Loxton, South Australia

Loxton is a town on the south bank of the River Murray in the Riverland region of South Australia. At the 2006 census, Loxton had a population of 3,431.

It is a service town for the surrounding districts. The area near Loxton is a significant citrus fruit and summer fruit growing area. Loxton is also the main town for the northern part of the Murray Mallee which is a dryland farming and grain cropping area.

Loxton is in the local government area of the District Council of Loxton Waikerie. It is in the South Australian House of Assembly electoral district of Chaffey and the Australian House of Representatives division of Barker.

Loxton has a pioneer settlement museum (known as the Loxton Historical Village), preserving the heritage of the mallee region. It is also famous for the "Loxton Lights Up" Christmas Festival in December each year, and the annual 120m Loxton Gift handicap sprint race held in late February. The Loxton Gift athletics carnival offers the most prize money in South Australia apart from the Bay Sheffield held at Glenelg. The program includes races from 70m to 1000m and is the final major South Australian lead-up event to the Stawell Gift held at Easter.

The town is home to a variety of service clubs, most notably the Apex Club, Rotary Club and Lions Club.

Loxton Gift Winners

 * 2012  Corey Baker
 * 2011  Jarrad Dartnall
 * 2010  Ryan Rossouw
 * 2009  Leon Burckhardt
 * 2008  Ben Koschade
 * 2007	Steve Landers
 * 2006	Brad Letton
 * 2005	Robbie James
 * 2004	Wil Bowie
 * 2003	Brad Letton
 * 2002	Shaun Walker

Loxton Gift Most Outstanding Athlete Of The Carnival Winners

 * 2012  Corey Baker
 * 2011  Sam Osmond
 * 2010  Lucy Buckley
 * 2009  Bridgid Connolly
 * 2008  Sebastian Geers
 * 2007	Stephen Landers
 * 2006	Ben Wright
 * 2005	Amy Robb
 * 2004  Katherine Robb

Salt interception scheme
Loxton is a town with many farms and fruit crops. The joint programme of salt interception schemes to help keep salt out of the River Murray, costing an estimated $60 million, commenced in 2001. This programme is expected to deliver 61 EC at Morgan by December 2007. The partner Governments of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia and the Commonwealth have agreed that joint salt interception schemes must both be economically and technically feasible.

Notable persons born in Loxton

 * Emily Beaton (b. 1987), Australian netballer with the Adelaide Thunderbirds, currently in the Australian Diamonds Netball Squad.
 * Grant Schubert (b. 1980), Australian field hockey striker, 2004 Summer Olympics gold medalist and 2006 Commonwealth Games gold medalist.
 * Sophie Edington (b. 1984), Australian swimmer
 * Grantley Fielke (b. 1962), former Australian rules footballer who played for West Adelaide in the SANFL and for both Collingwood and the Adelaide Crows in the VFL-AFL between 1979 and 1997. Magarey medallist in 1985.