Cabramatta, New South Wales
Encyclopedia
Cabramatta is a suburb
in south-western
Sydney
, in the state of New South Wales
, Australia
. Cabramatta is located 30 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district
, in the local government area of the City of Fairfield
. Cabramatta is colloquially known as 'Cabra' and is the largest Vietnamese community in Australia.
It developed a close community relationship with neighbouring Canley Vale, and until 1899, they shared a common municipality. In 1948, Cabramatta's local government merged with that of the neighbouring Fairfield
, and today remains governed by the Fairfield City Council.
It evolved into a Sydney suburb in the mid 20th century, partly as the result of a major state housing project in the nearby Liverpool
area in the 1960s that in turn swallowed Cabramatta. The presence of a migrant hostel alongside Cabramatta High School was decisive in shaping the community in the post-war period. In the first phase, large numbers of post-war immigrants from Europe passed through the hostel and settled in the surrounding area during the 1950s and 1960s. They satisfied labour demand for surrounding manufacturing and construction activities, and eventually gave birth to a rapidly growing population in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The entrepreneurs amongst them were hard at work building all manner and scale of enterprises.
In the 1980s, Cabramatta and the surrounding Fairfield
area was characterised by a diversity of Australian-born children having migrant parents. Cabramatta High School was statistically the most diverse and multicultural school in Sydney, and a study showed that only 10% of children had both parents born in Australia. While many other parts of Sydney had their particular ethnic flavour, Cabramatta was something of a melting pot, yet to find a clear identity.
Across the 1980s, many of these migrant parents and their children - now young adults - were to settle and populate new housing developments in surrounding areas such as Smithfield and Bonnyrigg that were, until that time, market gardens or semi-rural areas owned by the previous generation.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the migrant hostel - along with its peer in Villawood - hosted a second wave of migration: this time from south-east Asia as a result of the Vietnam War
. During the 1980s, Cabramatta was transformed into a thriving Asian community, displacing many of the previous migrant generation. The students of Cabramatta High School represented all manner of people with Asian or European descent. The bustling city centre of Cabramatta could have been confused with the streets of Saigon and historic "Chinatown", while the Sydney CBD appeared very Western in comparison.
By the early 1980s migration to Cabramatta declined, and as a result the migrant hostel and its many hundreds of small empty apartments lay prey to vandalism and the antics of teenagers. Only the language school remained: it continued to teach English as a Second Language into the early 1990s, until the entire hostel site was demolished and redeveloped into residential housing. A walk through the hostel before its demolition would have revealed closed and boarded-up corrugated iron buildings once home to kitchens, washing facilities, administration and so forth - buildings with a lifetime of history to tell.
By the 1990s, Cabramatta seemed to have developed its own identity. Liverpool grew into a bustling commercial and consumer centre of the region, taking much of the shine away from Fairfield which to date has never seemed to have recovered its former glory. In between these two, Cabramatta became known by its specialist niche reputation in the city as 'the' place for an authentic Asian experience.
, Lao
, Macedonian
, Italian and Cambodian
businesses also present. Cabramatta is an Asian food capital of Greater Sydney. It features one of Australia's largest multicultural restaurant and shopping precincts. There are a large number of restaurants with Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese cuisines.
network, where the South line
and Inner West line merge. Westbus buses also service the area and transport residents in and around Cabramatta, from neighbouring the localities of Bonnyrigg
, Mount Pritchard, and Canley Vale.
ese, specifically the Vietnamese-Chinese community, but there are also many residents other Asian and European origins. According to the 2006 census
, Cabramatta had a population of 19,812. There were more residents born in Vietnam
(31%) than in Australia (28%) and the number of people speaking Vietnamese
at home (34%) was three times higher than the number speaking English
only (11%). Other languages commonly spoken in the area included Cantonese (15%), Thai
(10.6%), Khmer
(7.5%), Laotian (6.3%) Mandarin (4.9%).
Australians old and new (Economist print edition, 5 May 2005) relates: "A quarter of Australia's population was born abroad, and another quarter is made up of first-generation natives. At a time of globalisation, this is a tremendous strength, and with unemployment at its lowest level for almost 30 years further immigration is unlikely to provoke much discontent. Parts of Sydney are already starting to feel noticeably Asian. The suburb of Cabramatta, in the south-west, has a large Vietnamese population: walk around its main market area, and you will hardly see an English sign. But it is not a ghetto: most people who live there work elsewhere, and as people get richer, they swiftly move to more affluent areas."
. The presence of youth gangs in the Cabramatta area has been a related problem, but since 2002, the problems have receded after an anti-drug crackdown was enforced by the NSW State Parliament.
Cabramatta is also remembered for the political murder of a NSW State MP, John Newman, outside his Cabramatta home in September 1994. This was Australia's first ever political assassination and thus this assassination drew much attention and alarm. A local nightclub
owner and political rival, Phuong Ngo
, was convicted of the murder in 2001 and sentenced to life imprisonment. Two of Ngo's associates were found not guilty of the murder. In 2009, Ngo failed in an appeal against his jail sentence.
, a 2005 film was filmed here. It starred Cate Blanchett
, Sam Neill
, Hugo Weaving
, Martin Henderson
and Dustin Nguyen
, a Vietnamese-American. Anh Do
, a Vietnamese Australian
actor comedian, had a brief cameo.
Prior to Little Fish, a film named The Finished People by Khoa Do
, who grew up in a nearby suburb, was shot in the Cabramatta area. The movie focused on three indiviuals with different lifestyles. It won many awards and increased the area's name towards a positive and creative status. This led to the making of Little Fish, which despite having award-winning actors and crew members, did not come close to the recognition and respect The Finished People acquired. Margaret Pomeranz
and David Stratton
rated it 4.5 out of 5 stars; few Australian films have ever received such a rating.
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
in south-western
South-western Sydney
South-western Sydney is a general term which is used to describe the metropolitan area in south-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the Greater Western Sydney area....
Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, in the state of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Cabramatta is located 30 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district
Sydney central business district
The Sydney central business district is the main commercial centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It extends southwards for about 3 kilometres from Sydney Cove, the point of first European settlement. Its north–south axis runs from Circular Quay in the north to Central railway station in...
, in the local government area of the City of Fairfield
City of Fairfield
The City of Fairfield is a Local Government Area in the south-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia.- Suburbs in the local government area :Suburbs in the City of Fairfield are:* Abbotsbury* Bonnyrigg* Bonnyrigg Heights* Bossley Park...
. Cabramatta is colloquially known as 'Cabra' and is the largest Vietnamese community in Australia.
European settlement
In 1795, an early settler named Hatfield called the area ‘Moonshine Run’ because it was so heavily timbered that moonshine could not penetrate. The name Cabramatta, first came into use in the area in the early 19th Century, when the Bull family named a property that they had purchased Cabramatta Park. When a small village formed nearby in 1814, it took its name from that property. A township grew from this village, and a railway was built through Cabramatta in the 1850s. It was used for loading and unloading freight and livestock. The railway station wasn't open for public transport until 1856, a school was then established in 1882 and post office in 1886. Cabramatta remained a predominantly agricultural township.It developed a close community relationship with neighbouring Canley Vale, and until 1899, they shared a common municipality. In 1948, Cabramatta's local government merged with that of the neighbouring Fairfield
City of Fairfield
The City of Fairfield is a Local Government Area in the south-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia.- Suburbs in the local government area :Suburbs in the City of Fairfield are:* Abbotsbury* Bonnyrigg* Bonnyrigg Heights* Bossley Park...
, and today remains governed by the Fairfield City Council.
It evolved into a Sydney suburb in the mid 20th century, partly as the result of a major state housing project in the nearby Liverpool
Liverpool, New South Wales
Liverpool is a suburb in south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Liverpool is located 32 km south-west of the Sydney central business district, and is the administrative centre of the local government area of the City of Liverpool...
area in the 1960s that in turn swallowed Cabramatta. The presence of a migrant hostel alongside Cabramatta High School was decisive in shaping the community in the post-war period. In the first phase, large numbers of post-war immigrants from Europe passed through the hostel and settled in the surrounding area during the 1950s and 1960s. They satisfied labour demand for surrounding manufacturing and construction activities, and eventually gave birth to a rapidly growing population in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The entrepreneurs amongst them were hard at work building all manner and scale of enterprises.
In the 1980s, Cabramatta and the surrounding Fairfield
Fairfield, New South Wales
Fairfield is a western suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Fairfield is located 29 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of Fairfield and is also partly in the local government...
area was characterised by a diversity of Australian-born children having migrant parents. Cabramatta High School was statistically the most diverse and multicultural school in Sydney, and a study showed that only 10% of children had both parents born in Australia. While many other parts of Sydney had their particular ethnic flavour, Cabramatta was something of a melting pot, yet to find a clear identity.
Across the 1980s, many of these migrant parents and their children - now young adults - were to settle and populate new housing developments in surrounding areas such as Smithfield and Bonnyrigg that were, until that time, market gardens or semi-rural areas owned by the previous generation.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the migrant hostel - along with its peer in Villawood - hosted a second wave of migration: this time from south-east Asia as a result of the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. During the 1980s, Cabramatta was transformed into a thriving Asian community, displacing many of the previous migrant generation. The students of Cabramatta High School represented all manner of people with Asian or European descent. The bustling city centre of Cabramatta could have been confused with the streets of Saigon and historic "Chinatown", while the Sydney CBD appeared very Western in comparison.
By the early 1980s migration to Cabramatta declined, and as a result the migrant hostel and its many hundreds of small empty apartments lay prey to vandalism and the antics of teenagers. Only the language school remained: it continued to teach English as a Second Language into the early 1990s, until the entire hostel site was demolished and redeveloped into residential housing. A walk through the hostel before its demolition would have revealed closed and boarded-up corrugated iron buildings once home to kitchens, washing facilities, administration and so forth - buildings with a lifetime of history to tell.
By the 1990s, Cabramatta seemed to have developed its own identity. Liverpool grew into a bustling commercial and consumer centre of the region, taking much of the shine away from Fairfield which to date has never seemed to have recovered its former glory. In between these two, Cabramatta became known by its specialist niche reputation in the city as 'the' place for an authentic Asian experience.
Commercial area
The population demographics are reflected in the many Vietnamese-owned and Chinese-owned businesses in the area. There are also increasing numbers of ThaiThai people
The Thai people, or Siamese, are the main ethnic group of Thailand and are part of the larger Tai ethnolinguistic peoples found in Thailand and adjacent countries in Southeast Asia as well as southern China. Their language is the Thai language, which is classified as part of the Kradai family of...
, Lao
Lao people
The Lao are an ethnic subgroup of Tai/Dai in Southeast Asia.-Names:The etymology of the word Lao is uncertain, although it may be related to tribes known as the Ai Lao who appear in Han Dynasty records in China and Vietnam as a people of what is now Yunan Province...
, Macedonian
Macedonians (ethnic group)
The Macedonians also referred to as Macedonian Slavs: "... the term Slavomacedonian was introduced and was accepted by the community itself, which at the time had a much more widespread non-Greek Macedonian ethnic consciousness...
, Italian and Cambodian
Khmer people
Khmer people are the predominant ethnic group in Cambodia, accounting for approximately 90% of the 14.8 million people in the country. They speak the Khmer language, which is part of the larger Mon–Khmer language family found throughout Southeast Asia...
businesses also present. Cabramatta is an Asian food capital of Greater Sydney. It features one of Australia's largest multicultural restaurant and shopping precincts. There are a large number of restaurants with Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese cuisines.
Transport
Cabramatta railway station is a junction station on the CityRailCityRail
CityRail is an operating brand of RailCorp, a corporation owned by the state government of New South Wales, Australia. It is responsible for providing commuter rail services, and some coach services, in and around Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong, the three largest cities of New South Wales. It is...
network, where the South line
South railway line, Sydney
The South Line is a railway line in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and is part of the CityRail suburban network...
and Inner West line merge. Westbus buses also service the area and transport residents in and around Cabramatta, from neighbouring the localities of Bonnyrigg
Bonnyrigg
Bonnyrigg is a town in Midlothian, Scotland, eight miles southeast of Edinburgh city centre. The town had a population of 11,260 in the 1991 census which has risen to 14,457 according to the 2001 census. Along with Lasswade, Bonnyrigg is a twin town with Saint-Cyr-l'École, France.- History :Early...
, Mount Pritchard, and Canley Vale.
Demographics
Cabramatta has been a remarkable melting pot for all manner of Asian and European peoples in the latter half of the 20th century. Since the 1980s, Cabramatta has been a centre for the VietnamVietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
ese, specifically the Vietnamese-Chinese community, but there are also many residents other Asian and European origins. According to the 2006 census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
, Cabramatta had a population of 19,812. There were more residents born in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
(31%) than in Australia (28%) and the number of people speaking Vietnamese
Vietnamese language
Vietnamese is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of 86% of Vietnam's population, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese. It is also spoken as a second language by many ethnic minorities of Vietnam...
at home (34%) was three times higher than the number speaking English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
only (11%). Other languages commonly spoken in the area included Cantonese (15%), Thai
Thai language
Thai , also known as Central Thai and Siamese, is the national and official language of Thailand and the native language of the Thai people, Thailand's dominant ethnic group. Thai is a member of the Tai group of the Tai–Kadai language family. Historical linguists have been unable to definitively...
(10.6%), Khmer
Khmer language
Khmer , or Cambodian, is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. It is the second most widely spoken Austroasiatic language , with speakers in the tens of millions. Khmer has been considerably influenced by Sanskrit and Pali, especially in the royal and religious...
(7.5%), Laotian (6.3%) Mandarin (4.9%).
Australians old and new (Economist print edition, 5 May 2005) relates: "A quarter of Australia's population was born abroad, and another quarter is made up of first-generation natives. At a time of globalisation, this is a tremendous strength, and with unemployment at its lowest level for almost 30 years further immigration is unlikely to provoke much discontent. Parts of Sydney are already starting to feel noticeably Asian. The suburb of Cabramatta, in the south-west, has a large Vietnamese population: walk around its main market area, and you will hardly see an English sign. But it is not a ghetto: most people who live there work elsewhere, and as people get richer, they swiftly move to more affluent areas."
Notable residents
- Khoa DoKhoa DoKhoa Do , born 1979, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, is a film director, screenwriter, professional speaker and philanthropist who received the Young Australian of the Year Award in 2005. The Do family arrived in Sydney as Vietnamese refugees in 1980. His brother is the comedian Anh Do...
(born 1979), filmmaker and 2005 Young Australian of the Year. - Michael DwyerMichael DwyerMichael Dwyer was a Society of the United Irishmen leader in the 1798 rebellion. He later fought a guerilla campaign against the British Army in the Wicklow Mountains from 1798-1803.-Early life:...
(c1772-1825), Irish rebel and convict who later settled in Cabramatta. - Jarryd HayneJarryd HayneJarryd Lee Hayne is an Australian professional rugby league footballer for the Parramatta Eels of the NRL. A New South Wales State of Origin and Australian, Fiji international representative winger and fullback, he has played his entire NRL career to date with Parramatta, with whom he got to the...
(born 1988), Fullback for the Parramatta EelsParramatta EelsThe Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, with their First Grade side playing their first season in the New South Wales Rugby Football League...
rugby leagueRugby leagueRugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
team. - Gertrude MelvilleGertrude MelvilleGertrude Mary Melville née Day was the first woman elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council in 1952.-References:...
(1884–1959), first woman elected to the New South Wales Legislative CouncilNew South Wales Legislative CouncilThe New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as...
. - John NewmanJohn Newman (Australian politician)John Paul Newman was a member of the New South Wales state parliament and Member for the seat of Cabramatta. He was the first elected politician to be assassinated in Australia.-Early life:...
(1946–1994), local politician shot dead outside his home. - Jon EnglishJon EnglishJonathan James "Jon" English is an Australian rock singer, musician, actor and writer. English emigrated to Australia with his parents in 1961...
(Australian Musician & Theatrical actor) - Darren YapDarren Yap-Early life:Yap was born in Sydney and grew up in the suburb of Cabramatta. He was the third child of a Malaysian-born Sydney medical practitioner and his fourth-generation Australia-born Chinese wife...
(born 1967), actor and director - Edward Gough Whitlam (born 1916), politician, 21st Prime Minister, Barrister
Crime
The suburb has a longstanding image problem, primarily due to its reputation as a point for drug-dealing. However, Cabramatta has been recorded as one of the most 'over-reported' areas. These drug activities began in the 1990s as drug addicts were drawn to the area. Cabramatta Railway Station became known as the "smack express" and deaths from overdoses in public places such as toilets were reported. The heroin problem, and attempts to contain it, were the source of much controversy and failed actions involving politicians, senior police, human rights organisations and the mediaNews media
The news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public.These include print media , broadcast news , and more recently the Internet .-Etymology:A medium is a carrier of something...
. The presence of youth gangs in the Cabramatta area has been a related problem, but since 2002, the problems have receded after an anti-drug crackdown was enforced by the NSW State Parliament.
Cabramatta is also remembered for the political murder of a NSW State MP, John Newman, outside his Cabramatta home in September 1994. This was Australia's first ever political assassination and thus this assassination drew much attention and alarm. A local nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
owner and political rival, Phuong Ngo
Phuong Ngo
Phuong Canh Ngo was convicted of ordering the killing of Australian MP John Newman on 5 September 1994, a crime which has been described as Australia's first political assassination....
, was convicted of the murder in 2001 and sentenced to life imprisonment. Two of Ngo's associates were found not guilty of the murder. In 2009, Ngo failed in an appeal against his jail sentence.
Depiction in film
Little FishLittle Fish
Little Fish may refer to:*Benny Bass, American world featherweight champion & world junior lightweight champion boxer*Little Fish , a 2005 film directed by Rowan Woods*Little Fish , a 2003 musical by Michael John LaChiusa...
, a 2005 film was filmed here. It starred Cate Blanchett
Cate Blanchett
Catherine Élise "Cate" Blanchett is an Australian actress. She came to international attention for her role as Elizabeth I of England in the 1998 biopic film Elizabeth, for which she won British Academy of Film and Television Arts and Golden Globe Awards, and earned her first Academy Award...
, Sam Neill
Sam Neill
Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill, DCNZM, OBE is a New Zealand actor. He is well known for his starring role as paleontologist Dr Alan Grant in Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III....
, Hugo Weaving
Hugo Weaving
Hugo Wallace Weaving is a Nigerian born, English-Australian film actor and voice artist. He is best known for his roles as Agent Smith in the Matrix trilogy, Elrond in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, "V" in V for Vendetta, and performances in numerous Australian character dramas.-Early...
, Martin Henderson
Martin Henderson
Martin Henderson is a New Zealand actor, well known to American audiences for his starring role in the ABC TV series Off the Map, while remaining known in his home country for his teenage role as Stuart Neilson in the soap opera Shortland Street.-Life and career:Henderson was born in Auckland, New...
and Dustin Nguyen
Dustin Nguyen
Dustin Nguyen is a Vietnamese-American actor, director, writer and martial artist. He is best known for his roles as Harry Truman Ioki on 21 Jump Street and as Johnny Loh on V.I.P.-Early life:...
, a Vietnamese-American. Anh Do
Anh Do
Anh Do is a Vietnamese Australian author, actor and stand-up comedian.He has appeared on many Australian TV shows such as Thank God You're Here and Good News Week, and was runner-up on Dancing With The Stars in 2007. He studied a combined Business Law degree at the University of Technology, Sydney...
, a Vietnamese Australian
Vietnamese Australian
A Vietnamese Australian is an Australian either born in Vietnam or is an Australian descendant of the former. Communities of Overseas Vietnamese are referred to as Việt Kiều or người Việt hải ngoại.-History in Australia:...
actor comedian, had a brief cameo.
Prior to Little Fish, a film named The Finished People by Khoa Do
Khoa Do
Khoa Do , born 1979, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, is a film director, screenwriter, professional speaker and philanthropist who received the Young Australian of the Year Award in 2005. The Do family arrived in Sydney as Vietnamese refugees in 1980. His brother is the comedian Anh Do...
, who grew up in a nearby suburb, was shot in the Cabramatta area. The movie focused on three indiviuals with different lifestyles. It won many awards and increased the area's name towards a positive and creative status. This led to the making of Little Fish, which despite having award-winning actors and crew members, did not come close to the recognition and respect The Finished People acquired. Margaret Pomeranz
Margaret Pomeranz
Margaret Pomeranz AM is an Australian film critic and television personality.-Early life:Pomeranz was born in 1944 in Waverley, a suburb of Sydney, and was educated at the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney in Croydon, the then newly opened Macquarie University, and the Playwright's Studio at...
and David Stratton
David Stratton
David James Stratton is an English- Australian film critic and television personality.-Life and career:Born in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England in 1939, Stratton was sent to Hampshire to see out the war years with his grandmother, an avid filmgoer, where he was taken to the local cinemas regularly...
rated it 4.5 out of 5 stars; few Australian films have ever received such a rating.