| Port Lincoln South Australia | |||||||||||||||
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 Port Lincoln | |||||||||||||||
  Port Lincoln Location in South Australia | |||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 34°43′56″S135°51′31″E / 34.73222°S 135.85861°E /-34.73222; 135.85861 | ||||||||||||||
| Population | 14,404 (UCL2021)[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Established | 1839 | ||||||||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 5606[2] | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation | 7 m (23 ft) | ||||||||||||||
| Time zone | ACST (UTC+9:30) | ||||||||||||||
| • Summer (DST) | ACST (UTC+10:30) | ||||||||||||||
| Location |
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| LGA(s) | City of Port Lincoln | ||||||||||||||
| Region | Eyre Western[3] | ||||||||||||||
| County | Flinders[4] | ||||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Flinders[5] | ||||||||||||||
| Federal division(s) | Grey[6] | ||||||||||||||
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| Footnotes | Adjoining localities[4] | ||||||||||||||
Port Lincoln is a city on the LowerEyre Peninsula in theAustralianstate ofSouth Australia. Known asGalinyala by thetraditional owners, theBarngarla people, it is situated on the shore of Boston Bay, which opens eastward intoSpencer Gulf. It is the largest city in the West Coast region, and is located approximately 280 km (170 mi) from the state's capital city ofAdelaide (646 km (401 mi) by road).
In June 2019 Port Lincoln had an estimated population of 26,418,[8] having grown at an average annual rate of 0.55% year-on-year over the preceding five years. The city is reputed to have the most millionaires per capita in Australia,[9] as well as claiming to beAustralia's "Seafood Capital".[10]
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The Eyre Peninsula has been home toAboriginal people for over 40 thousand years, with theBarngarla (eastern Eyre, including Port Lincoln),Nauo (south western Eyre),Wirangu (north western Eyre) andMirning (far western Eyre) being the predominant original cultural groups present at the time of the arrival of Europeans.[11]
The Barngala people have been acknowledged as the traditional owners, and their name for Port Lincoln is Galinyala, which in theBarngarla language[12] means "place of sweet water".[13]
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 vesselHMSInvestigator into the harbour, which he later named Port Lincoln after the city ofLincoln in his native county ofLincolnshire in England.[14] A couple of months later on 19 April,Nicolas Baudin entered the same port and named itPort Champagny.[15]
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 SirJohn Hindmarsh, the firstGovernor of South Australia, gave instructions to ColonelWilliam Light to find a capital for the "New BritishProvince of South Australia". With boatfuls of immigrants set to arrive and impatient settlers already camping atHoldfast Bay,Rapid Bay andKangaroo 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. WhileThomas 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 formerchant 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 selectedAdelaide 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 shipsAbeona,Porter andDorset. On 3 October 1839, GovernorGeorge Gawler proclaimed the whole area fromCape Catastrophe to the head of theSpencer 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, GovernorGeorge Grey ordered a detachment of the96th Regiment of the British Army under the command of Lieutenant Hugonin to enforce control in the area. After an initial defeat atPillaworta, 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 ofNative Police were later deployed to the area to maintain this control.[16] An unknown number ofAboriginal people were killed by soldiers near Pillaworta in retribution for the presumed killings of colonists.[17]
In 1849, five Aboriginal people including an infant werepoisoned 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.[18]
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 annualTunarama Festival on theAustralia Day weekend.
The lack of a reliable surfacewater 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 theEyre Peninsula region also share this resource via the Tod-Ceduna pipeline. TheIron Knob toKimba pipeline completed in 2007 provides limited transfer capacity ofRiver 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 seawaterdesalination.[19]
Formerly a potable water resource fed by the Tod River, theTod Reservoir was taken offline in 2001–2002 due to concerns about rising levels of agricultural chemical contamination andsalinity.[20]
Port Lincoln has a number of places listed on theSouth Australian Heritage Register, including:
At June 2018 Port Lincoln had an estimated urban population of 26,326.[8] Aboriginal people make up 5.6% of Port Lincoln's population.[27]
Port Lincoln has a contrasting coastal landscape, ranging from sheltered waters and beaches, to surf beaches and rugged oceanic coastline.[according to whom?] TheGreat South Australian Coastal Upwelling System brings cold, nutrient-rich water into nearby waters of theGreat Australian Bight andSpencer Gulf. These upwellings support lucrative fisheries, including that of thesouthern bluefin tuna andsardine.[28]
Port Lincoln has awarm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csb). The climate is highly variable due to the town's position between theOutback andSouthern Ocean. Summers alternate between frequent southerlysea breezes (keeping maxima under 30.0 °C (86.0 °F)), with occasional northerlyheatwaves (that raise the temperature to well over 40.0 °C (104.0 °F)). Meanwhile, winters are cool and cloudy, with frequent drizzle, showers andcold fronts, albeit withfrost being very rare.
There is moderate seasonal temperature variation andseasonal lag, with average maxima ranging from 26.2 °C (79.2 °F) in January to 16.1 °C (61.0 °F) in July, while average minima vary from 16.1 °C (61.0 °F) in February to 7.2 °C (45.0 °F) in August. Average annual rainfall is rather low, 392.5 mm (15.45 in), occurring within 127.1 rainfall days, and the wettest month on record was 200.4 mm (7.89 in) in June 1981. Despite the low intensity of rainfall: there are 154.5 cloudy days and only 57.2 clear days annually.[29] Extreme temperatures have ranged from −0.3 °C (31.5 °F) on 16 July 2016 to 48.3 °C (118.9 °F) on 24 January 2019.[30]
| Climate data for Port Lincoln (34º36'00"S, 135º52'48"E, 9 m AMSL) (1992-2024 normals and extremes, sun 1973-1991) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 48.3 (118.9) | 44.4 (111.9) | 43.3 (109.9) | 39.5 (103.1) | 32.7 (90.9) | 27.3 (81.1) | 24.1 (75.4) | 31.2 (88.2) | 35.9 (96.6) | 40.8 (105.4) | 45.8 (114.4) | 45.6 (114.1) | 48.3 (118.9) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 26.2 (79.2) | 25.9 (78.6) | 24.4 (75.9) | 22.3 (72.1) | 19.5 (67.1) | 16.8 (62.2) | 16.1 (61.0) | 16.8 (62.2) | 18.7 (65.7) | 21.0 (69.8) | 23.0 (73.4) | 24.7 (76.5) | 21.3 (70.3) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 15.8 (60.4) | 16.1 (61.0) | 14.7 (58.5) | 12.2 (54.0) | 10.3 (50.5) | 8.5 (47.3) | 7.4 (45.3) | 7.2 (45.0) | 8.0 (46.4) | 9.6 (49.3) | 12.0 (53.6) | 14.0 (57.2) | 11.3 (52.4) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 8.5 (47.3) | 6.8 (44.2) | 6.7 (44.1) | 5.1 (41.2) | 3.0 (37.4) | 0.7 (33.3) | −0.3 (31.5) | 1.3 (34.3) | 0.1 (32.2) | 2.3 (36.1) | 4.1 (39.4) | 5.2 (41.4) | −0.3 (31.5) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 19.6 (0.77) | 15.5 (0.61) | 16.5 (0.65) | 21.1 (0.83) | 41.8 (1.65) | 62.0 (2.44) | 55.2 (2.17) | 52.3 (2.06) | 39.3 (1.55) | 29.1 (1.15) | 21.4 (0.84) | 18.3 (0.72) | 392.5 (15.45) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.2 mm) | 4.7 | 3.7 | 5.8 | 8.5 | 14.9 | 17.2 | 18.2 | 18.0 | 13.7 | 9.6 | 6.8 | 6.0 | 127.1 |
| Average afternoonrelative humidity (%) | 50 | 52 | 54 | 57 | 61 | 66 | 66 | 64 | 62 | 56 | 52 | 51 | 58 |
| Averagedew point °C (°F) | 12.2 (54.0) | 12.8 (55.0) | 12.0 (53.6) | 10.8 (51.4) | 9.6 (49.3) | 8.9 (48.0) | 8.1 (46.6) | 8.0 (46.4) | 8.7 (47.7) | 8.7 (47.7) | 10.0 (50.0) | 11.0 (51.8) | 10.1 (50.1) |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 294.5 | 245.8 | 223.2 | 183.0 | 151.9 | 129.0 | 155.0 | 179.8 | 189.0 | 229.4 | 243.0 | 272.8 | 2,496.4 |
| Percentagepossible sunshine | 67 | 65 | 59 | 54 | 48 | 44 | 50 | 53 | 53 | 57 | 58 | 61 | 56 |
| Source:Bureau of Meteorology (1992-2024 normals and extremes, sun 1973-1991)[31][32] | |||||||||||||
Port Lincoln is located in the federalDivision of Grey, the stateelectoral district of Flinders and the local government area ofCity of Port Lincoln.[5][6][4]
The economy is based on the huge grain-handling facilities (with a total capacity of over 337,500 tonnes), the canning and fish processing works, lambs, wool and beef, andtuna farming for the Japanese market.[33] Home of Australia's largest commercialfishing fleet,[citation needed] Port Lincoln now has a thrivingaquaculture industry that farms the following species:southern bluefin tuna,yellowtail kingfish,abalone,mussels,oysters, and experimentally,seahorses andspiny lobsters. Before the advent of aquaculture, the main fishing was forsouthern bluefin tuna.[citation needed]Frank Moorhouse recommended the South Australian government lend the Haldane family 20,000 pounds which they used to build a super vessel. The MFVTacoma 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.[34]
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 inAdelaide. During the early years of this century, housing demand has led to a boom inproperty development, both residential and commercial.
A proposal byCentrex Metals to exportiron ore through an expanded facility at the existing Port Lincoln wharf was approved by the South Australian Government c. Oct 2009.[35] 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 dominantseafood industry.[36][37]
Port Lincoln is a centre for tourism, with access to bothSpencer Gulf and theGreat Australian Bight mark Port Lincoln out as a site foryachting,scuba diving, shark cage diving andgame fishing.Lincoln National Park,Coffin Bay National Park andKellidie Bay Conservation Park are within driving distance.[citation needed]
Port Lincoln railway station is the terminus ofEyre Peninsula Railway, a narrow gauge (1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)) railway which consists of three lines; Port Lincoln toKevin,Cummins toBuckleboo andYeelanna to Kapinnie.[38][39]
Port Lincoln was also the port terminus for the privately owned standard-gaugeCoffin Bay Tramway that operated from 1966 to 1989 to carry lime sand to the port at Proper Bay on the south side of the town forBHP. It was used asflux in blast furnaces.[40]
Port Lincoln Airport is located a few kilometres north of the city.Regional Express andQantasLink provide multiple daily flights to the state capital ofAdelaide. All flights thatQantasLink operate in and out ofPort Lincoln Airport are operated using their Dash 8-300 aircraft.
The Port Lincoln Bus Service operates Monday to Friday from 9.00 am to 4.30 pm with separate morning and afternoon services. The morning service runs to a fixed route timetable and services Lincoln North and Lincoln South.
Long-distance bus services are operated byStateliner with multiple daily services toAdelaide andPort Augusta.
The bookBlue Fin byColin Thiele was set in Port Lincoln, with the movie of the same name filmed in nearbyStreaky Bay.[41]
Some of theANZAC Cove scenes inGallipoli were also filmed near Port Lincoln.[42]
Thefirst edition ofAustralian Survivor, the Australian version of the popular US television series,Survivor, was filmed atWhalers Way, south of Port Lincoln, in 2001.[43]
TheDiscovery Channel documentary seriesTuna Wranglers(2007) andAbalone Wars were both filmed in and around Port Lincoln.[44]
Port Lincoln was visited in 1939 by English travel authorEric Newby, while he was crew in the 4-mastedbarqueMoshulu, which anchored outside ofBoston Island.Moshulu had taken 82 days to sail to Port Lincoln fromBelfast inballast (a fast passage for a windjammer), but there was no grain to be had there, even thoughMoshulu waited at anchor for most of January. The crew was given shore leave in Port Lincoln, encountering large amounts ofAustralian wine.Moshulu eventually carried on toPort Victoria for cargo. During the 1939 season,Passat andLawhill were also present at Port Lincoln. Newby wrote about his experiences on the round-trip from Ireland to South Australia in his bookThe Last Grain Race (1956), and several pictures of Port Lincoln as it appeared in 1939 are included in his photo-essay of his voyage,Learning the Ropes.[citation needed]
On the TV showNeighbours, the Brennan brothers,Tyler,Mark andAaron, are originally from Port Lincoln.[45]
The town was featured in the second series ofAn Idiot Abroad. British comedianKarl Pilkington was in Port Lincoln for the show where he swam with sharks.[46][47]
According to the Port Lincoln Council the most popular sports aretennis,Australian rules football,soccer,netball andbasketball.[48] ThePort Lincoln Football League (PLFL) has 6 teams competing including theMallee Park Football Club which is notable as having produced manyAustralian Football League players, particularly indigenous.[49] The Centenary Oval has a capacity for 7,500 and has hosted sellout pre-season AFL matches in 2005 and 2015.[50] Port Lincoln Soccer Association runs a 4 team competition.
Historically, South Australia's first rural newspaper, thePort Lincoln Herald, owned by Robert Thomas, was published on 10 April 1839, before ceasing publication in September 1840.[51][52] According to the first edition, "...The object of the proprietors...is to promulgate just accounts of the capabilities of the only safe and commodious harbour yet known within the territories of South Australia."[53] Only six issues were released, with the first edition being printed inHindley Street, Adelaide, and the second issue arriving seven months later, after being printed in a hut at Port Lincoln.[53]
TheWestern Weekly News (22 March 1902 – 1904)[54] was also briefly published in the town, as was another short lived, but outspoken publication, calledChallenger (28 May 1932 - 4 June 1934), a sister publication of theWest Coast Recorder.[55] The town was also the base of thePort Lincoln, Tumby and West Coast Recorder (22 July 1904 – 6 October 1909),[56] later known as theWest Coast Recorder (1909-1942), which was then absorbed by thePort Lincoln Times. These days, Port Lincoln has one local newspaper (thePort Lincoln Times), aRural Press publication first issued on 5 August 1927. It is published on Tuesdays and Thursdays and is printed inMurray Bridge at the high-tech Rural Press printing centre.
Port Lincoln has two local commercial radio stations,89.9 Magic FM and 765 AM5CC (the first local commercial station) broadcasting out of their Washington Street studio. It is also served byABC West Coast SA on 1485 AM which broadcasts out of the Civic Centre onTasman Terrace. It's also served byTriple J andABC Radio National fromTumby Bay and satellite uplink fromMelbourne respectively.ABC News Radio is also available on 91.5FM. It also receives KIXFM 87.6.
Free to air TV stations available in Port Lincoln areABC,SBS,Seven GTS/BKN (formerly Central Television), theNine Network andSouthern Cross Ten. Also available isFoxtel pay TV.
Port Lincoln istwinned with:
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