first commercial rice crop in Australia. He grew Japanese (Japonica) varieties on of flood prone land on the Murray River near Swan Hill. The Chinese had been growing rice in Australia since at least 1877. Swan Hill became a city in 1965. Burke and Wills The Burke and Wills expedition reached Swan Hill on Thursday, 6 September 1860 on their journey across Australia from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria. They made Camp XV (their fifteenth camp out of Melbourne) in the police paddock on the banks of the Murray River in an area that is now Riverside Park. The expedition stayed in Swan Hill until Monday, 10 September while they reorganised the stores. Burke dismissed four men; Essau Khan, Brooks, Lane and John Polongeaux. He then hired Alexander McPherson, a saddler from Epsom and Charlie Gray, a former sailor from Scotland who had worked as an ostler for Cobb and Co between Bendigo and Swan Hill and who was now employed at the Lower Murray Inn in Swan Hill. The party was strengthened further by the arrival from Melbourne of journalist, William Hodgkinson, and scientist Georg von Neumayer. The local inhabitants gave the expedition a rousing farewell as they crossed into New South Wales. Folklore alleges Burke and Wills planted a Moreton Bay Fig tree in the garden of the local doctor, Dr B W Gummow. The tree is now approximately 27 metres high and has a branch spread of approximately 44 metres and can be seen in Curlewis Street. Heritage listings The Murray River road bridge over the Murray River connects McCallum Street in Swan Hill to the Swan Hill Road in Murray Downs in New South Wales. The bridge is listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register. Geography The town is situated on the Northern Plains Grassland. Viticulture Swan Hill gives its name to a wine region straddling the Murray River. The vines are predominantly irrigated from the river. Climate Swan Hill has a semi-arid climate with hot summers and cool to mild winters. Demography Around 88% of the people living in Swan Hill were born in Australia. Migrants account for around 12 per cent, these include Italy (1.4%); England (1.0%); New Zealand (0.4%); Scotland (0.3%) and Afghanistan (0.3%). 3.2% of the population are Indigenous. Facilities Education In Swan Hill there are four primary schools, two secondary schools and three schools which run both primary