Daly Waters Aviation Complex

The Daly Waters Aviation Complex has considerable significance for the Northern Territory’s aviation heritage. The complex also has significance as the planned rail terminus and as a vital link in postal communications. Its origins are connected with the ill-fated Darwin to Alice Springs railway which was planned to terminate at Daly Waters but only reached Birdum. Daly Waters became the distribution point for mail services between the Top End and the remainder of Australia. Architecturally, the complex contains the oldest hangar in the Northern Territory, which was transported, along with the oil store, to Daly Waters by the Sidney Williams Company in 1930 and erected in its present position. Other remaining structures were built between 1940 and 1960. They are important as elements of an operational international and military areodrome during the pioneering and development period of North Australian aviation. As an international stopover the Aerodrome was visited by prominent people of the day. Technically, it represents an era of Australian aviation in which aircraft with the longest range could not traverse Australia without numerous stops to refuel. The complex therefore is of importance to the history of Australian aviation.