Port Augusta is a small city in South Australia. Formerly a seaport, it is now a road traffic and railway junction city mainly located on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf immediately south of the gulf's head and about 322 kilometres (200Â mi) north of the state capital. The suburb of Port Augusta West is located on the west side of the gulf on the Eyre Peninsula. Other major industries included, up until mid-2010s, electricity generation. At June 2015, the estimated urban population was 14,214.
Description
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The city consists of an urban area extending along the Augusta and Eyre Highways from the coastal plain on the west side of the Flinders Ranges in the east across Spencer Gulf to Eyre Peninsula in the west. The urban area consists of the suburbs, from east to west, of Port Augusta and Davenport (on the eastern side of Spencer Gulf), and Port Augusta West on the Eyre Peninsula.
History
It is a natural harbour, which was proclaimed on 24 May 1852 by Alexander Elder (brother of Thomas Elder) and John Grainger, having discovered it while aboard the Government schooner Yatala, captained by Edward Dowsett. The port was named after Augusta Sophia, Lady Young, the wife of the Governor of South Australia, Sir Henry Edward Fox Young.
Demographics
According to the 2011 Census, the population of the Port Augusta census area was 13,504 people, making it the second largest urban area after Whyalla on the Eyre Peninsula. 50.2% of the population were female, 85.2% are Australian born, over 88.6% of residents are Australian citizens and 17.3% were Aboriginal.
The most popular industries for employment were Technicians and Trades Workers (16%), Community and Personal Service Workers (15.4%) and Clerical and Administrative Workers (13.8%), while the unemployment rate is approximately 7%. The median weekly household income is A$789 or more per week, compared with $924 in Adelaide. 17.4% of the population identify themselves as Catholic, while a higher 26.2% identify with no religion at all.
Transport
Spencer Gulf is a natural barrier to land transport, so Port Augusta has naturally become the "crossroads of Australia". It is at the junction of major road and rail links.
Road
Port Augusta is the eastern end of the Eyre Highway to Perth. It is the northern end of the Augusta Highway to Adelaide. It is the southern end of the Stuart Highway to Darwin. All traffic across southern Australia passes through Port Augusta.
Rail
In 1878, the town became the southern terminus of a proposed North South transcontinental line, headed for Darwin 2,500 km (1,600 mi) away. This 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) narrow gauge railway was later taken over by the Commonwealth in 1910 and later renamed the Central Australia Railway. In 1929, it was extended to its last terminus at Alice Springs.
Between 1913 and 1917, a 2,000 km (1,200 mi) long eastâ€"west transcontinental railway (the Trans-Australian Railway) was built from Port Augusta to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. This was built to standard gauge as part of a long term plan to harmonise gauges between the mainland states, causing a break-of-gauge at Port Augusta until the standard gauge track was extended to Port Pirie in 1937.
The standard gauge Adelaide-Darwin railway was finally completed in 2003. Port Augusta is a stop on the Indian Pacific transcontinental train service on the Sydneyâ€"Perth railway and on The Ghan service between Adelaide, Alice Springs and Darwin. One service a week for each train in each direction serve the station.
In the 1990s, the narrow gauge line between Port Augusta and Quorn was re-opened as the Pichi Richi Heritage Railway.
Aviation
Port Augusta is served by Port Augusta Airport. Sharp Airlines used to connect the city to Adelaide twice daily, however this service ceased to operate on the 31st of May 2017.
Climate
Port Augusta has a warm desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWh). Summers are hot and dry, while winters are mild and damp.
Economy
Electricity generation
Electricity was generated at the Playford B (240 MW) and Northern power stations (520 MW) from brown coal mined at Leigh Creek, 250Â km to the north. The only coal-fired electricity generating plants in South Australia, in 2009 they produced 33% of the state's electricity, but over 50% of the state's CO2 emissions from electricity generation.
Playford B has not been operational since 2012. In October 2015, Alinta Energy announced the permanent closure of both Northern and Playford B in early 2016, following which the Northern Power Station went offline on 9 May 2016.
In 2016, a local community group was lobbying for assistance to replace the coal-fired plants with a solar thermal power station. The premier of South Australia, Jay Weatherill announced on 14 August 2017 that construction would commence in 2018 and was expected to be completed in 2020. The Aurora Solar Thermal Power Project is expected to cost A$650M to build, including a A$110M loan from the Federal Government, and deliver 150MW of electricity. SolarReserve has a contract to supply all of the electricity required by the state government's offices from this power project.
Separately, Sundrop Farms has a combined solar power tower, greenhouse and desalination plant which is used to produce tomatoes near the old power stations. It opened in October 2016 and produces 39MW of thermal energy from over 23Â 000 mirrors and a 127 metres (417Â ft) tower, used for heating, electricity, and desalination to irrigate tomatoes in greenhouses. Sundrop has a 10-year contract to supply Coles Supermarkets with at least 15,000 tonnes of truss tomatoes per year.
Tourism
Port Augusta has been able to capitalise on the growing eco-tourism industry due to its proximity to the Flinders Ranges. The Pichi Richi Railway is a major drawcard, connecting Port Augusta to Quorn via the Pichi Richi Pass.
Within Port Augusta is the City of Port Augusta's Wadlata Outback Centre, providing tourists with an introduction to life in the Australian outback. The centre recorded over 500,000 visitors in 2006. North of town, on the Stuart Highway, are the Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden. The gardens have a cafe/restaurant with views across the saltbush plains to the escarpment of the Flinders Ranges. The PACC annual report shows more than 100,000 people visited the gardens in 2006.
Southwest of town is the El-Alamein army base.
Media
The major publication of the town is The Transcontinental, a weekly newspaper that was first issued in October 1914, and whose office is located on Commercial Road.
Historically, the town also published the Dispatch (1877-1916), which evolved through a series of name changes:
- Port Augusta Dispatch (18 August 1877 â€" 6 August 1880)
- Port Augusta Dispatch and Flinders' Advertiser (13 August 1880 â€" 17 October 1884)
- Port Augusta Dispatch (20 October 1884 â€" 16 March 1885)
- Port Augusta Dispatch, Newcastle and Flinders Chronicle (18 March 1885 â€" 21 April 1916)
Education
There are six public primary schools:
- Augusta Park Primary School,
- Carlton R-9 School,
- Flinders View Primary School,
- Port Augusta West Primary School,
- Stirling North Primary School and
- Willsden Primary school.
There is one secondary school, Port Augusta Secondary School, located on Stirling Road. There is one private school for reception to year 12 students called Caritas College.
Port Augusta also has:
- Port Augusta Special School,
- OAC:Port Augusta School of the Air
- The University of Adelaide and
- TAFE (tertiary technical college), Port Augusta Campus.
Politics
State & Federal
Port Augusta is part of the state electoral district of Stuart which has been held since 2010 by Liberal MP Dan Van Holst Pellekaan. The seat is held by a margin of 1%. In federal politics, the city is part of the division of Grey, and has been represented by Liberal MP Rowan Ramsey since 2007. Grey is held with a margin of 8.86% and is considered safe-liberal. The results shown are from the largest polling station in Port Augusta â€" which is located at Port Augusta TAFE college.
Local
Port Augusta is in the City of Port Augusta local government area.
The City of Port Augusta is believed to have had the longest serving mayor in Australia, Joy Baluch, who died after 30 years of service on 14 May 2013. The council is based at the Port Augusta Civic Centre; prior to 1983, it operated out of the now-disused Port Augusta Town Hall.
Heritage listings
Port Augusta has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
- Beauchamp Lane: Port Augusta Waterworks
- Beauchamp Lane: Beatton Memorial Drinking Fountain
- Beauchamp Lane: Gladstone Square Bandstand
- 9 Church Street: St Augustine's Anglican Church, Port Augusta
- Commercial Road: Old Port Augusta railway station
- 52 Commercial Road: Port Augusta Institute
- 54 Commercial Road: Port Augusta Town Hall
- 34 Flinders Terrace: Port Augusta School of the Air
- 1 Jervois Street: Port Augusta Courthouse
- Stirling Street: Port Augusta railway station
- off Tassie Street: Port Augusta Wharf
- 12 Tassie Street: Bank of South Australia, Port Augusta
See also
- Point Paterson Desalination Plant
- The Sundowners partly filmed on location in Port Augusta
References
External links
- Big Stories, Small Towns - Online documentary featuring video, photos, digital stories and archival film from Port Augusta