Think you’re unlucky in love? Spare a thought for the men of Junee.
It’s not a case of striking out. Rather, it’s a statistical quirk that’s elevated the blokes to the dubious rank of the state’s most eligible bachelors.
The town’s “sex ratio” is a whopping 133.4 men per 100 women – a statistic blown out of proportion by the all-male Junee jail.
But lifelong Junee resident Billy Hackett has other ideas.
"You can't get women in Junee because nearly everybody is related … so you’ve got to be very careful about who you meet,” said the 63-year-old divorcee.
“I went out of town and married a girl from Victoria and a lot of the younger blokes go to Coota, Temora and Wagga to find girls.”
The half-hour drive to Wagga is where Junee men are more likely to find the woman of their dreams, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The latest data suggests there are 97.2 men per 100 women in Wagga – or about 2.8 women per each man.
Junee mayor Neil Smith said he believed the higher prevalence of women in Wagga was a good thing for the shire’s young men.
"The great thing about Junee is that Wagga is just down the road,” he said.
“Certainly the pubs provide a lot of the night life, but when that doesn't suffice Wagga fills the void. A lot of the older community groups in Junee are probably not where the younger men are going to find the love of their life.”
Other areas in the Riverina where men out number women include Griffith, with 104.3 men per 100 women.
Lockhart boasts 106 men per 100 females and Narrandera with a near-even 100.5 men per 100 women.
Cootamundra, Coolamon and Leeton all have more females than males.
The curious question of how people find love in remote parts of the Riverina was highlighted this week with the case of Culcairn farmer Scott Mitchell, who was dumped from reality TV show Farmer Wants A Wife.
But if the men of the Riverina think it’s tough to meet a woman, they best steer clear of Wiluna in Western Australia.
Here, in this mining town at the edge of the Western Desert, 950 kilometres north-east of Perth, there are 270.7 men per 100 women.
