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"two shoe salesmen were sent to a far off land where tribesmen wore no shoes. two telegrams were received by their boss - 'No opportunity for sales here no one wears shoes' - 'fantastic opportunity for sales no one wearing shoes'

July 2010 Bourke Revisited

I am happy to say that in a year the situation has vastly improved , perhaps like Henry Lawson & Fred Hollows before me I have fallen for Bourke's charms overlooking the dark side as one does when thinking later about an ex-girlfriend but some seriously good things have happened. After 10 years of drought the new year brought rain as it has not been for 30 years and life has exploded both on the land but in the town as well.

The cotton and crops are booming and tourism numbers are exponentially rising. There is now a housing shortage and businesses are starting and the mood is positive. Crime is on the decrease and there is some aboriginal employment happening. The new Exhibition centre is awesome and a aboriginal themed garden gallery is adding cultural richness to Bourke.

There are some really good people in Bourke doing fantastic work and they can see the improvement it must be enormously satisfying for them.

June 2009 Bourke as I see it

The views set out on this page are the undercova authors alone and an honest appraisal from an outsider who has not spent substantial time in Bourke and has created a snapshot gathered from his brief observation and speaking to many locals regarding their views on the town. Bourke has had a bad reputation some of which is warranted but when you do talk to residents there is a real pride in living here and for most the crime is no worse than the cities. In my view this town has huge potential and I have put my money where my mouth is and have purchased two properties at what I consider bargain basement prices and already have rented them at yields unheard of in cities but I hope this is just the beginning.

Our mission is to use the internet to promote tourism and investment and also to provide a conduit for tree-changers or arms length investors to encourage the town to prosper and hopefully permeate work and hope into the indigenous population.

Bourke is a regional centre which services a vast tract of NSW (43000 sqkm) and so has many government departments and social services. It also services very large farms and although the drought has forced into remission a large cotton industry and fruit growing. Bourke township as far as I can tell is down to about 2500 people and services another 1000-1500 or so living in smaller settlements and farms. The town is clean devoid of rubbish and litter and the rubbish is picked up with invisible precision.

About 1/3 of the population living there are indigenous most are now integrated into the town but there is a slum some 2km from the town where abuse of all sorts is rampant. Social issues are complex and the very large presence of police keep good control on crime but in doing so there is a somewhat dour atmosphere that pervades and hampers what could be an incredible town.

Thus the town is small but has enough essential services to be comfortable but is a little bland mainly through lack of cafe's and places to promote art and culture and nightlife is negligible as licensing police have enforce almost draconian rules. On new years eve I went to have a drink at the local only to find I was locked out at all venues because I was entering after 9.30pm. The pubs were empty anyway as most of the party goers were at Fords Bridge some 70km away. One of the problems one local said was that police, medical & teaching professions were often doing their three year posting in Bourke so they could disappear to the coast and so were most interested in the path of least resistance while they were here.

Who can blame people and who can blame the people that perpetuate when they live on a social security spiral which inevitably leads to alcohol and drug abuse in a seemingly generational vicious circle.

But that being said some but not all businesses are thriving and making profits that city counterparts would be most happy with. Many of these businesses are for sale not because they are unprofitable but the owners want to retire or move closer to their grown up families who may have moved to larger centres.

In other words Bourke is a tree change paradise with low cost entry and potentially very high returns