Centrepiece of the Shire is Mount Warning, where the sun first hits the Australian continent. Formed by a period of volcanic activity which took place more than 20 million years ago, the Tweed Valley is essentially a huge volcanic crater, known as a caldera. The landscape is dominated by the Tweed River and by the core of the ancient shield volcano, called Wollumbin by the Bundjalung Aboriginal people, and named Mount Warning by Captain James Cook in 1770.

For many thousands of years before that time the Bundjalung were settled in the forested valleys and along the coast, fishing, hunting small game and relying on the local plant life, such as ferns and cycads. Wollumbin and its surrounding area are sacred to the Bundjalung because of its cultural significance.

Thanks to its volcanic past, the Tweed Valley has rich soils that have supported dense rainforests, woodlands and, since the arrival of white settlers in the mid 19th century, agricultural industries including sugar cane and banana plantations and dairy farming. In fact, it was the richness and diversity of the vegetation in the area, and in particular the highly-prized red cedar wood, that first drew Europeans to live and work here in the 1840s. The area was settled by timber-getters around 1844.  The first school opened in 1871, and by the 1890’s the river port of Tumbulgum was the centre of population.  The focus moved to Murwillumbah when the first Local Government municipality was declared in 1902.  The Tweed Shire, which amalgamated the Municipality of Murwillumbah and Shire of Tweed, was declared in 1947.

Today in excess of 80,000 people live in Tweed, scattered through 17 villages, two towns, and the major urban areas of Tweed Heads and South Tweed. With 37 kms of natural coastline, wetlands and estuarine forests, lush pastoral and farm land, the entire basin of the Tweed River, and mountainous regions containing three world-heritage listed national parks, Tweed boasts a unique and diverse environment.

The retail, hospitality, agricultural and tourism industries are major employers, while construction, fishing, and light industry are other significant contributors to the local economy.

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