Gippsland Region | |||||||||||||
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  John Longstaff'sGippsland, Sunday night, 20 February 1898, depicting the"Red Tuesday" bushfires that ravaged Gippsland | |||||||||||||
  Gippsland Region The location ofBairnsdale, a town in Gippsland | |||||||||||||
| Coordinates:37°51′S147°35′E / 37.850°S 147.583°E /-37.850; 147.583 | |||||||||||||
| Country | Australia | ||||||||||||
| State | Victoria | ||||||||||||
| LGA | |||||||||||||
| Location |
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| Government | |||||||||||||
| • State electorate | |||||||||||||
| • Federal division | |||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||
• Total | 41,556 km2 (16,045 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||
| • Total | 271,266 (2016 census)[Note 1] | ||||||||||||
| • Density | 6.52772/km2 (16.90672/sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Time zone | UTC+10 (AEST) | ||||||||||||
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+11 (AEDT) | ||||||||||||
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Gippsland (/ˈɡɪpslænd/)[1] is aruralregion in the southeastern part ofVictoria,Australia,[2] mostly comprising thecoastal plains south of theVictorian Alps (the southernmost section of theGreat Dividing Range). It covers an elongated area of 41,556 km2 (16,045 sq mi) east of theShire of Cardinia (Melbourne's outermostsoutheastern suburbs) betweenDandenong Ranges andMornington Peninsula, and is bounded to the north by themountain ranges andplateaus/highlands of theHigh Country (which separate it fromHume region in Victoria's northeast), to the southwest by theWestern Port Bay, to the south and east by theBass Strait and theTasman Sea, and to the east and northeast by theBlack–Allan Line (the easternmost section of the Victoria/New South Wales state border).[3]
Gippsland is divided by theStrzelecki Ranges andtributaries of theGippsland Lakes intoWest Gippsland,South Gippsland,Latrobe Valley,Central Gippsland andEast Gippsland. At the2016 Australian census, Gippsland had a population of 271,266, with the principal centresTraralgon,Warragul,Drouin,Bairnsdale,Moe,Sale,Morwell,Wonthaggi,Leongatha, andPhillip Island. Gippsland is known for mining, power generation and farming as well as its tourist destinations —Phillip Island,Wilsons Promontory, theGippsland Lakes,Walhalla, theBaw Baw Plateau, and theStrzelecki Ranges. It also includes around a hundred islands, mostly between the mainland and Tasmania.
Thetraditional owners areIndigenous Australians of theGunai nation and in part of West Gippsland theBunurong nation. Before permanent European colonisation, the area was visited bysealers andwattle bark gatherers who did not settle[citation needed].Samuel Anderson (1803–1863),[4][5] a Scottish immigrant fromKirkcudbright, agriculturist and explorer, arrived inHobart, Tasmania, in 1830, and in 1835 established a squatter agricultural settlement on theBass River in Gippsland, the third permanent colonial settlement in Victoria (then called thePort Phillip District). His business partner Robert Massie joined him in 1837. Both had worked for theVan Diemen's Land Company at Circular Head, Tasmania. Samuel's brothers Hugh (1808–1898) and Thomas (1814–1903) arrived at Bass shortly after, where they established a successful farming venture.[4]
Further European colonisation followed two separate expeditions to the area.
During his expedition to the South (December 1839 – May 1840) in March 1840, Polish explorerPaweł Edmund Strzelecki led an expedition acrossGunai country, and gave his own names to many of their natural landmarks and places. Following these expeditions, the name "Gippsland" stuck, a name chosen by Strzelecki in honour of theNew South Wales Governor,George Gipps, his sponsor.[6]
Angus McMillan led the second European expedition between 1840, namingGunai country "Caledonia Australis".[7] The naming of this geographical region, however, remained the name given by P. E. Strzelecki – Gippsland.
The township ofBass was surveyed and colonised in the early 1860s.
The intensive colonisation of south Gippsland began late in the 1870s. A story of that process is told in,The land of the Lyre Bird (1920).[8]
Before the cancellation of the2026 Commonwealth Games, Gippsland was set to serve as one of its hosts in regional Victoria.
Gippsland is traditionally subdivided into four or five main sub–regions or districts:
Gippsland Plains Grassy Woodland is an endangeredvegetation community within the region.
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The climate of Gippsland is temperate and generally humid, except in the central region aroundSale, where annual rainfall averages around 600 millimetres (24 in).[9] In theStrzelecki Ranges annual rainfall can be as high as 1,500 millimetres (59 in), while on the high mountains of East Gippsland it probably reaches similar levels – much of it falling assnow. In lower levels east of theSnowy River, mean annual rainfall is typically about 900–950 millimetres (35–37 in) and less variable than in the coastal districts of New South Wales. Mean maximum temperatures in lower areas range from 24 °C (75 °F) in January to 15 °C (59 °F) in July. In the highlands of theBaw Baw Plateau and the remoteErrinundra Plateau, temperatures range from a maximum of 18 °C (64 °F) to a minimum of 8 °C (46 °F). However, in winter, mean minima in these areas can be as low as −4 °C (25 °F), leading to heavy snowfalls that often isolate the Errinundra Plateau between June and October.
Gippsland is home to many species of flora and fauna. Animals that live there include theswamp wallaby,koala,echidna andwombat.[citation needed]
Native plants and trees include grass trees (Xanthorrhoea australis), which provide a valuable food source of nectar, pollen, larvae and seeds for birds, insects and mammals.[citation needed]
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The soils in Gippsland are generally very infertile, being profoundly deficient innitrogen,phosphorus,potassium andcalcium. Apart from frequentlyflooded areas, they are classed asSpodosols,Psamments andUltisols. Consequently, heavy fertilisation is required for agriculture or pastoral development. Despite this, parts of Gippsland have become highly productive dairying and vegetable-growing regions: the region supplies Melbourne with most of its needs in these commodities. A few alluvial soils (chiefly near the Snowy) have much better native fertility, and these have always been intensively cultivated. In the extreme northeast is a small section of theMonaro Tableland used for grazingbeef cattle.
Gippsland possesses very few deposits ofmetallicminerals (gold rushes in the nineteenth century aroundFoster,Buchan petered out quickly). However, the deep underground gold mines operated at Walhalla for a fifty-year period between 1863 and 1913. Gippsland has no deposits of major industrial nonmetallic minerals, but it does feature the world's largestbrown coal deposits and, around Sale and offshore in theBass Strait, some of the largest deposits ofoil andnatural gas in Australia.
Like the rest of Australia, the seas around Gippsland are of very low productivity as there is noupwelling due to the warm currents in theTasman Sea. Nonetheless, towns such asMarlo andMallacoota depended for a long time on the fishing ofabalone, whoseshells could fetch very high prices because of their use forpearls and pearl inlays.
ForAustralian federal elections for theHouse of Representatives, the electoral divisions ofFlinders,[10]Monash,[11] andGippsland[12] lay entirely or partly in the Gippsland region. Flinders and McMillan are currently held by the Liberal Party, while Gippsland is held by the Nationals.
For elections for theVictorian Legislative Assembly, the electoral districts ofBass,Narracan,Morwell,Gippsland South andGippsland East lay entirely or partly in the Gippsland region. Bass is held by Labor, Narracan is held by the Liberals, while Gippsland East, Gippsland South and Morwell are held by the Nationals.
Gippsland contains sixlocal government areas:
| Local government area | Area | Population (2011 census) | Source(s) | Population (2016 census) | Source(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| km2 | sq mi | |||||
| Bass Coast Shire | 864 | 334 | 29,614 | [13] | 32,804 | [14] |
| Shire of Baw Baw | 4,031 | 1,556 | 42,864 | [15] | 48,479 | [16] |
| Shire of East Gippsland | 20,941 | 8,085 | 42,196 | [17] | 45,040 | [18] |
| Latrobe City | 1,426 | 551 | 72,396 | [19] | 73,257 | [20] |
| South Gippsland Shire | 3,305 | 1,276 | 27,208 | [21] | 28,703 | [22] |
| Shire of Wellington | 10,989 | 4,243 | 41,440 | [23] | 42,983 | [24] |
| Totals | 41,556 | 16,045 | 255,718 | 271,266 | ||
The Gippsland region contains theAlfred National Park,Baw Baw National Park,Coopracambra National Park,Croajingolong National Park,Errinundra National Park,Gippsland Lakes Coastal Park,Lind National Park,Mitchell River National Park,Morwell National Park,Snowy River National Park,Tarra-Bulga National Park,The Lakes National Park, andWilsons Promontory National Park.
There are also large areas of State forest that contribute towards conservation objectives.
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