Across ANZ: Australia’s Ghost Town Problem Finds Hope In Leigh Creek
Venancio Dionela
Leigh Creek is the name of both a town and a coalfield, with coal being discovered in the region in 1888. Mining activities in the area led to the eventual foundation of a town centered around the coalfield in 1941. Coal was extracted from the site until 2015, when the last coal fueled power station utilizing coal from Leigh Creek was shut down. The mines still contained plentiful amounts of coal, however after years of mining the remaining ore was too deep into the earth to be extracted economically when done at scale. After the closure of the industry that built Leigh Creek, the town began to slowly shrink as miners and their families left in search of new opportunities.
Once a well established, flourishing mining town, Leigh Creek now finds itself with a population of 91. The town has been left abandoned, with all the former infrastructure still in place, yet its inhabitants are nowhere to be found. This has left behind a ghost town, with the few remaining residents of Leigh Creek doing their best to preserve their home. In 2022, efforts were made to transform the town into an ecotourism destination. In working with the native Adnyamathanha people, long disused trails were revitalized and refurbished for public use, allowing for an immersive trek through the cultural history of the native people. This goal succeeded in turning Leigh Creek into a tourism destination, however it did not stop the continual population drain the town was experiencing.
At its prime, Leigh Creek boasted modern infrastructure and a population of about 2,400. The homes and businesses that were once occupied still remain, yet are now empty. Where many developers saw a lost cause, Punjabi migrant Baljit Singh Bajwa saw an opportunity. In 2024, Bajwa purchased most of the infrastructure and buildings in Leigh Creek with the goal of reviving the community. In his efforts to revitalize Leigh Creek, Bajwa has restored restaurants, a gas station, a recreation center, and hotels in order to bring back the vibrant energy the town once had. He hopes to eventually establish Leigh Creek as a resort town, using the plentiful infrastructure to attract tourists and permanent residents back to the town. Since beginning his restoration efforts, many have found the beauty of Leigh Creek during their visits and decided that the town was worth staying in, relocating and making it their new home. At the same time, these efforts have inspired other Leigh Creek residents to uplift their community as well, contributing in their own ways to the future of their home.
Hope For Similar Towns
Leigh Creek is not the only ghost town in Australia, in fact, the situation the town finds itself in is similar to hundreds of other now nearly abandoned towns across the country. Between 1851 and 1914, there were a series of gold rushes across the country that led to hundreds of small towns being established. These towns have been abandoned due to mines running out and residents moving on to new places. Many of these towns were once thriving and were abandoned due to the closure of railway branches that connected these towns to major population centers. For these reasons, the many ghost towns across Australia have little hope of ever being revitalized.
Many of these ghost towns have also been forgotten by the Australian government, only being visited by tourists hoping to explore the abandoned towns. There are many issues with letting these towns go unattended, as was highlighted by the long abandoned town of Wittenoom. Wittenoom was once a thriving town that existed as the only asbestos mine in all of Australia. From 1941 to 1966 highly dangerous blue asbestos was mined in the town, leading to a mass contamination of the entire town. Thousands of miners and their family members died from asbestos-related diseases, leading to its abandonment as people became more and more aware of the adverse effects of asbestos exposure.
In the present day, explorers going to the remnants of Wittenoom are exposed to high levels of asbestos, leading to further illnesses being caused by this town even after its abandonment. Since the town was abandoned by its people and by the government, there were no efforts made to clear the town of its contamination, nor were there any proper warnings about the danger posed by Wittenoom. Due to the numerous people traveling to see what remained of the town, the Australian government was forced to intervene to officially close the town, disallowing entry and classifying it as a contaminated zone. By leaving behind actions of the past and not taking responsibility for it, the consequences of neglecting these old towns comes forward, making it in the best interest of Australia to either revitalize or properly close down the hundreds of abandoned towns across the expansive outback.
While Leigh Creek is the most recent example of a ghost town being revived, it is not the only town to experience this. In Tasmania, Queenstown was a small mining town that was sustained by gold and copper found in the area, however as these mines became scarce with resources, the town began to decline in population. The town saw a rebirth as a hub for art and culture following the arrival of artist Raymond Arnold. Arnold hosted numerous exhibitions and established an arts program for Tasmanians, developing what he described as a “violent place” into a place bursting with culture. The renewal of Queenstown’s identity is what saved it from collapse, something that many other long abandoned towns hope to achieve.
The stories of Queenstown and Leigh Creek both reflect the same theme, restoring these abandoned towns requires the combined efforts of the community as a whole. In doing this, disasters such as what occurred in Wittenoom can be avoided and these historic communities can persist. These towns may be empty now, but they all reflect a piece of the history of Australia.
