Wodonga is a small city on the Victorian side of the border with New South Wales, 300 kilometres north-east of Melbourne, Australia. It is covered by the municipality Wodonga City Council. Its population is approximately 40,500 people, and with Albury forms an urban area with more than 82,000 people.

History

Founded as a customs post with its twin city Albury on the other side of the Murray River, the town grew subsequent to the opening of the first bridge across the Murray in 1860. Originally named Wodonga its name was changed to Belvoir then later back to Wodonga. The Post Office opened June 1, 1856 although known as Belvoir until July 26, 1869.It has been regarded as the smaller, less prosperous cousin of the two (once commonly referred to by locals as 'Struggle Town'). Whilst still somewhat smaller than Albury, economic growth in both areas has ameliorated such distinctions.

Industry

Major secondary industries based in Wodonga include 'LOGIC' a logistics distributions hub, a large cattle market, a pet food factory (Mars Corporation), a cardboard box factory (VISY) and an abattoir and a foundry (Bradken Limited) as well as a variety of other, smaller enterprises. It also serves as a central point for the delivery of government services to the surrounding region.

It houses the Australian corporate headquarters for Mars Corp. Wodonga is the site of an Australian Army logistics base and a training centre for army technical apprentices, Latchford Barracks. It is also the home of a campus of La Trobe University and Wodonga Institute of TAFE.

Several experiments in cross-border governance in an attempt to bring the cities of Albury and Wodonga together have been tried - see Albury-Wodonga for details.

Sport and culture

There are three Australian rules football clubs in Wodonga, the Wodonga Football Club, the Wodonga Raiders Football Club and the Wodonga Saints Football Club. Wodonga and Wodonga Raiders compete in the Ovens & Murray Football League, while the Wodonga Saints compete in the Tallangatta & District Football League. There are many other sporting clubs in the region. Brisbane Lions dual-premiership player Daniel Bradshaw and celebrated Saint Kilda Saints forward Fraser Gehrig are originally from Wodonga.

Wodonga has a horse racing club, the Wodonga & District Turf Club, which schedules around seven race meetings a year including the Wodonga Cup meeting in November.

Much of the arts and theatrical activity in the region is conducted in a cross-border fashion; for instance HotHouse Theatre is located almost equidistant from the Wodonga and Albury city centres.

Australian Socceroos Archie Thompson and Joshua Kennedy played for soccer team Twin City Wanderers as a child. Wodonga Diamonds Football Club and Wodonga Panthers Soccer Club are two other soccer clubs based in Wodonga.

The World's Biggest Rolling Pin (listed in the Guinness Book of World Records) is located in Wodonga, atop "Henri's Bakery".

Wodonga also has a radio controlled car site with both onroad and off-road tracks on the Lincoln Causeway.

Transport

Wodonga water tower and War Memorial at Woodland Grove

Wodonga railway station lies on the Melbourne-Albury and Melbourne-Sydney lines. There are plans underway for the station to be moved from its present central location to a position on a new line on the northern edge of the town.

Wodonga is on the junction of the Hume Highway (the main route from Melbourne to Sydney) and the Murray Valley Highway (which follows the southern bank of the Murray River).

Local public transport is provided by Mylon Motorways, who run buses on a number of routes both within Wodonga and to Albury.Bus services are generally quite infrequent and public transport use in Wodonga is very low.There are also long-distance bus services to the capitals.

There are a number of bicycle paths in Wodonga, including one to Albury.

Albury Airport, which provides scheduled commuter flights to Melbourne and Sydney, is a short drive from Wodonga.

Government

Wodonga City Council Offices

Federal Government

Wodonga is in the federal Division of Indi. The current representative for the Division of Indi is Liberal Party of Australia member Sophie Mirabella.

State Government

Wodonga is in the Victorian Electoral district of Benambra. Bill Tilley of the Liberal Party was elected member for the electoral district of Benambra in the 2006 Victorian State Election in November 2006.

Education

From 2006, the three government high schools have merged to form a senior college for Years 10, 11 and 12, known as Wodonga Senior Secondary College, and a school for Years 7, 8 and 9, known as Wodonga Middle Years College, on two campuses; Felltimber and Huon Campus.The former 3 public high schools in Wodonga were Wodonga High School, Mitchell Secondary College and Wodonga West Secondary College. Wodonga High School celebrated its 50th birthday in 2005.

Seven private schools in Wodonga are Catholic College Wodonga, Trinity Anglican College, Victory Lutheran College, Mount Carmel Christian School, St Augustines Primary School, St Monicas Primary School and Frayne College.

Higher education served by the Wodonga Institute Of TAFE and La Trobe University.

Wodonga is also home to the Flying Fruit Fly Circus School, the educational arm of the Flying Fruit Fly Circus, that provides educational services with an emphasis on the performing arts and contemporary circus training. In 2003, a devastating fire destroyed the school's facilities at, then Wodonga High School,and the school relocated to Wodonga West Secondary College (now Wodonga Middle Years College Felltimber Campus).

La Trobe University

La Trobe University operates a regional campus in Wodonga, with 917 students enrolled as of 28 May 2008.