Port Lincoln



Port Lincoln is a city in the Australian state of South Australia. It is a coastal city on Boston Bay at the southern extremity of the Eyre Peninsula. It is the largest city in the West Coast region, and is located approximately 280 kilometres (straight line - 646 km by road) from the capital city Adelaide. The city is reputed to have the most millionaires per capita in 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 the harbour in February 1802. Because of its particularly good harbour, he named it Port Lincoln rather than just Lincoln, where Flinders came from.

Fresh water
It is thought that only the lack of a reliable nearby water supply stopped Port Lincoln becoming the state capital of the future South Australia.. Even as a small town, Port Lincoln outgrew its fresh water supplies, which is now supplied mostly from the underground aquifers to the south of Port Lincoln although recently the great water supply system on Eyre Peninsula has been connected to Murray water via the addition of a link from Kimba to Whyalla to connect into the Morgan to Whyalla pipeline water Morgan.

Demographics
The Port Lincoln local government area had a population of 14,245 in the 2006 census. Aboriginal people made up 5.4% of Port Lincoln's 2006 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 occasionally brings cold, nutrient-rich water into the Great Australian Bight nearby, fueling high populations of southern bluefin tuna, sardine, and anchovy.

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 (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.

Port Lincoln is the terminus of an isolated narrow gauge railway system to bring the wheat to port. Iron ore traffic may be added in the future, although this has been the topic of protest and debate in the community.

Tourism
Tourism is becoming increasingly important, thanks 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. 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.

Lincoln National Park, Coffin Bay National Park and Kellidie Bay Conservation Park are within easy driving distance.

Transport
Port Lincoln is the port for the isolated narrow gauge Eyre Peninsular Railway.

There is also a subsidiary port at Proper Bay which may be restored to use for iron ore traffic. The export of iron ore through Port Lincoln has been approved by the South Australian Government. (c. Oct 2009)

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.

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 Discovery Channel documentary series Abalone Wars was filmed in and around Port Lincoln

Australian Survivor, the Australian produced series of the US television series, Survivor, was filmed at Whalers Way, south of Port Lincoln, in 2001.

Hearts Apart by Caitlin Jones was written on a farm in 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) and Southern Cross Ten. Also available is Austar pay TV.

Twin towns — Sister cities
Port Lincoln is twinned with:
 * 🇬🇧 Lincoln, United Kingdom

Individuals from Port Lincoln
Olympic gold medal weightlifter Dean Lukin was a tuna fisherman who shot to fame as a weightlifter in the 1980s, then returned to run the family fishery business.

Many Australian rules football (AFL) players have come from Port Lincoln, including 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 3 times) is a tuna farmer in Port Lincoln. A life-sized bronze statue of The Diva 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.