Port Lincoln
Port Lincoln is a city on the Lower Eyre Peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia. Known as Galinyala by the Barngarla people who hold native title rights, it is situated on the shore of Boston Bay, which opens eastward into Spencer Gulf. It is the largest city in the West Coast region, and is located approximately from the state's capital city of Adelaide.
In June 2019 Port Lincoln had an estimated population of 26,418, having grown at an average annual rate of 0.55% year-on-year over the preceding five years. The city claims to be Australia's "Seafood Capital".
History and name
The Eyre Peninsula has been home to Aboriginal people for over 40,000 years, with the Barngarla, Nauo, Wirangu and Mirning being the predominant original cultural groups present at the time of the arrival of Europeans.The Barngala people have been acknowledged as the traditional owners, and their name for Port Lincoln is Galinyala, which in the Barngarla language means "place of sweet water".
Matthew Flinders was the first European to reach Port Lincoln under his commission by the British Admiralty to chart Australia's unexplored coastline. On 25 February 1802, Flinders sailed his exploration vessel HMS Investigator into the harbour, which he later named Port Lincoln after the city of Lincoln in his native county of Lincolnshire in England. A couple of months later, on 19 April, Nicolas Baudin entered the same port and named it Port Champagny.
Sealers had visited the area around 1828 and the mainly French whaling ships were fishing the local bays and island regions by the 1820s and up to the 1840s. In 1836 Governor Sir John Hindmarsh, the first Governor of South Australia, gave instructions to Colonel William Light to find a capital for the "New British Province of South Australia". With boatfuls of immigrants set to arrive and impatient settlers already camping at Holdfast Bay, Rapid Bay and Kangaroo Island, Light was under immense pressure to identify a location with a suitable harbour, sufficient agricultural land and fresh water. After assessing a number of other potential locations, Light was ordered by England to consider Port Lincoln as a possible site for the capital. While Thomas Lipson had arrived in Port Lincoln earlier and approved of its "beautiful harbour" and "fertile land", Light was unconvinced from the beginning, as he faced fierce westerly gales, ill-placed islands and rocky reefs on arrival.
Light decided that it might be dangerous for merchant ships trying to enter the unfamiliar territory after a long voyage and that there was not enough of what he thought was good agricultural land, nor enough fresh water to sustain a city. Instead he selected Adelaide as the most suitable place for settlement.
Port Lincoln, however, proved popular with pioneers and developers. The first settlers arrived on 19 March 1839 aboard the ships Abeona, Porter and Dorset. On 3 October 1839, Governor George Gawler proclaimed the whole area from Cape Catastrophe to the head of the Spencer Gulf as one district, which he named the District of Port Lincoln.
In 1840, one year after settlement, the population of Port Lincoln was 270. There were 30 stone houses, a hotel, blacksmith's shop and a store in the Happy Valley area. Around this time, Edward John Eyre explored the peninsula that was subsequently named in his honour.
In early 1842, local Aboriginal resistance to the British settlement became so successful that it prompted the near abandonment of Port Lincoln. As a result, Governor George Grey ordered a detachment of the 96th Regiment of the British Army under the command of Lieutenant Hugonin to enforce control in the area. After an initial defeat at Pillaworta, the 96th in combination with the Mounted Police and armed settlers were able to restore full British authority by the end of 1843. A section of Native Police were later deployed to the area to maintain this control. An unknown number of Aboriginal people were killed by soldiers near Pillaworta in retribution for the presumed killings of colonists.
In 1849, five Aboriginal people including an infant were poisoned after being given flour mixed with arsenic by hutkeeper Patrick Dwyer near Port Lincoln. Despite being arrested with strong evidence against him, Dwyer was released from custody by Charles Driver, the Government Resident at Port Lincoln.
Local government formally began on the Eyre Peninsula on 1 July 1880, with the establishment of the District Council of Lincoln. The township of Port Lincoln naturally was included in that area. On 18 August 1921, the Municipality of Port Lincoln was formally proclaimed.
By 1936 the population had grown to 3200 and the town had a first-class water supply. The port had become the commercial pivot for the area, providing for its many agricultural and commercial requirements. City status was granted to Port Lincoln on 21 January 1971 and the proclamation was read at the opening of the tenth annual Tunarama Festival on the Australia Day weekend.
Water supply
The lack of a reliable surface water supply was a factor preventing Port Lincoln from being proclaimed the colony's capital city in the 1830s. Even as a small town, Port Lincoln outgrew its fresh water supplies. It is now largely dependent on water drawn from groundwater basins in the south of the peninsula.The southern and western parts of the Eyre Peninsula region also share this resource via the Tod-Ceduna pipeline. The Iron Knob to Kimba pipeline completed in 2007 provides limited transfer capacity of River Murray water into the Tod-Ceduna system. Following the development of a long term water supply plan for Eyre Peninsula, the South Australian government is progressing detailed investigation of augmentation options. These include seawater desalination.
Formerly a potable water resource fed by the Tod River, the Tod Reservoir was taken offline in 2001–2002 due to concerns about rising levels of agricultural chemical contamination and salinity.
Heritage listings
Port Lincoln has a number of places listed on the South Australian Heritage Register, including:- Dorset Place: Old Mill Lookout
- Hawson Place: Hawson's Grave
- 152 Proper Bay Road: Arrandale
- Railway Terrace: Port Lincoln railway station
- 36 Washington Street: Port Lincoln Police Station and Courthouse
- 20 Windsor Avenue: Ravendale House
Demographics
Geography
Port Lincoln has a contrasting coastal landscape, ranging from sheltered waters and beaches, to surf beaches and rugged oceanic coastline. The Great South Australian Coastal Upwelling System brings cold, nutrient-rich water into nearby waters of the Great Australian Bight and Spencer Gulf. These upwellings support lucrative fisheries, including that of the southern bluefin tuna and sardine.Climate
Port Lincoln has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate. The climate is highly variable due to the town's position between the Outback and Southern Ocean. Summers alternate between frequent southerly sea breezes, with occasional northerly heatwaves. Meanwhile, winters are cool and cloudy, with frequent drizzle, showers and cold fronts, albeit with frost being very rare.There is moderate seasonal temperature variation and seasonal lag, with average maxima ranging from in January to in July, while average minima vary from in February to in August. Average annual rainfall is rather low,, occurring within 127.1 rainfall days, and the wettest month on record was in June 1981. Despite the low intensity of rainfall: there are 154.5 cloudy days and only 57.2 clear days annually. Extreme temperatures have ranged from on 16 July 2016 to on 24 January 2019.
Government
Port Lincoln is located in the federal Division of Grey, the state electoral district of Flinders and the local government area of City of Port Lincoln.Economy
The economy is based on the huge grain-handling facilities, the canning and fish processing works, lambs, wool and beef, and tuna farming for the Japanese market. Home of Australia's largest commercial fishing fleet, Port Lincoln now has a thriving aquaculture industry that farms the following species: southern bluefin tuna, yellowtail kingfish, abalone, mussels, oysters, and experimentally, seahorses and spiny lobsters. Before the advent of aquaculture, the main fishing was for southern bluefin tuna. Frank Moorhouse recommended the South Australian government lend the Haldane family 20,000 pounds which they used to build a super vessel. The MFV Tacoma was Australia's first purpose-built tuna fishing vessel. It revolutionised the industry and began catching the fish off the coast of Port Lincoln in the early 1950s.The city also functions as a regional centre for government administration, corporate services and commerce to Eyre Peninsula; however, many state government functions are gradually being withdrawn as they become more centralised in Adelaide. During the early years of this century, housing demand has led to a boom in property development, both residential and commercial.
A proposal by Centrex Metals to export iron ore through an expanded facility at the existing Port Lincoln wharf was approved by the South Australian Government c. Oct 2009. The proposal was abandoned by the company following strong public opposition. The chief public concern was the potential harm that spillage or dust plumes might cause to the profitability or reputation of the region's dominant seafood industry.