Gin Gin is located on the Bruce Highway, approximately west of Bundaberg and north-west of Brisbane, the state capital. The town owes its existence to its strategic location about halfway between Brisbane and Rockhampton. It is often used as a stop-over point for drivers travelling between these two centres. Bundaberg Gin Gin Road runs east from the Bruce Highway.
History
is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken by the Gureng Gureng people. The Gooreng Gooreng language region includes the towns of Bundaberg, Gin Gin and Miriam Vale extending south towards Childers, inland to Monto and Mt Perry. The town name Gin Gin has sometimes been said to derive from a local Aboriginal word indicating "red soil thick scrub". British occupation of the region began in 1848 when Gregory Blaxland Jnr together with William Forster brought their flocks of sheep up from their squatting leases on the Clarence River. The pastoral run they selected extended all the way to the coast and they called it Tirroan. The modern town of Gin Gin is located close to where the original homestead was constructed. Strong resistance from the local Aboriginal people was encountered resulting in the death of several shepherds and the killing of Blaxland in August 1850. Two large massacres of Aboriginals were conducted by local squatters and their stockmen as punitive measures to these deaths. About 1851, Arthur and Alfred Henry Brown bought Tirroan from William Forster and renamed the run Gin Gin. The Brown Brothers previously owned a pastoral property called Gin Gin in Western Australia. The run was later purchased by Sir Thomas McIlwraith, who was Premier of Queensland three times between 1879 and 1893. The Gin Gin district is nicknamed Wild Scotsman Country due to the capture of one of Queensland's few bushrangers, James Alpin McPherson, in the area on 30 March 1866. McPherson, who went by the same nickname, was captured at Monduran Station, north of town. Gin Gin Post Office opened on 15 March 1875. The town was first surveyed in 1880. Gin Gin Provisional School opened on 26 June 1882. On 3 November 1890 it became Gin Gin State School with 8 students under teacher Arthur William Moore. In 1956, the school expanded to offer secondary schooling, until a separate Gin Gin State High School was established on 1 February 1972. Gin Gin State Pre-School opened on 25 October 1977 and closed in 2006 when it was absorbed into Gin Gin State School. In 1887, of land were resumed from the Gin Gin pastoral run. The land was offered for selection for the establishment of small farms on 17 April 1887. The Gin Gin Library opened in 1992.
Population
At the 2006 census, Gin Gin had a population of 892. In the 2011 census, Gin Gin had a population of 1,190 people. In the, Gin Gin had a population of 1,053 people.
Gin Gin, like Bundaberg, is heavily dependent on the sugar industry, with sugarcane plantations dotted throughout the area. An extensive system of sugar cane tramways service the area. Cattle production also features prominently. In recent years small cropping has taken off across farms in the district, with varied success.
Education
Gin Gin State School is a government primary school for boys and girls at 13 May Street. In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 290 students with 21 teachers and 18 non-teaching staff. It includes a special education program. Gin Gin State High School is a government secondary school for boys and girls at 30 High School Road. In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 450 students with 45 teachers and 31 non-teaching staff. It includes a special education As well as the students from Gin Gin itself, many students travel, mainly by bus, from surrounding properties and townships like Wallaville, Bullyard, Tirroan, McIlwraith, Maroondan and Mount Perry.
The Wild Scotsman Festival used to be held in Gin Gin on the third week of March each year to commemorate the capture of the bushranger James MacPherson. The Wild Scotsman Markets are held next to the historical Grounds each Saturday morning.
