Lockhart River | |||||||||||||
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 Blue hour at Quintell Beach, Lockhart River, 2025 | |||||||||||||
  Lockhart River | |||||||||||||
| Coordinates:12°47′06″S143°20′35″E / 12.7851°S 143.3430°E /-12.7851; 143.3430 (Lockhart River (town centre)) | |||||||||||||
| Country | Australia | ||||||||||||
| State | Queensland | ||||||||||||
| LGAs | |||||||||||||
| Location | |||||||||||||
| Government | |||||||||||||
| • State electorate | |||||||||||||
| • Federal division | |||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||
• Total | 5,877.0 km2 (2,269.1 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Elevation | 17 m (56 ft) | ||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||
| • Total | 640 (2021 census)[2] | ||||||||||||
| • Density | 0.1089/km2 (0.2820/sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Postcode | 4892 | ||||||||||||
| Mean max temp | 29.8 °C (85.6 °F) | ||||||||||||
| Mean min temp | 21.9 °C (71.4 °F) | ||||||||||||
| Annual rainfall | 2,117.4 mm (83.36 in) | ||||||||||||
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Lockhart River is a town in theAboriginal Shire of Lockhart River and a coastallocality split between the Aboriginal Shire of Lockhart River and theShire of Cook, on theCape York Peninsula inQueensland, Australia. The town is an Aboriginal community. From 1924 to 1967, the Lockhart River Mission was run by theAnglican Church. In the2021 census, the locality of Lockhart River had a population of 640 people.[2]
Lockhart River is a coastalAboriginal community situated on the eastern coast of theCape York Peninsula in Queensland, Australia. The population consists mostly of Aboriginal andTorres Strait Islanders, whose ancestors were forcibly moved to the area beginning in 1924.[4]
The locality includes a number of islands off the east coast:Chapman Island,Lloyd Island, Rocky Island,Sherrard Island, andSunter Island (all of which are in the Aboriginal Shire of Lockhart River).[5]
Lockhart River takes its name from the river located 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) south of the community. The river was named by explorerRobert Logan Jack in January 1880, after a close friend, Hugh Lockhart.[6]
Non-Indigenous people first arrived in 1848, when the explorerEdmund Kennedy set up a base camp near the mouth of thePascoe River atWeymouth Bay.[7] Kennedy left eight men at the camp but by the time they were located by the supply ship, only two remained alive, the other six having died from disease and starvation.[7]
By the 1870s, fishermen withluggers looking fortrepang, pearl shell, andtrochus were in the coastal areas. Miners in search of tin and gold, along with timber cutters, were in the hills around Gordon Creek and the country inland around theWenlock River.[8]
TheAnglican Church established amission at Orchid Point near the Lockhart River in 1924, at a location that had been a centre of asandalwood trade.Aboriginal people came and were collected from parts of theCape York Peninsula and placed at the mission, known as the Lockhart River Mission, Old Lockhart River Mission, or just Lockhart Mission. Six months later, the mission was relocated to Bare Hill, south of Cape Direction. In the 1930s,Lamalama people were forcibly relocated to the mission from thePort Stewart area, but they later returned. In 1939, many people who had earlier been removed fromCoen to the mission, returned to the Coen area.[9][10]
Lockhart State School opened on 1 January 1924.[11]
Iron Range Post Office opened on 5 November 1936, closed in 1942, reopened in 1950, and was renamed Lockhart River in 1978.[12]
After theSecond World War broke out, the European superintendent went on furlough in 1942,[13] and the Aboriginal people were told to go to several bush camps and fend for themselves. After six months, in July 1942, themission was reopened[14] but with poor resources and a lack of funding. Things improved under superintendent John Warby in the 1950s. Acooperative society was created in 1954 by the Rev.Alf Clint for the management of thetrochus shell industry, until the market failed.[15] New houses were built and a village was created on the ocean side.[13]
During World War II,Lockhart River Airport was constructed as a large American bomber base with three airstrips operating. The US bombers flew toPapua New Guinea and were met by their fighter escorts based atBamaga andHorn Island further north. Many thousands of troops, both US and Australian, passed through as part of their jungle training before being shipped tosoutheast Asia, and many sorties from the base were flown against Japanese forces during the criticalBattle of the Coral Sea, 4–8 May 1942.Portland Roads community, 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of Lockhart River, was the supply port for the war effort with a largejetty. This jetty has since been removed. Many old bunkers and rusting44 gallon drums can still be found in bush areas.[citation needed]
St James' Anglican Church was built circa 1953 from timber (approx12°57′34″S143°30′25″E / 12.959498°S 143.507°E /-12.959498; 143.507 (St James' Anglican Church)).[16]
In 1967, the church handed over the mission to theQueensland government, which tried to relocate the people toBamaga.[14] Most of the people refused to go. In 1968–1969, the people were relocated from the traditional area of theUutaalnganu people on the coast to a new site inKuuku Ya'u country, further north and inland from Quintel Beach.[13] This move and theassimilation policy of the new administration resulted in much discontent and friction.[17]
The Lockhart River Community was givenDeed of Grant in Trust (DOGIT) title to the lands in 1987. Locally elected councillors now provide administration for the Lockhart River DOGIT.[14]
Circa 1974, a new brick St James' Anglican Church was built in Liway Street.[18]
On 7 May 2005, aFairchild Aircraft Inc. SA227-DC Metro 23 aircraft, registered VH-TFU, with two pilots and 13 passengers, was being operated byTransair on an instrument flight rules regular public transport service from Bamaga to Cairns, with an intermediate stop at Lockhart River, Queensland. At 1143:39 Eastern Standard Time, the aircraft impacted terrain in theKutini-Payamu National Park on the north-western slope of South Pap, a heavily timbered ridge, approximately 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) north-west of the Lockhart River aerodrome. At the time of the accident, the crew was conducting an area navigation global navigation satellite system (GNSS) nonprecision approach to runway 12. The aircraft was destroyed by the impact forces and an intense, fuel-fed, post-impact fire. There were no survivors.[19]
On 11 April 2014, the former locality of Lockhart was split into two new localities:Iron Range and Lockhart River.[20]
Lockhart River is both a town located in theAboriginal Shire of Lockhart River and a coastal locality split between the Aboriginal Shire of Lockhart River and theShire of Cook.[21][22][23]
Lockhart River has atropical savannah climate (Köppen: Aw), with an oppressivewet season between November and May and adry season from June and October with somewhat cooler temperatures and lower humidity.[24] Temperatures remain warm to hot year-round, with average maxima varying from 27.2 °C (81.0 °F) in July to 32.3 °C (90.1 °F) in December. Due to its average annual rainfall of 2,074.9 mm (81.69 in), Lockhart River only has 36.4 clear days annually. Extreme temperatures have ranged from 40.2 °C (104.4 °F) on 19 November 1990 to 3.3 °C (37.9 °F) on 20 July 1965.[25]
| Climate data for Lockhart River (12º47'24"S, 143º18'00"E, 19 m AMSL) (1965-2024 normals and extremes, rainfall to 1956) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 38.0 (100.4) | 37.0 (98.6) | 36.0 (96.8) | 34.3 (93.7) | 33.6 (92.5) | 31.6 (88.9) | 31.9 (89.4) | 32.0 (89.6) | 35.2 (95.4) | 37.7 (99.9) | 40.2 (104.4) | 39.8 (103.6) | 40.2 (104.4) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 31.8 (89.2) | 31.5 (88.7) | 30.7 (87.3) | 29.9 (85.8) | 28.8 (83.8) | 27.5 (81.5) | 27.2 (81.0) | 27.8 (82.0) | 29.1 (84.4) | 30.5 (86.9) | 31.9 (89.4) | 32.3 (90.1) | 29.9 (85.8) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 23.8 (74.8) | 23.8 (74.8) | 23.6 (74.5) | 23.1 (73.6) | 22.1 (71.8) | 20.4 (68.7) | 19.6 (67.3) | 19.4 (66.9) | 20.6 (69.1) | 22.0 (71.6) | 23.2 (73.8) | 23.7 (74.7) | 22.1 (71.8) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 18.9 (66.0) | 19.5 (67.1) | 18.2 (64.8) | 15.4 (59.7) | 11.5 (52.7) | 10.6 (51.1) | 3.3 (37.9) | 9.5 (49.1) | 10.6 (51.1) | 11.1 (52.0) | 13.4 (56.1) | 17.7 (63.9) | 3.3 (37.9) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 401.5 (15.81) | 377.8 (14.87) | 446.3 (17.57) | 301.1 (11.85) | 99.5 (3.92) | 57.9 (2.28) | 41.1 (1.62) | 28.3 (1.11) | 15.1 (0.59) | 27.8 (1.09) | 68.5 (2.70) | 208.6 (8.21) | 2,074.9 (81.69) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 1.0 mm) | 19.3 | 18.9 | 19.6 | 14.8 | 11.9 | 10.1 | 8.9 | 6.3 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 5.5 | 11.6 | 133.4 |
| Average afternoonrelative humidity (%) | 74 | 76 | 76 | 73 | 73 | 72 | 69 | 66 | 63 | 61 | 63 | 67 | 69 |
| Averagedew point °C (°F) | 23.9 (75.0) | 24.1 (75.4) | 23.9 (75.0) | 22.9 (73.2) | 22.0 (71.6) | 20.5 (68.9) | 19.5 (67.1) | 19.1 (66.4) | 19.7 (67.5) | 20.4 (68.7) | 21.9 (71.4) | 23.1 (73.6) | 21.8 (71.2) |
| Source:Bureau of Meteorology (1965-2024 normals and extremes, rainfall to 1956)[26] | |||||||||||||
In the2006 census, the town of Lockhart River had a population of 542 people with 484 (89.3%) identifying as Indigenous.[27]
In the2011 census, the town of Lockhart River had a population of 463 people with 422 (90.6%) identifying as Indigenous.[28]
In the2016 census, the locality of Lockhart River had a population of 724 people with 629 (86.8%) identifying as Indigenous.[29]
In the2021 census, the locality of Lockhart River had a population of 640 people with 502 (78.4%) identifying as Indigenous.[2]
Lockhart State School is a government primary and secondary (Early Childhood to Year 12) school for boys and girls at Puchewoo Street (12°47′07″S143°20′39″E / 12.7854°S 143.3441°E /-12.7854; 143.3441 (Lockhart State School)).[30][31] In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 97 students with 14 teachers and 1 non-teaching staff.[32] It includes aspecial education programme.[30]
The Lockhart River Aboriginal Shire Council operates anIndigenous Knowledge Centre, which includes a library, on Poucheewee Street.[33][34]
St James' Anglican Church is in Liway Street (12°47′10″S143°20′35″E / 12.786027°S 143.343°E /-12.786027; 143.343 (St James' Anglican Church)).[18]
There is a boat ramp into the Claudie River approx 4.8 kilometres (3.0 mi) south of the Lockhart River town (12°49′26″S143°20′43″E / 12.8238°S 143.3453°E /-12.8238; 143.3453 (Claudie River (Lockhart River Community) boat ramp)). It is managed by the Lockhart River Aboriginal Shire Council.[35]
Lockhart River Airport (also known as Iron Range Airport) is on Lockhart River Road, 4.7 kilometres (2.9 mi) west of the town (12°47′12″S143°18′18″E / 12.7867°S 143.3051°E /-12.7867; 143.3051 (Lockhart River Airport)).[36] It has a 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) sealed all-weather runway with pilot-activated lights for 24 hour use. It provides access to the town during thewet season when roads are often closed due to flood water.[37]
The port at Quintell Beach has a barge facility from the beach into theCoral Sea 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) SSE of the town (12°47′41″S143°21′36″E / 12.7947°S 143.3600°E /-12.7947; 143.3600 (Quintell Beach Port)).[38] It serves the Lockhart River community and nearby pastoral stations. It is operated byPorts North.[39]
Lockhart River Police Station is in Piiramo Street (12°47′16″S143°20′38″E / 12.7879°S 143.3439°E /-12.7879; 143.3439 (Lockhart River Police Station)).[40][41]
Lockhart River Primary Health Care Centre is at 2 Paytham Street (12°47′09″S143°20′37″E / 12.7859°S 143.3437°E /-12.7859; 143.3437 (health centre)).[42][43]
Lockhart River was established in 1924 when people from five traditional territories in the area were coerced into a new Anglican mission (now known as the 'Old Site'). They spoke a number of different languages and were not used to living together.
