Wonthaggi, Victoria
Encyclopedia
Wonthaggi is a town located 132 kilometres (82 mi) south east of Melbourne
via the South Gippsland
and Bass Highways, in the Bass Coast Shire
of Gippsland
, Victoria
, Australia
. The town, known originally for its coal mining
, is now the regional service centre for tourism, beef and dairy
industries, and at the 2006 census
, it had a population of 6,529.
The name "Wonthaggi" is an Aboriginal word (from the Woiwurrung
- Eastern Kulin
) which means "to drag, carry or pull with the wind."
at Cape Paterson in 1826, and was subsequently mined from the Powlett River fields in the region, between 1859 and 1864. However transporting the coal by whale boat through the surf to larger ships anchored offshore proved costly and dangerous and mining activity was soon curtailed.
Much of the coal for the colony of Victoria was sourced from Newcastle
and the Hunter Valley
in New South Wales, along with local supplies from private and co-operative coal mines at Outtrim
, Jumbunna
and Korumburra
in Gippsland. After the 1909-1910 strike by coal miners in the Hunter Valley, the Victorian state government were determined to ensure stability in local supplies of coal. The State Coal Mine and the town of Wonthaggi came into being in 1910 to supply coal for the steam trains in Victoria.
The Post Office had opened on 11 November 1887 in a rural area. On 1 August 1910 this office was renamed St Clair and on the same day Powlett Coal Mine PO, opened earlier that year, was renamed Wonthaggi.
In 1911 miners formed the Wonthaggi Co-operative Workmen's Club, a social club with 300 members and a membership fee of 10 shillings. Miners were also prominent in establishing the local hospital, friendly society
dispensary, union theatre, and a co-operative store, and in supporting miners in New Zealand in the 1912 Waihi miners' strike
Mining continued for 59 years, extracting 17 million tonnes of coal from 12 separate mines. The State Coal Mine closed in 1968 and is now operated by Parks Victoria
as a visitor experience, with a well-presented museum.
The railway line through Kilcunda
to Wonthaggi has been converted to the Bass Coast Rail Trail
for the use of cyclists, walkers, and as a horse trail.
In 2005 the Wonthaggi Wind Farm
was built near the town. The Bass Coast Shire Council was opposed to the wind farm along with local residents. Protesters argued the six turbines would taint the view of Cape Patterson on the trip from Kilcunda to Wonthaggi and would affect the "recreational tourism and landscape values of the coastline". By September 2005 the six towers had been built, but the turbines had not commenced operation, but were themselves a tourist attraction. The wind farm, now operational, generates power up to 80% of the time, providing electricity for up to 6000 homes.
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...
via the South Gippsland
South Gippsland Highway
The South Gippsland Highway is a partially divided highway in Victoria, Australia which connects the city of Melbourne with the South Gippsland region of Victoria, ending in the town of Sale...
and Bass Highways, in the Bass Coast Shire
Bass Coast Shire
Bass Coast Shire is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia. It is located in the south-eastern part of the state, less than 90 minutes from Melbourne, and includes the popular tourist destination, Phillip Island...
of Gippsland
Gippsland
Gippsland is a large rural region in Victoria, Australia. It begins immediately east of the suburbs of Melbourne and stretches to the New South Wales border, lying between the Great Dividing Range to the north and Bass Strait to the south...
, Victoria
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...
. The town, known originally for its coal mining
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
, is now the regional service centre for tourism, beef and dairy
Dairy
A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting of animal milk—mostly from cows or goats, but also from buffalo, sheep, horses or camels —for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on a dedicated dairy farm or section of a multi-purpose farm that is concerned...
industries, and at the 2006 census
Census in Australia
The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...
, it had a population of 6,529.
The name "Wonthaggi" is an Aboriginal word (from the Woiwurrung
Woiwurrung
Woiwurrung is an Indigenous Australian language spoken by some of the Kulin Nation clans, the Wurundjeri people, of Central Victoria, from Mount Baw Baw in the east to Mount Macedon, Sunbury and Gisborne in the west.The Woiwurrung clans inhabited the Yarra River, called Birrarung in Woiwurrung,...
- Eastern Kulin
Kulin
The Kulin nation, was an alliance of five Indigenous Australian nations in Central Victoria, Australia, prior to European settlement. Their collective territory extended to around Port Phillip and Western Port, up into the Great Dividing Range and the Loddon and Goulburn River valleys. To their...
) which means "to drag, carry or pull with the wind."
History
Coal was discovered by explorer William HovellWilliam Hovell
William Hilton Hovell was an English explorer of Australia.-Early life:Hovell was born in Yarmouth, Norfolk, England and went to sea as a boy, becoming a Royal Navy captain before settling in New South Wales, arriving in October 1813 aboard the Earl Spencer with his wife Esther née Arndell...
at Cape Paterson in 1826, and was subsequently mined from the Powlett River fields in the region, between 1859 and 1864. However transporting the coal by whale boat through the surf to larger ships anchored offshore proved costly and dangerous and mining activity was soon curtailed.
Much of the coal for the colony of Victoria was sourced from Newcastle
Newcastle, New South Wales
The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...
and the Hunter Valley
Hunter Valley
The Hunter Region, more commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney with an approximate population of 645,395 people. Most of the population of the Hunter Region lives within of the coast, with 55% of the entire...
in New South Wales, along with local supplies from private and co-operative coal mines at Outtrim
Outtrim, Victoria
Outtrim is a locality in Victoria, Australia. It is located south of Korumburra off the Korumburra to Wonthaggi Road and is southeast of Melbourne.-History:...
, Jumbunna
Jumbunna, Victoria
Jumbunna is a town in South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. The name is taken from the eastern Kulin language of the Bunnerong tribe and means "a place to meet and talk"....
and Korumburra
Korumburra, Victoria
Korumburra is a town in the Australian state of Victoria. It is located on the South Gippsland Highway, kilometres south-east of Melbourne, in the South Gippsland Shire local government area....
in Gippsland. After the 1909-1910 strike by coal miners in the Hunter Valley, the Victorian state government were determined to ensure stability in local supplies of coal. The State Coal Mine and the town of Wonthaggi came into being in 1910 to supply coal for the steam trains in Victoria.
The Post Office had opened on 11 November 1887 in a rural area. On 1 August 1910 this office was renamed St Clair and on the same day Powlett Coal Mine PO, opened earlier that year, was renamed Wonthaggi.
In 1911 miners formed the Wonthaggi Co-operative Workmen's Club, a social club with 300 members and a membership fee of 10 shillings. Miners were also prominent in establishing the local hospital, friendly society
Friendly society
A friendly society is a mutual association for insurance, pensions or savings and loan-like purposes, or cooperative banking. It is a mutual organization or benefit society composed of a body of people who join together for a common financial or social purpose...
dispensary, union theatre, and a co-operative store, and in supporting miners in New Zealand in the 1912 Waihi miners' strike
Waihi miners' strike
The Waihi miners' strike was a major strike action in 1912 by gold miners in the New Zealand town of Waihi. It is widely regarded as the most significant industrial action in the history of New Zealand's labour movement...
Mining continued for 59 years, extracting 17 million tonnes of coal from 12 separate mines. The State Coal Mine closed in 1968 and is now operated by 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,...
as a visitor experience, with a well-presented museum.
The railway line through Kilcunda
Kilcunda, Victoria
Kilcunda is a seaside town in Victoria. It is located 117 km southeast from Melbourne on the Bass Highway in the Bass Coast Shire of Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Situated along the rugged coastline between Phillip Island and Wonthaggi, Kilcunda is well known for its popular fishing, surfing...
to Wonthaggi has been converted to the Bass Coast Rail Trail
Bass Coast Rail Trail
The Bass Coast Rail Trail is a Rail trail located in the Bass Coast Shire of Gippsland, Victoria, Australia.The trail has been constructed along a section of the former Wonthaggi line. The trail starts at the former Anderson Station and finishes shortly after the former Wonthaggi Station...
for the use of cyclists, walkers, and as a horse trail.
Wind farm
Wonthaggi Wind Farm, Victoria (Australia)
Wonthaggi wind farm is a wind power station at Wonthaggi in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. It has six wind turbines, with a total generating capacity of 12 MW of electricity.- External links :*Wind Power page on...
was built near the town. The Bass Coast Shire Council was opposed to the wind farm along with local residents. Protesters argued the six turbines would taint the view of Cape Patterson on the trip from Kilcunda to Wonthaggi and would affect the "recreational tourism and landscape values of the coastline". By September 2005 the six towers had been built, but the turbines had not commenced operation, but were themselves a tourist attraction. The wind farm, now operational, generates power up to 80% of the time, providing electricity for up to 6000 homes.
Tourism
- State Coal Mine - (Garden Street)http://www.parkweb.vic.gov.au/1park_display.cfm?park=189
- Cape PatersonCape Paterson, VictoriaCape Paterson is a cape and town in Gippsland, Victoria . The cape was named by Lieut. James Grant in 1801, honouring explorer Lieut. Col. William Paterson.At the 2006 census, Cape Paterson had a population of 674....
- 8 km south. - Wonthaggi-Bass Valley Agricultural Show - January.
- Bass Coast Rail TrailBass Coast Rail TrailThe Bass Coast Rail Trail is a Rail trail located in the Bass Coast Shire of Gippsland, Victoria, Australia.The trail has been constructed along a section of the former Wonthaggi line. The trail starts at the former Anderson Station and finishes shortly after the former Wonthaggi Station...
- Wonthaggi 24 hour HPVHuman-powered transportHuman-powered transport is the transport of person and/or goods using human muscle power. Like animal-powered transport, human-powered transport has existed since time immemorial in the form of walking, running and swimming...
Grand Prix, held annually at the Recreation Complex in March. This event began in 1998 and now has around 80 teams in the main race each year. It is accompanied with the Energy Innovation Festival.
Notable people
- James PhelanJames Clancy PhelanJames Clancy Phelan is an Australian author, published as James Phelan. His first fiction novel, Fox Hunt, went into reprint in its first month.-Biography:Phelan was born in Victoria, Australia...
(Australian Author) - Ian HarveyIan HarveyIan Joseph Harvey is an Australian cricketer. He is an all-rounder. He was named as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year for 2004.-Australian career:...
(Former Australian Cricketer) - Darren BerryDarren BerryDarren Shane Berry is a former Australian cricketer who was known for his sharp skills as a wicketkeeper with Victoria in the Sheffield Shield and ING Cup domestic competitions...
(Former Victorian Cricketer) - Jarryd BlairJarryd BlairJarryd Blair is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League . Standing at only 172 centimetres, he is a small, pacy wingman/half forward flanker who made his AFL debut in Round 14, 2010 against West Coast at Etihad Stadium.Blair was...
(Collingwood Premiership Player 2010)