Muja, Western Australia

Muja is a rural town and locality of the Shire of Collie in the South West region of Western Australia. The western part of the locality is dominated by coal mining and the coal-fired Muja Power Station while the eastern part is rural and forested.^[3][4]

Muja Western Australia
The Muja Power Station in 2001
Coordinates	33.42°S 116.35°E / -33.42; 116.35
Population	18 (SAL 2016)[1][2]
Postcode(s)	6225
Area	57.1 km2 (22.0 sq mi)
Location	170 km (106 mi) from Perth 65 km (40 mi) from Bunbury 18 km (11 mi) from Collie
LGA(s)	Shire of Collie
State electorate(s)	Collie-Preston
Federal division(s)	O'Connor
Localities around Muja: Buckingham Buckingham Bowelling Shotts Muja Bowelling Cardiff Bowelling Bowelling

The townsite of Muja, located in the north-west of the locality, was set aside for a townsite reserve at the Cabbage Trees railway siding in 1907. Cabbage Trees was located on the Collie-Darkan Railway and opened in 1907.^[5] In November 1907, the siding was renamed to Muja but townsite reserve was not formally made a townsite until 1973. The name Muja results from the Aboriginal word for the Western Australian Christmas tree, the Nuytsia floribunda, also known as the cabbage tree.^[6]

The heritage listed Buckingham Mill Precinct is located in Muja, where timber was historically milled for the Collie coalfields. Little remains now of the former mill, cottages and church.^[7]

Muja and the Shire of Collie are located on the traditional land of the Kaniyang and Wiilman people of the Noongar nation.^{[8][9][10][11]}

References

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Muja (suburb and locality)". Australian Census 2016. 
2. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Muja (suburb and locality)". Australian Census 2016 QuickStats. Retrieved 28 June 2022. 
3. "SLIP Map". maps.slip.wa.gov.au. Landgate. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
4. "NationalMap". nationalmap.gov.au. Geoscience Australia. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
5. "Along the Collie-Narrogin Line". The Southern Argus and Wagin-Arthur Express. Vol. III, no. 150. Western Australia. 6 March 1908. p. 4. Retrieved 12 July 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
6. "History of country town names – M". Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 14 March 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
7. "Buckingham Mill Precinct". inherit.stateheritage.wa.gov.au. Heritage Council of Western Australia. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
8. "Map of Indigenous Australia". aiatsis.gov.au. Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
9. "Wiilman". www.boodjar.sis.uwa.edu.au. University of Western Australia. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
10. "Kaneang". www.boodjar.sis.uwa.edu.au. University of Western Australia. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
11. "Wiilman (WA)". www.samuseum.sa.gov.au. South Australian Museum. Retrieved 12 July 2024.