Portland, Victoria
Encyclopedia
The city of Portland is the oldest European settlement in what is now the state of Victoria
, Australia
. It is the main urban centre of the Shire of Glenelg. It is located on Portland Bay
.
at the time colonisation began. The problem was their prior ownership was never recognised by the British Crown legally or with any conviction, in practice.
The bay was named in 1800 by the British navigator James Grant
, who sailed in the Lady Nelson along the Victorian coast. "I also distinguished the Bay by the name of Portland Bay, in honour of His Grace the Duke of Portland
," wrote Grant. The bay, the only deep sea port between Adelaide and Melbourne, offers a sheltered anchorage against the often wild weather of Bass Strait
.
By the early 19th century, whalers and sealers were working the treacherous waters of Bass Stait and Portland Bay provided good shelter and fresh water which enabled them to establish the first white settlement in the area. Whaling captain William Dutton is known to have been resident in the Portland Bay area when the Henty clan arrived and is said to have provided seed potatoes for the Henty garden.
In 1834, Edward Henty
and his family, who had migrated from England to Western Australia
in 1829, then moved to Van Diemen's Land
, ferried some of their stock across the Strait in search of the fine grazing land of the Western District.
After a voyage of 34 days, the Thistle arrived at Portland Bay on 19 November 1834. Edward Henty
was only 24 years old and early in December, using a plough he had made himself, he turned the first sod in Victoria. The next voyage of the Thistle brought his brother Francis with additional stock and supplies, and in a short time houses were erected and fences put up.
Edward Henty
settled Portland Bay
in 1834. They established a landing place at Portland Bay which eventually became the town of Portland. Henty had "...little contact with the Aborigines even though the country inland from Portland Bay seems to have been thickly populated (one village
Henty saw had fifty huts)." Nevertheless, in December 1834, shortly after arriving from Tasmania, Henty (aged 24 yrs) set off for country inland from Portland
, with resident whalers, an Aboriginal woman abducted by one of them and 14 hunting dogs (a cross between greyhound
s and wolfhound
s). On spotting a single Aboriginal man, as Henty recorded "...the Men set the Dogs on" him.
There in Portland the Henty's were "discovered" by the explorer Thomas Mitchell in 1836. The squatter settlement was illegal since at that time, the British Colonial Office policy was to contain colonial settlements in Australia within geographic limits. It had been still considering how to deal with the prior occupation and ownership of the land by Victorian Aborigines
. The Hentys also farmed in areas known as "Australia Felix
", around Casterton
.
By 1838, land auctions had been authorised from Sydney
and Charles Tyers
surveyed the Portland township in 1839. "It was government policy to encourage squatters to take possession of whatever [Aboriginal] land they chose, . . . that largely explains why almost all the original inhabitants of Port Phillip's vast grasslands were dead so soon after 1835".[19] A Post Office was opened on 4 December 1841, the third to open in the Port Phillip District after Melbourne and Geelong.
The Gunditjmara
are the traditional owners of the south west, taking in what is now Portland. They were present when the early commercial sealers like William Dutton arrived and when the Henty family created what would become Victoria’s first permanent European settlement. It has been argued whether Dutton was first, but he was considered to be somewhat itinerant by the establishment of the era and not the discoverer of this deepwater bay and fertile hinterland. Henty sowed the first Victorian wheat crop on cliff top land, known today as ‘The Ploughed Field’. Footnote: Victoria was not proclaimed a colony until 1851.
While the Hentys landed ashore in Portland on 19 November 1834. Melbourne
was founded in 1835 by John Batman
. From settlement the region around Melbourne was known as the Port Phillip District, and this gained some administrative status prior to separation from New South Wales and declaration as the Colony of Victoria in 1851.
One highly notable incident called the Convincing Ground massacre
occurred in Portland Bay in 1833 or 1834 in a dispute about a Beached whale
between whalers and the Kilcarer gundidj clan of the Gunditjmara
people. According to aboriginal reports the clan was wiped out with just two survivors from the incident. The number of Aborigines reported killed varies from 60 to 200.
Gunditjmara still reside in and around the district; they are renowned in scientific circles for their early aquaculture development at nearby Lake Condah. Physical remains such as the weirs and fish traps are to be found in Lake Condah, which is to the south of Hamilton.
The Gunditjmara
were the only settled Aboriginal people in Australia, living in small circular stone huts. The ancestors of the Gunditjmara
people lived in villages of weather-proof houses with stone walls a metre high, around eel
traps and aquaculture ponds at Lake Condah - on just one hectare of Allambie Farm, archaeologists have discovered the remains of 160 house sites.
On 30 March 2007, the Gunditjmara People were recognized by the Federal Court to be the native title-holders of almost 140,000 hectares of Crown land and waters in the Portland region. On 27 July 2011, together with the Eastern Maar People, the Gunditjmara People were recognized to be the native title-holders of almost 4,000 hectares of Crown land in the Yambuk region, including Lady Julia Percy Island, known to them as Deen Maar.
Portland has several planted Norfolk Pine trees.
Portland is in the Victorian Legislative Assembly
electoral district of South West Coast
, the Western Victoria Region of the Victorian Legislative Council
and the federal
Division of Wannon
. Its postcode is 3305.
Through the 19th century Portland developed to become an important fishing port providing for the town and later, with the connection of the railway, to the region as far afield as Ballarat and eventually Melbourne. Barracouta, Australian salmon
and crayfish (now southern rock lobster) were the main catches with many fishermen working the bay, around the Lawrence Rocks
and in the season, Bridgewater Bay.
Portland harbour enabled the development of the woolgrowing industry of the Western District, but has eventually it lost its primacy to facilities at Geelong. Even in western Victoria, Portland fell behind Warrnambool
as the main commercial centre. In the 20th century Portland's role as a port revived, and its economy was also boosted by the tourism industry and an aluminium
smelter.
The port of Portland was sold in 1996 by the State Government to a group including the listed New Zealand company Infratil & the Scott Corporation (owned by Allan Scott
), the first privatisation of port facilities in Australia. Since then, it has been traded a number of times and is now owned by two institutional investors - the publicly listed Australian Infrastructure Fund and Utilities Trust of Australia, a private infrastructure fund - both of which are managed by Hastings Funds Management.
As new supertankers have emerged, Portland, along with Hastings
in Western Port
Bay was proposed as an alternative to the controversial plans for deepening of Melbourne's shallower Port Phillip
. The plans are aimed at maintaining Victoria's shipping status (since Melbourne has become Australia's busiest port, the Victorian economy relies heavily on the import and export of goods). Due to environmental reasons, the plan to deepen Port Phillip has been heavily criticised, whereas Portland offers some of the necessary infrastructure with minimum environmental impact.
The Port of Portland has received major assistance through public funding of an $A18million overpass which gives better access to the port for heavy traffic The Glenelg Shire Council has recently adopted a plan for the redesign and development of the foreshore precinct including a new multi purpose marina in the north-west corner of the harbour.
is Victoria's largest exporter. The Portland aluminium smelter
is located in Portland in South West Victoria. The smelter was commissioned in 1987 and is managed by Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals
for Portland Aluminium (a joint venture project between Alcoa, CITIC and Marubeni).
Portland is Australia's third largest aluminium smelter, with a capacity of around 352,000 tonnes of aluminium per annum. The majority of Portland's production is supplied to the export market.
The Portland Aluminium smelter, in conjunction with Alcoa's Point Henry smelter
, produce about 30% of Australia's total aluminium.
Portland Aluminium partners:
Trawlers target deepsea finfish such as Rockling, Hoki, BlueEye Trevalla and more, while Southern Rock Lobster, Giant Crab, Abalone, Squid, Wrasse and others are also landed in significant quantities. The industry is a significant employer and directly generates approximately $30 million in export and domestic earnings for the town with major flow-on benefits through local seafood processing (both export and domestic), transport & engineering services, fuel supplies and other ancillary industries. An abalone hatchery has been established on the shores of Portland Bay and apart from some current difficulties, is likely to be an indicator of future seafood production. Easy access to prime locations supports a flourishing amateur angling fraternity, with many locals and tourists regularly enjoying a fresh catch of King George Whiting, Snapper, Kingfish, Flathead, Morwong and in recent times, Bluefin Tuna.
Portland plant were produced in July 2005 and the plant was officially commissioned in August 2005. The facility cost $9 million, and has a capacity of 225 blades (75 blade sets) per annum. Vestas
began manufacturing wind turbines in 1979. Their core business comprises the development, manufacture, sale, marketing and maintenance of wind power systems. The blade manufacturing facility in Portland worked in conjunction with their assembly plant in Tasmania
which has since been closed down. In August 2007, Vestas announced it will close its near new Portland blade manufacturing plant with the loss of 130 jobs.
The Portland Wind Energy Project, PWEP involves the development of four wind farms at Cape Bridgewater, Cape Nelson, Cape Sir William Grant and Yambuk in south-west Victoria. As one of the biggest wind farm developments in the Southern Hemisphere, the 195MW project proponents claimed that it will deliver major environmental, economic and social benefits.
The four Portland sites are considered by the proponents of the project to be ideal wind farm locations, with consistently strong winds, access for construction vehicles and machinery, a nearby connection to the National Electricity Grid, compatible farming activities and a large land area. By August 2007 construction
was underway but there is still ongoing substantial resident opposition to the project regarding the planning process enabling this development and the visual impact of towers and the power lines.
The 195MW project will produce enough clean electricity to power about 125,000 homes each year, equal to more than 7 per cent of Victoria’s residential electricity demand, or powering a city the size of Geelong. The project is being developed by Pacific Hydro
.
was used to heat more than 19,000 square metres of municipal buildings, a motel and the town 2000m³ swimming pool in Portland. Commissioned in 1983, naturally hot groundwater (58°C) was extracted from a bore (1400m deep) at a rate of 90 litres/second. The total capacity of the Portland facility, operated by the Glenelg Shire was 10.4 MW before being closed down in April 2006.
is a 250 km walking track that begins at the Visitor Information Centre, Portland. Designed as a long distance walking track, it is also ideal for short walks and day walks. The walk travels though forests, river gorges, cliff tops and sublime bays. Established in 1981 the walk is administered, maintained and promoted by 'The Friends of the Great South West Walk Inc', a wholly volunteer organisation, in partnership with Parks Victoria
.
The Portland Cable Trams was established as a community organisation in June 1996, with the view to laying light rail to carry refurbished diesel powered trams, as both an outlet for rail and heritage enthusiasts and a tourist venture. The tram is now on track and has carries passengers along the scenic route from Henty Park to the RSL Memorial Lookout, at the old North Portland Water Tower. The route takes in the natural wetlands (tidal) of Fawthrop Lagoon Park, the foreshore, cliff tops and botanic gardens. The Portland Cable Tram group is planning additional tram carriages and engines, for greater capacity and to provide more reliability and maintenance support options. Volunteer drivers and conductors provide a commentary about Portland's significant past and present day buildings, harbour and sights. Over 12,000 passengers were carried on the tram during the 2006-07 financial year.
The Portland Maritime Museum was developed to house the Portland Lifeboat built in 1858. The Lifeboat is one of the oldest lifeboats remaining in the world. Famous for rescuing 19 survivors of the Admella
shipwreck in 1859, and the Julia shipwreck in 1863. The Admella, a steamship of 392 tons, was sailing from Adelaide to Melbourne when it was smashed onto a reef off Carpenter Rocks in South Australia with a loss of 89 lives. The Portland Lifeboat and crew were taken to the scene, and were pivotal in the rescue operations. On display is a real whale skeleton, and the famed 'Portland Lifeboat' used in the Admella rescue.
via the Princes Highway
. It is connected to Hamilton
by the Henty Highway
.
. Until 1995 the line was broad gauge
, the line having been opened on 19 December 1877. Passenger movements are by coach to Warrnambool where passengers transfer to rail, the last direct passenger train between Ararat and Portland was on 12 September 1981 operated by a DRC railcar
. Grain was the most common commodity delivered by rail from the Wimmera
.
Transport Minister Peter Batchelor
, opened a $15m overpass in Cliff Street constructed for VicRoads
in October 2006. The government committed to the project in May 2003, and work begun in 2005. The overpass allows road transports and trains continuous access to the port; moving commodities like grain, fertiliser, wind-farm blades, aluminium ingots and woodchips. Port activity is projected to increase significantly and the overpass, which had been discussed since 1991, was finally installed. The project was completed three months ahead of schedule because of the drought and less than the expected delays due to rain.
Freight operator Pacific National
indefinitely suspended all rail services to the town of Portland in 2004, impacting local companies including Portland Aluminium
, transport company Kalari, and freight broker Anchor Logistics. Portland container traffic was conveyed between Maroona and Portland on grain services twice a week, but Pacific National said that due to the drought there were no trains to attach the loading to. On the route the price differential between rail and road is $12.97 per tonne in rail's favour. Pacific National closed their Portland operations in March 2008, with GrainCorp leasing a limited number of locomotives and rolling stock from them, but favour transporting grain to the Port of Geelong
instead. In September 2008 it was announced that freight traffic would restart using the line from Portland, with operator El Zorro
signing a multi-million deal with miner Iluka Resources
to carry containerised mineral sands
to Melbourne
, with Iluka saying rail transport was cheaper than road.
which is served by one commercial airline, Sharp Airlines
. Sharp Airlines is a small charter company formed in Hamilton (1990), (ironically, where Reginald Ansett and later Brian Grey Compass Airlines
started their respective businesses) and started flying regularly out of Portland to Essendon Airport
. They have flights from Hamilton and Warrnambool to Melbourne. Sharp Airlines started in Portland by flying staff and employees from Portland Aluminium to Avalon Airport
, so they could link to the Point Henry Smelter near Geelong. With significant demand and the support of the community, non-charter, passenger flights were also added. Sharp has established a maintenance hub at Portland Airport, so support staff could service the growing commuter and tourist airline.
Portland tourist radio station is WAVE-FM, broadcasting easy listening music, news and information about local attractions.
Portland has a vibrant cultural diversity, with many potters, painters, musicians, quilters, lead lighters, wood-turners, photographers, cinematographers, multi-media artists, print-makers, jewellers, sculptors, actors and writers. Many of these talents come together under the banners of CEMA Inc (Council for Encouragement of Music and the Arts), or the associated The Arts Company.
The Portland Art Centre, on the corner of Glenelg and Bentinck Streets, incorporates a gallery and theatre, where local and visiting performances are regularly staged.
The Arts Company is located in the heritage precinct of Portland in refurbished old buildings in Julia Street. Along with community workshops and studios, local artists' works are also for sale. The Arts Company also has accommodation and studios for the artist in residence programs.
team competing in the Western Border Football League
which has won the Premiership
in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Golfers play at the course of the Portland Golf Club on Madeira Packet Road.
Portland also has a soccer team, the Portland Panthers, and they play most of their games with the Mount Gambier Sides.
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. It is the main urban centre of the Shire of Glenelg. It is located on Portland Bay
Portland Bay
Portland Bay is a small Bay off the coast of Victoria, Australia. It is about 360 km west of Melbourne. The main town on the bay is also named Portland....
.
History
The Western District was well-populated and owned by Victorian AboriginesVictorian Aborigines
The Indigenous Australians of Victoria, Australia occupied the land for tens of thousands of years prior to European settlement. According to Gary Presland Aborigines have lived in Victoria for about 40,000 years living a semi-nomadic existence of fishing, hunting and gathering, and farming...
at the time colonisation began. The problem was their prior ownership was never recognised by the British Crown legally or with any conviction, in practice.
The bay was named in 1800 by the British navigator James Grant
James Grant (navigator)
James Grant was a British Royal Navy officer and navigator in the early nineteenth century. He made several voyages to Australia and Tasmania, and was the first to map parts of the south coast of Australia.-Early life:...
, who sailed in the Lady Nelson along the Victorian coast. "I also distinguished the Bay by the name of Portland Bay, in honour of His Grace the Duke of Portland
William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland
William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, KG, PC was a British Whig and Tory statesman, Chancellor of the University of Oxford and Prime Minister. He was known before 1762 by the courtesy title Marquess of Titchfield. He held a title of every degree of British nobility—Duke,...
," wrote Grant. The bay, the only deep sea port between Adelaide and Melbourne, offers a sheltered anchorage against the often wild weather of Bass Strait
Bass Strait
Bass Strait is a sea strait separating Tasmania from the south of the Australian mainland, specifically the state of Victoria.-Extent:The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Bass Strait as follows:...
.
By the early 19th century, whalers and sealers were working the treacherous waters of Bass Stait and Portland Bay provided good shelter and fresh water which enabled them to establish the first white settlement in the area. Whaling captain William Dutton is known to have been resident in the Portland Bay area when the Henty clan arrived and is said to have provided seed potatoes for the Henty garden.
In 1834, Edward Henty
Edward Henty
See also Western District Edward Henty ,was a pioneer and first permanent settler in the Port Phillip district , Australia....
and his family, who had migrated from England to Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
in 1829, then moved to Van Diemen's Land
Van Diemen's Land
Van Diemen's Land was the original name used by most Europeans for the island of Tasmania, now part of Australia. The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman was the first European to land on the shores of Tasmania...
, ferried some of their stock across the Strait in search of the fine grazing land of the Western District.
After a voyage of 34 days, the Thistle arrived at Portland Bay on 19 November 1834. Edward Henty
Edward Henty
See also Western District Edward Henty ,was a pioneer and first permanent settler in the Port Phillip district , Australia....
was only 24 years old and early in December, using a plough he had made himself, he turned the first sod in Victoria. The next voyage of the Thistle brought his brother Francis with additional stock and supplies, and in a short time houses were erected and fences put up.
Edward Henty
Edward Henty
See also Western District Edward Henty ,was a pioneer and first permanent settler in the Port Phillip district , Australia....
settled Portland Bay
Portland Bay
Portland Bay is a small Bay off the coast of Victoria, Australia. It is about 360 km west of Melbourne. The main town on the bay is also named Portland....
in 1834. They established a landing place at Portland Bay which eventually became the town of Portland. Henty had "...little contact with the Aborigines even though the country inland from Portland Bay seems to have been thickly populated (one village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
Henty saw had fifty huts)." Nevertheless, in December 1834, shortly after arriving from Tasmania, Henty (aged 24 yrs) set off for country inland from Portland
Portland, Victoria
The city of Portland is the oldest European settlement in what is now the state of Victoria, Australia. It is the main urban centre of the Shire of Glenelg. It is located on Portland Bay.-History:...
, with resident whalers, an Aboriginal woman abducted by one of them and 14 hunting dogs (a cross between greyhound
Greyhound
The Greyhound is a breed of sighthound that has been primarily bred for coursing game and racing, and the breed has also recently seen a resurgence in its popularity as a pedigree show dog and family pet. It is a gentle and intelligent breed...
s and wolfhound
Wolfhound
Wolfhound can refer to various breeds of dogs that have been bred to hunt wolves or to established lines of wolf-dog crosses that retain significant characteristics of wolves. Wolf-dog hybrids crossed in recent generations are often referred to as wolfdogs, wolf-dog hybrids or wolf crosses, but...
s). On spotting a single Aboriginal man, as Henty recorded "...the Men set the Dogs on" him.
There in Portland the Henty's were "discovered" by the explorer Thomas Mitchell in 1836. The squatter settlement was illegal since at that time, the British Colonial Office policy was to contain colonial settlements in Australia within geographic limits. It had been still considering how to deal with the prior occupation and ownership of the land by Victorian Aborigines
Victorian Aborigines
The Indigenous Australians of Victoria, Australia occupied the land for tens of thousands of years prior to European settlement. According to Gary Presland Aborigines have lived in Victoria for about 40,000 years living a semi-nomadic existence of fishing, hunting and gathering, and farming...
. The Hentys also farmed in areas known as "Australia Felix
Australia Felix
On this expedition Mitchell was instructed to travel to Menindee, then down the Darling River to the sea, if it flowed there; or, if it flowed into the Murray River to go up the Murray to the inhabited parts of the colony....
", around Casterton
Casterton, Victoria
Casterton is a town in Victoria, Australia, located on the Glenelg Highway, 42 kilometres east of the South Australian border, in the Shire of Glenelg. The Glenelg River passes through the town...
.
By 1838, land auctions had been authorised from Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
and Charles Tyers
Charles Tyers
Captain Charles James Tyers RN FRSV was a 19th century surveyor and explorer, and the Commissioner for Crown Lands for Portland and Gippsland...
surveyed the Portland township in 1839. "It was government policy to encourage squatters to take possession of whatever [Aboriginal] land they chose, . . . that largely explains why almost all the original inhabitants of Port Phillip's vast grasslands were dead so soon after 1835".[19] A Post Office was opened on 4 December 1841, the third to open in the Port Phillip District after Melbourne and Geelong.
Gunditjmara
Gunditjmara
Gunditjmara, or Gundidj for short, are an Indigenous Australian group from western Victoria . Their neighbours to the west were the Buandig people, to the north the Jardwadjali and Djab wurrung peoples, and in the east the Girai wurrung people.The name may also be spelt Gournditch-Mara...
are the traditional owners of the south west, taking in what is now Portland. They were present when the early commercial sealers like William Dutton arrived and when the Henty family created what would become Victoria’s first permanent European settlement. It has been argued whether Dutton was first, but he was considered to be somewhat itinerant by the establishment of the era and not the discoverer of this deepwater bay and fertile hinterland. Henty sowed the first Victorian wheat crop on cliff top land, known today as ‘The Ploughed Field’. Footnote: Victoria was not proclaimed a colony until 1851.
While the Hentys landed ashore in Portland on 19 November 1834. Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
was founded in 1835 by John Batman
John Batman
John Batman was an Australian grazier, businessman and explorer who is best known for his role in the founding of a settlement which became Melbourne and the colony of Victoria.-Life:...
. From settlement the region around Melbourne was known as the Port Phillip District, and this gained some administrative status prior to separation from New South Wales and declaration as the Colony of Victoria in 1851.
One highly notable incident called the Convincing Ground massacre
Convincing Ground massacre
When Portland, Victoria was established as a whaling station in 1829, there was tension between the local Indigenous Australian tribe, the Kilcarer gundidj clan of the Gunditjmara people and the whalers. In 1833 or 1834 this tension turned into a full fledged conflict in a dispute over a beached...
occurred in Portland Bay in 1833 or 1834 in a dispute about a Beached whale
Beached whale
A beached whale is a whale that has stranded itself on land, usually on a beach. Beached whales often die due to dehydration, the body collapsing under its own weight, or drowning when high tide covers the blowhole.-Species:...
between whalers and the Kilcarer gundidj clan of the Gunditjmara
Gunditjmara
Gunditjmara, or Gundidj for short, are an Indigenous Australian group from western Victoria . Their neighbours to the west were the Buandig people, to the north the Jardwadjali and Djab wurrung peoples, and in the east the Girai wurrung people.The name may also be spelt Gournditch-Mara...
people. According to aboriginal reports the clan was wiped out with just two survivors from the incident. The number of Aborigines reported killed varies from 60 to 200.
Gunditjmara still reside in and around the district; they are renowned in scientific circles for their early aquaculture development at nearby Lake Condah. Physical remains such as the weirs and fish traps are to be found in Lake Condah, which is to the south of Hamilton.
The Gunditjmara
Gunditjmara
Gunditjmara, or Gundidj for short, are an Indigenous Australian group from western Victoria . Their neighbours to the west were the Buandig people, to the north the Jardwadjali and Djab wurrung peoples, and in the east the Girai wurrung people.The name may also be spelt Gournditch-Mara...
were the only settled Aboriginal people in Australia, living in small circular stone huts. The ancestors of the Gunditjmara
Gunditjmara
Gunditjmara, or Gundidj for short, are an Indigenous Australian group from western Victoria . Their neighbours to the west were the Buandig people, to the north the Jardwadjali and Djab wurrung peoples, and in the east the Girai wurrung people.The name may also be spelt Gournditch-Mara...
people lived in villages of weather-proof houses with stone walls a metre high, around eel
Eel
Eels are an order of fish, which consists of four suborders, 20 families, 111 genera and approximately 800 species. Most eels are predators...
traps and aquaculture ponds at Lake Condah - on just one hectare of Allambie Farm, archaeologists have discovered the remains of 160 house sites.
On 30 March 2007, the Gunditjmara People were recognized by the Federal Court to be the native title-holders of almost 140,000 hectares of Crown land and waters in the Portland region. On 27 July 2011, together with the Eastern Maar People, the Gunditjmara People were recognized to be the native title-holders of almost 4,000 hectares of Crown land in the Yambuk region, including Lady Julia Percy Island, known to them as Deen Maar.
Portland has several planted Norfolk Pine trees.
Proclaimed a city
Portland was proclaimed a city on Monday 28 October 1985, in the presence of Their Royal Highnesses, The Prince and Princess of Wales. Today, Portland is a town of 9820 residents.Portland is in the Victorian Legislative Assembly
Victorian Legislative Assembly
The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament of Victoria in Australia. Together with the Victorian Legislative Council, the upper house, it sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Melbourne.-History:...
electoral district of South West Coast
Electoral district of South-West Coast
The Electoral district of South-West Coast is an electorate of the Victorian Legislative Assembly. It was created prior to the 2002 election in order to replace the abolished seats of Portland and Warrnambool....
, the Western Victoria Region of the Victorian Legislative Council
Victorian Legislative Council
The Victorian Legislative Council, is the upper of the two houses of the Parliament of Victoria, Australia; the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit in Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Council serves as a house of review, in a similar fashion to...
and the federal
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....
Division of Wannon
Division of Wannon
The Division of Wannon is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria. It is located in the south-west of the state, and encompasses most of the Western Region of the state. It adjoins the South Australian border in the west, and the Bass Strait coast in the south. The Division...
. Its postcode is 3305.
Port
Australian salmon
Australian Salmon, , are medium-sized perciform marine fish of the small family Arripidae . Four species are recognized, all within the genus Arripis...
and crayfish (now southern rock lobster) were the main catches with many fishermen working the bay, around the Lawrence Rocks
Lawrence Rocks
The Lawrence Rocks are a group of two rocky islets, 6.8 ha and 1.5 ha in area, with an associated reef, 2.4 km south-east of Point Danger in western Victoria, Australia, and about 6 km south-east of the city of Portland...
and in the season, Bridgewater Bay.
Portland harbour enabled the development of the woolgrowing industry of the Western District, but has eventually it lost its primacy to facilities at Geelong. Even in western Victoria, Portland fell behind Warrnambool
Warrnambool, Victoria
-Cityscape:The original City of Warrnambool was a 4x8 grid, with boundaries of Lava Street , Japan Street , Merri Street and Henna Street . In the nineteenth century, it was intended that Fairy Street – with its proximity to the Warrnambool Railway Station – would be the main street of...
as the main commercial centre. In the 20th century Portland's role as a port revived, and its economy was also boosted by the tourism industry and an aluminium
Aluminium
Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
smelter.
The port of Portland was sold in 1996 by the State Government to a group including the listed New Zealand company Infratil & the Scott Corporation (owned by Allan Scott
Allan Scott (businessman)
Archibald Allan Scott, AO was an Australian businessman.-Biography:He was best known for founding the truck organisation Scott's Transport in Mount Gambier, South Australia, which has since grown to be one of the biggest freight companies in Australia, rivalling Linfox.In 1997, Scott's became a...
), the first privatisation of port facilities in Australia. Since then, it has been traded a number of times and is now owned by two institutional investors - the publicly listed Australian Infrastructure Fund and Utilities Trust of Australia, a private infrastructure fund - both of which are managed by Hastings Funds Management.
As new supertankers have emerged, Portland, along with Hastings
Hastings, Victoria
Hastings is a suburb on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia, as a part of the urban enclave on Westernport comprising Hastings, Bittern, Crib Point, Tyabb, and Somerville. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Mornington Peninsula...
in Western Port
Western Port
Western Port, is sometimes called "Western Port Bay", is a large tidal bay in southern Victoria, Australia opening into Bass Strait. It is the second largest bay in Victoria. Geographically, it is dominated by the two large islands; French Island and Phillip Island. Contrary to its name, it lies to...
Bay was proposed as an alternative to the controversial plans for deepening of Melbourne's shallower Port Phillip
Port Phillip
Port Phillip Port Phillip Port Phillip (also commonly referred to as Port Phillip Bay or (locally) just The Bay, is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia; it is the location of Melbourne. Geographically, the bay covers and the shore stretches roughly . Although it is extremely shallow for...
. The plans are aimed at maintaining Victoria's shipping status (since Melbourne has become Australia's busiest port, the Victorian economy relies heavily on the import and export of goods). Due to environmental reasons, the plan to deepen Port Phillip has been heavily criticised, whereas Portland offers some of the necessary infrastructure with minimum environmental impact.
The Port of Portland has received major assistance through public funding of an $A18million overpass which gives better access to the port for heavy traffic The Glenelg Shire Council has recently adopted a plan for the redesign and development of the foreshore precinct including a new multi purpose marina in the north-west corner of the harbour.
Portland Aluminium
AlcoaAlcoa
Alcoa Inc. is the world's third largest producer of aluminum, behind Rio Tinto Alcan and Rusal. From its operational headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Alcoa conducts operations in 31 countries...
is Victoria's largest exporter. The Portland aluminium smelter
Portland aluminium smelter
The Portland aluminium smelter is located atPortland, Victoria, Australia.The smelter has a production capacity of 345,000 tonnes of aluminium per yearThe smelter is a joint venture owned by...
is located in Portland in South West Victoria. The smelter was commissioned in 1987 and is managed by Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals
Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals
Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals is a joint venture between Alumina Limited and Alcoa and is abbreviated to AWAC. AWAC's business is the mining of bauxite, the extraction of alumina and the smelting of aluminium. It has about 25% of the global alumina market...
for Portland Aluminium (a joint venture project between Alcoa, CITIC and Marubeni).
Portland is Australia's third largest aluminium smelter, with a capacity of around 352,000 tonnes of aluminium per annum. The majority of Portland's production is supplied to the export market.
The Portland Aluminium smelter, in conjunction with Alcoa's Point Henry smelter
Point Henry smelter
The Point Henry aluminium smelter is located near Geelong, Victoria in the suburb of Moolap. The smelter has a production capacity of 185,000 tonnes of aluminium a year. It is operated by Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals Australia, a joint venture between Alcoa and Alumina Limited...
, produce about 30% of Australia's total aluminium.
Portland Aluminium partners:
- AlcoaAlcoaAlcoa Inc. is the world's third largest producer of aluminum, behind Rio Tinto Alcan and Rusal. From its operational headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Alcoa conducts operations in 31 countries...
(55%) - CITICCITICNot to be confused with Citigroup, another large financial services company.Not to be confused with CIT Group, another large financial services company....
(22.5%) - MarubeniMarubeniis a Japanese trading company, one of the largest general trading companies in Japan.-Offices:*Head Office - 4-2, Otemachi 1-chome, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan*Head Office -20-6, Shiba 5-chome, Minato, Tokyo, Japan...
(22.5%)
The fishing industry today
Portland today is the home of a varied professional fishing fleet of approximately 60 vessels, harvesting a wide variety of sustainable, commercial species.Trawlers target deepsea finfish such as Rockling, Hoki, BlueEye Trevalla and more, while Southern Rock Lobster, Giant Crab, Abalone, Squid, Wrasse and others are also landed in significant quantities. The industry is a significant employer and directly generates approximately $30 million in export and domestic earnings for the town with major flow-on benefits through local seafood processing (both export and domestic), transport & engineering services, fuel supplies and other ancillary industries. An abalone hatchery has been established on the shores of Portland Bay and apart from some current difficulties, is likely to be an indicator of future seafood production. Easy access to prime locations supports a flourishing amateur angling fraternity, with many locals and tourists regularly enjoying a fresh catch of King George Whiting, Snapper, Kingfish, Flathead, Morwong and in recent times, Bluefin Tuna.
Vestas Portland
The first blades from the VestasVestas
Vestas Wind Systems A/S is a Danish manufacturer, seller, installer, and servicer of wind turbines. It is the largest in the world, but due to very rapid growth of its competitors, its market share decreased from 28% in 2007 to 12.5% in 2009...
Portland plant were produced in July 2005 and the plant was officially commissioned in August 2005. The facility cost $9 million, and has a capacity of 225 blades (75 blade sets) per annum. Vestas
Vestas
Vestas Wind Systems A/S is a Danish manufacturer, seller, installer, and servicer of wind turbines. It is the largest in the world, but due to very rapid growth of its competitors, its market share decreased from 28% in 2007 to 12.5% in 2009...
began manufacturing wind turbines in 1979. Their core business comprises the development, manufacture, sale, marketing and maintenance of wind power systems. The blade manufacturing facility in Portland worked in conjunction with their assembly plant in Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
which has since been closed down. In August 2007, Vestas announced it will close its near new Portland blade manufacturing plant with the loss of 130 jobs.
Portland Wind Project
The four Portland sites are considered by the proponents of the project to be ideal wind farm locations, with consistently strong winds, access for construction vehicles and machinery, a nearby connection to the National Electricity Grid, compatible farming activities and a large land area. By August 2007 construction
was underway but there is still ongoing substantial resident opposition to the project regarding the planning process enabling this development and the visual impact of towers and the power lines.
The 195MW project will produce enough clean electricity to power about 125,000 homes each year, equal to more than 7 per cent of Victoria’s residential electricity demand, or powering a city the size of Geelong. The project is being developed by Pacific Hydro
Pacific Hydro
Pacific Hydro is an Australian company that specialises in electricity generation using renewable energy. Its focus is on hydroelectricity and windpower. It was a public company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange until July 2005. It was subject to a successful takeover offer by a subsidiary of...
.
Geothermal power
Geothermal heatingGeothermal heating
Geothermal heating is the direct use of geothermal energy for heating applications. Humans have taken advantage of geothermal heat this way since the Paleolithic era. Approximately seventy countries made direct use of a total of 270 PJ of geothermal heating in 2004...
was used to heat more than 19,000 square metres of municipal buildings, a motel and the town 2000m³ swimming pool in Portland. Commissioned in 1983, naturally hot groundwater (58°C) was extracted from a bore (1400m deep) at a rate of 90 litres/second. The total capacity of the Portland facility, operated by the Glenelg Shire was 10.4 MW before being closed down in April 2006.
Tourism
The Great South West WalkGreat South West Walk
The Great South West Walk is a 250 kilometre walking track, established in 1981 and situated in the south west of Victoria, Australia. It is administered, maintained and promoted by The Friends of the Great South West Walk Inc, a volunteer organisation, in partnership with Parks...
is a 250 km walking track that begins at the Visitor Information Centre, Portland. Designed as a long distance walking track, it is also ideal for short walks and day walks. The walk travels though forests, river gorges, cliff tops and sublime bays. Established in 1981 the walk is administered, maintained and promoted by 'The Friends of the Great South West Walk Inc', a wholly volunteer organisation, in partnership with Parks Victoria
Parks Victoria
-Department:Parks Victoria was established in December 1996 as a statutory authority, reporting to the Minister for Environment and Climate Change. The Parks Victoria Act 1998 makes Parks Victoria responsible for managing national parks, reserves and other land under the control of the state,...
.
Portland Maritime Museum
SS Admella
The SS Admella was an Australian passenger steamship which was shipwrecked on a submerged reef off the coast of Carpenter Rocks, south west of Mount Gambier South Australia, in the early hours of Saturday 6 August 1859...
shipwreck in 1859, and the Julia shipwreck in 1863. The Admella, a steamship of 392 tons, was sailing from Adelaide to Melbourne when it was smashed onto a reef off Carpenter Rocks in South Australia with a loss of 89 lives. The Portland Lifeboat and crew were taken to the scene, and were pivotal in the rescue operations. On display is a real whale skeleton, and the famed 'Portland Lifeboat' used in the Admella rescue.
Road
Portland is 362 km west of MelbourneMelbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
via the Princes Highway
Princes Highway
The Princes Highway extends from Sydney to Port Augusta via the coast through the states of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, a distance of 1941 km or 1898 km via the former alignments of the highway ....
. It is connected to Hamilton
Hamilton, Victoria
Hamilton is a city in western Victoria, Australia. It is located at the intersection of the Glenelg Highway and the Henty Highway...
by the Henty Highway
Henty Highway
Henty Highway is a 360 kilometre highway in western Victoria, Australia. It's primarily a north-south route, and consists of a mix of 2 laned country highway standard and 4 lane arterial road within some of the larger towns along the route....
.
Rail
Portland is served by the standard gauge Maroona-Portland line, which branches from the main Western standard gauge lineWestern standard gauge line
The Western standard gauge is a railway line in western Victoria, Australia. Opened in 1995, it forms part of the Melbourne-Adelaide railway and serves as the principal interstate rail link between Victorian and the western states...
. Until 1995 the line was broad gauge
Victorian broad gauge
Rail gauge in Australia displays significant variation, which has been an ongoing problem for transportation on the Australian continent, for over a hundred years.-Track gauges and route km:The most used gauges are Main gauges:...
, the line having been opened on 19 December 1877. Passenger movements are by coach to Warrnambool where passengers transfer to rail, the last direct passenger train between Ararat and Portland was on 12 September 1981 operated by a DRC railcar
DRC railcar
The DRC was a class of railmotor operated by the Victorian Railways on the country rail network Victoria, Australia. The cars were built by Tulloch Limited in New South Wales and featured stainless steel construction, air-conditioning, and a diesel hydraulic transmission.-History:The first...
. Grain was the most common commodity delivered by rail from the Wimmera
Wimmera
The Wimmera is a region in the west of the Australian state of Victoria.It covers the dryland farming area south of the range of Mallee scrub, east of the South Australia border and north of the Great Dividing Range...
.
Transport Minister Peter Batchelor
Peter Batchelor
Peter Batchelor was an Australian politician before retiring at the Victorian State Election on 27 November 2010. He was an Australian Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since 1990, representing the electorate of Thomastown. He served most recently as Minister for Energy and...
, opened a $15m overpass in Cliff Street constructed for VicRoads
VicRoads
VicRoads or the Roads Corporation of Victoria is a statutory corporation which is the state road and traffic authority in the state of Victoria, Australia. It is responsible for maintenance and construction of the state arterial road network, as well as driver licensing and vehicle registration. ...
in October 2006. The government committed to the project in May 2003, and work begun in 2005. The overpass allows road transports and trains continuous access to the port; moving commodities like grain, fertiliser, wind-farm blades, aluminium ingots and woodchips. Port activity is projected to increase significantly and the overpass, which had been discussed since 1991, was finally installed. The project was completed three months ahead of schedule because of the drought and less than the expected delays due to rain.
Freight operator Pacific National
Pacific National
Pacific National is one of Australia's largest private rail freight businesses. Originally a joint venture between Patrick Corporation and Toll Holdings; it is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Asciano Limited following the restructure of Toll Holdings....
indefinitely suspended all rail services to the town of Portland in 2004, impacting local companies including Portland Aluminium
Portland aluminium smelter
The Portland aluminium smelter is located atPortland, Victoria, Australia.The smelter has a production capacity of 345,000 tonnes of aluminium per yearThe smelter is a joint venture owned by...
, transport company Kalari, and freight broker Anchor Logistics. Portland container traffic was conveyed between Maroona and Portland on grain services twice a week, but Pacific National said that due to the drought there were no trains to attach the loading to. On the route the price differential between rail and road is $12.97 per tonne in rail's favour. Pacific National closed their Portland operations in March 2008, with GrainCorp leasing a limited number of locomotives and rolling stock from them, but favour transporting grain to the Port of Geelong
Port of Geelong
The Port of Geelong is located on the shores of Corio Bay in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The port is the sixth-largest in Australia by tonnage....
instead. In September 2008 it was announced that freight traffic would restart using the line from Portland, with operator El Zorro
El Zorro (railway)
El Zorro is a railway operator based in Victoria, Australia. It is a private company that was founded in 1999, based in Spotswood, and named by director Ray Evans who has a taste for things Spanish. . The company has three shareholders: director Ray Evans, business manager Geoff Tighe, and Lisa...
signing a multi-million deal with miner Iluka Resources
Iluka Resources
Iluka Resources is a mining company involved in the mining and processing of titanium based and zircon products. The company mines heavy mineral sands and separates the concentrate into its individual mineral constituents rutile, ilmenite, leucoxene and zircon...
to carry containerised mineral sands
Heavy mineral sands ore deposits
Heavy mineral sands are a class of ore deposit which is an important source of zirconium, titanium, thorium, tungsten, rare earth elements, the industrial minerals diamond, sapphire, garnet, and occasionally precious metals or gemstones....
to Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, with Iluka saying rail transport was cheaper than road.
Aviation
Portland is served by the Portland AirportPortland Airport (Australia)
Portland Airport is located at Portland, Victoria, Australia, 365 km southwest of Melbourne along the Princes Highway. The airport is home to the Portland Aero Club and the Sharp Airlines maintenance base....
which is served by one commercial airline, Sharp Airlines
Sharp Airlines
Sharp Airlines is a regional airline headquartered in Hamilton, Victoria, Australia. Its main bases are Portland Airport, Adelaide Airport and Launceston Airport. The airline also provides charter operations to regional Victoria and South Australia...
. Sharp Airlines is a small charter company formed in Hamilton (1990), (ironically, where Reginald Ansett and later Brian Grey Compass Airlines
Compass Airlines (Australia)
Compass Airlines operated in Australia for two brief periods in the early 1990s. The two incarnations of the airline were quite separate with different management and aircraft.-History:...
started their respective businesses) and started flying regularly out of Portland to Essendon Airport
Essendon Airport
Essendon Airport is located at Essendon, in Melbourne's northern suburbs, Victoria, Australia. It is located next to the Tullamarine Freeway on , from the Melbourne Central Business District and from Melbourne Airport.-History:...
. They have flights from Hamilton and Warrnambool to Melbourne. Sharp Airlines started in Portland by flying staff and employees from Portland Aluminium to Avalon Airport
Avalon Airport
Avalon Airport is the second busiest of the four airports serving Melbourne and is located in Avalon, Victoria, Australia, which is north-east of the city of Geelong and to the south-west of the state's capital city of Melbourne....
, so they could link to the Point Henry Smelter near Geelong. With significant demand and the support of the community, non-charter, passenger flights were also added. Sharp has established a maintenance hub at Portland Airport, so support staff could service the growing commuter and tourist airline.
Radio
Community Radio station 3RPC-FM 99.3, is located opposite The Arts Company, on the corner of Richmond Street, and broadcasts to the majority of the Shire of Glenelg. This too lends itself to the promotion of the city's various performances, exhibitions and cultural events. Each week volunteer presenters write and produce many hours of on-air entertainment covering arts, culture, sport, community news and special interest programs.Portland tourist radio station is WAVE-FM, broadcasting easy listening music, news and information about local attractions.
Arts & culture
The Portland Art Centre, on the corner of Glenelg and Bentinck Streets, incorporates a gallery and theatre, where local and visiting performances are regularly staged.
The Arts Company is located in the heritage precinct of Portland in refurbished old buildings in Julia Street. Along with community workshops and studios, local artists' works are also for sale. The Arts Company also has accommodation and studios for the artist in residence programs.
Sport
The town has an Australian rules footballAustralian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
team competing in the Western Border Football League
Western Border Football League
The Western Border Football League is an Australian rules football competition based in the Lower South East region of South Australia, and south-western border region of Victoria. It is an affiliated member of the South Australian National Football League and the Victorian Football League...
which has won the Premiership
AFL Grand Final
The AFL Grand Final is an annual Australian rules football match, traditionally held on the final Saturday in September at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia to determine the Australian Football League premiership champions for that year...
in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Golfers play at the course of the Portland Golf Club on Madeira Packet Road.
Portland also has a soccer team, the Portland Panthers, and they play most of their games with the Mount Gambier Sides.
Primary Schools
- Bundarra Primary School
- Portland Primary School
- North Portland Primary School
- Portland South Primary School
- All Saints Parish Primary School
- Bolwarra Primary School
- St Johns Lutheran Primary School
Further Reading
- Jan Critchett, (1990), A distant field of murder: Western district frontiers, 1834-1848, Melbourne University Press (Carlton, Vic. and Portland, Or.) ISBN 052284389
- Ian D Clark (1990) Aboriginal languages and clans: An historical atlas of western and central Victoria, 1800-1900, Dept. of Geography & Environmental Science, Monash University (Melbourne), ISBN 090968541X
- Ian D Clark (1995), Scars in the landscape: A register of massacre sites in western Victoria, 1803-1859, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (Canberra), ISBN 0855752815
- Ian D Clark (2003) ‘That’s my country belonging to me’ - Aboriginal land tenure and dispossession in nineteenth century Western Victoria, Ballarat Heritage Services, Ballarat.
- The Gunditjmara People with Gib Wettenhall, (2010) The People of Budj Bim: Engineers of aquaculture, builders of stone house settlements and warriors defending country, em Press, Heywood (Victoria)