Port Lincoln is a city on the lower Eyre Peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia. 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 280 km (straight line – 646 km by road) from the State's capital city of Adelaide. The city is reputed to have the most millionaires per capita in Australia. The town claims to be the "Seafood Capital of Australia".
History
The Eyre Peninsula has been home to Aboriginal people for thousands of years, with the Nauo (south western Eyre), Barngarla (eastern Eyre), Wirangu (north western Eyre) and Mirning (far western Eyre) being the predominant original cultural groups present at the time of the arrival of Europeans. (Tindale 1974 in DEH 2004a; SATC 1999).
British naval explorer Matthew Flinders discovered Boston Bay on 26 February 1802. He named the body of water, Port Lincoln, in honour of his place of birth, Lincoln.
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.
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 including 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 heritage-listed sites, including:
Demographics
The Port Lincoln local government area had a population of 14,086 in the 2006 census. Aboriginal people make up 5.6% of Port Lincoln's population.
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 semi-arid climate, with hot, dry summers and mild, moist winters. January temperatures average 16 °C .
Government
Port Lincoln and its suburbs comprise the City of Port Lincoln local government area. Port Lincoln is in the state electoral district of Flinders and the federal Division of Grey.
Economy
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, 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: tuna, yellowtail kingfish, abalone, mussels, oysters, and experimental farming in seahorses and spiny lobsters. Before the advent of aquaculture, the main fishing was for Southern bluefin tuna.
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 phased out as State Government becomes more centralised in Adelaide. During the past decade, housing demand has led to a boom in property development, both residential and commercial.
Tourism
Port Lincoln is a centre for tourism, due to the scenic beauty and coastal locality. Ready access to both Spencer Gulf and the Great Australian Bight mark Port Lincoln out as a blue water playground for yachting, scuba diving, shark cage diving and game fishing.
Lincoln National Park, Coffin Bay National Park and Kellidie Bay Conservation Park are within easy driving distance.
Transport
Port Lincoln is the terminal station for the Eyre Peninsular Railway, an narrow gauge (1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)) railway which consists of three lines - Port Lincoln to Kevin, Cummins to Buckleboo and Yeelanna to Kapinnie.
Port Lincoln Airport is located a few kilometres north of the city. Regional Express and Qantaslink provide multiple daily flights to the state capital of Adelaide.
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 by Premier Stateliner with multiple daily services to Adelaide and Port Augusta.
Culture
The book Blue Fin by Colin Thiele was set in Port Lincoln, with the movie of the same name filmed in nearby Streaky Bay.
Some of the shark scenes of Jaws and ANZAC Cove scenes in Gallipoli were also filmed near Port Lincoln.
The first edition of Australian Survivor, the Australian version of the popular US television series, Survivor, was filmed at Whalers Way, south of Port Lincoln, in 2001.
The Discovery Channel documentary series Tuna Wranglers (2007) and Abalone Wars were both filmed in and around Port Lincoln.
Port Lincoln was visited in 1939 by English travel author Eric Newby, while he was crew in the 4-masted barque Moshulu, which anchored outside of Boston Island. Moshulu had taken 82 days to sail to Port Lincoln from Belfast in ballast (a fast passage for a windjammer), but there was no grain to be had there, even though Moshulu waited at anchor for most of January. The crew was given shore leave in Port Lincoln, encountering large amounts of Australian wine. Moshulu eventually carried on to Port Victoria for cargo. During the 1939 season, Passat and Lawhill were also present at Port Lincoln. Newby wrote about his experiences on the round-trip from Ireland to South Australia in his book The 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.
Media
Port Lincoln has two local commercial radio stations, 89.9 Magic FM and 765 AM 5CC (the first local commercial station) broadcasting out of their Washington Street studio. It is also served by ABC West Coast SA on 1485 AM which broadcasts out of the Civic Centre on Tasman Terrace. It's also served by Triple J and ABC Radio National from Tumby Bay and satellite uplink from Melbourne respectively. ABC News Radio is also available on 91.5FM. It also receives KIXFM 87.6.
Port Lincoln has one local newspaper, the Port Lincoln Times, a Rural Press publication. The Port Lincoln Times is published on Tuesdays and Thursdays and is printed in Murray Bridge at the high-tech Rural Press printing centre.
Free to air TV stations available in Port Lincoln are ABC, SBS, Southern Cross GTS/BKN (formerly Central Television), the Nine Network and Southern Cross Ten. Also available is Foxtel pay TV.
Twin towns
Port Lincoln is twinned with:
Notable people
Weightlifter Dean Lukin, who won the Olympic Gold Medal in the Super heavyweight division at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, was a tuna fisherman who shot to fame as a weightlifter in the 1980s. After finishing his career he returned to run the family fishery business. He also won Gold at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, and the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh.
Many Australian rules football (AFL) players have come from Port Lincoln, including Eddie Betts, Graham Johncock, Peter Burgoyne, Shaun Burgoyne, Byron Pickett and Lindsay Thomas.
Tony Santic, the owner of Makybe Diva (the only horse to win the Melbourne Cup three times) is a tuna farmer in Port Lincoln. A life-sized bronze statue of The Diva by artist Ken Martin stands on the town's foreshore.
Australian netball player Lauren Nourse began her career in Port Lincoln at age 7. In 2008 she was a member of the gold medal winning Australian side at the Auckland World Netball Championships.
Visually impaired Paralympic cyclist Kieran Modra was born in Port Lincoln.