest of "MP" Durack's family travelled and gained distinction as an author of "Kings in Grass Castles" and "Sons in the Saddle". She died in Perth in early 1995. The Suburb of Durack was regazetted on 05/12/2001 to conform to current alignment. |
| Date | Gazettal | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| 15/05/1996 | NTG G20 | |
| 05/12/2001 | NTG G48 | Revocation of 5/12/1996 gazettal and renaming of suburb due to changes to boundaries from originally gazetted |