Clockwise from top: Lighthouse Beach; Tacking Point Lighthouse; intersection of Clarence & Horton Streets, featuring Majestic Cinemas in the Ritz Centre
Port Macquarie, locally nicknamed Port,[2] is a coastal city[3] the local government area of Port Macquarie-Hastings. It is located on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, about 390 km (242 mi) north of Sydney, and 570 km (354 mi) south of Brisbane. The city is located on the Tasman Sea coast, at the mouth of the Hastings River, and at the eastern end of the Oxley Highway (B56). The city with its suburbs had a population of 47,973 in June 2018[4] and an estimated population of 50,307 in June 2023.[5]
History
Indigenous
Port Macquarie sits within Birpai (Biripi, Bripi, Biripai, Birrbay) country, and the Birpai people are recognised as the traditional custodians of the land on which Port Macquarie is located.[6] Port Macquarie was long known to the Birpai people as Guruk.[7] The Birpai Local Aboriginal Land Council provides positive support, information and responsible governance for the Aboriginal community, while also cultivating strong links with the broader community.[8]
Before British colonisation, large clans of Birpai people resided in and around Port Macquarie, particularly at places such as King's Creek, Blackman's Point, Camden Haven and Rolland's Plains. They lived in large domed huts which provided protection against the region's heavy rains and were capable of accommodating up to ten people.[9]
Oxley noted that "the natives in the vicinity of the port appeared very numerous...were all handsome, well-made men, stout in their persons, and showing evident signs of good living...were evidently acquainted with the use of firearms...their dread of its appearance", and that "the port abounds with fish, the sharks were larger and more numerous than I have ever before observed...the forest hills and rising grounds abounded with large kangaroos and the marshes afford shelter and support to innumerable wildfowl. Independent of the Hastings River, the area is generally well watered, there is a fine spring at the very entrance to the Port."[10]
Convict settlement
In 1821, Port Macquarie was founded as a penal settlement, replacing Newcastle as the destination for convicts who had committed secondary crimes in New South Wales. Newcastle, which had fulfilled this role for the previous two decades, had lost the features required for a place for dumping irredeemable criminals, that being isolation, which was lost as the Hunter Region was opened up to farmers, and large amounts of hard labor, which had diminished as the cedar in the area ran out and the settlement grew in size.[9]
Port Macquarie, however, with its thick bush, tough terrain, large military presence and Indigenous Australians such as Bob Barrett (also called Monunggal) who were employed as 'bush constables' returning escaped prisoners for tobacco and blankets, provided large amounts of both isolation and hard labour to keep the criminals in control. Under the various commandants, such as Francis Allman who was fond of flogging, the convicts had limited liberties and punishments regularly included whippings of up to 50 lashes at a time and hard labour in double leg irons.[9]
The penal settlement lasted from April 1821 to June 1832. The settlement peaked with 1500 convicts by 1825 but by 1828 this had fallen to 530. The commanders of the settlement were:[9]
During the 1820s, merchants such as Simeon Lord and Solomon Wiseman utilised the convict labour to extract large amounts of cedar and rosewood timber upriver from Port Macquarie.[9]GovernorRalph Darling later sent there many 'specials' or literate convicts with a decent education who had voiced negative views about him. As the penal settlement was wound down from the late 1820s, disabled convicts began to make up a significant proportion of the population. One-armed men would be grouped together and required to break stones, men with wooden legs would become delivery men, and the blind would often be given tasks during the night which they performed more skilfully than those with sight.[11]
In November 1821, Port Macquarie became the site of the first sugar cane to be cultivated in Australia. James Williams, an Afro-American convict from Antigua with knowledge of cane-growing, was placed in charge.[12] This colonial government funded plantation worked by convict labourers was later expanded to the nearby Rollands Plains and Ballengarra areas under the management of Thomas A. Scott. Flood, drought and fire caused the plantations to be abandoned by 1831. Scott later lived near Gosford, where the suburb Tascott is named after him.[9]
St Thomas's Anglican Church is a Georgian building designed by Francis Greenway and built, under the supervision of military engineer Lieutenant T. Owen, by convicts from 1824 to 1828. This church is among the oldest in Australia and one of the few remaining convict-built churches. Inside there are red cedar box pews that were peculiar to that period in church architecture.[13] The Walker pipe organ is the only one of its type in the southern hemisphere. The castellated tower permits excellent views of the coastline, town and river. This church is now classified by the National Trust of Australia (NSW) and has been registered on the National Estate heritage list.
As the British encroached into the region from 1821, bloody conflict between the colonisers and the resident Indigenous people occurred. The first recorded incident happened in November 1821 where a convict cedar-getter was killed upriver from Port Macquarie.[9] In 1823, an exploratory party of soldiers shot down two groups of Aboriginal people near Telegraph Point and Ballengarra, causing those who survived to afterwards have great fear of the redcoats.[14]
In 1825, after two convict shingle-splitters were killed at Blackman's Point, a detachment of soldiers from the 3rd Regiment of Foot were sent out on a punitive expedition. They shot dead a great number of Aboriginal people, afterwards raping then killing the captured females. This has become known as the Blackman's Point massacre.[15][16]
In 1830, a stockman was killed by Aboriginal people at Rollands Plains, leading the commandant at the time, Captain Henry Smyth, to issue an edict prohibiting 'the natives' from carrying anything resembling weapons near the British settlements on pain of death.[9] In 1837, further violence occurred at Kogo where three cedar-getters were killed. Several Aboriginal men, including Wombarty and Terrimitchie were arrested for the crime. Terrimitchie was later found guilty and hanged in Port Macquarie. Frontier conflict in the region appears to have ended by the 1840s.[17][18]
Free settlement
The region was first opened to settlers in 1830 and soon after the penal settlement was closed. Settlers quickly took advantage of the area's good pastoral land, timber resources and fisheries.
St Thomas' Anglican Church, 2010
The first land grants along the Hastings River were assigned in 1830 to people such as Jeremiah Warlters, William Cross and Matthew Mitchell.[9]
Township of Port Macquarie
A town plan of Port Macquarie was produced by F. R. D'Arcy in 1831 and most of the first allotments were given out in the same year to military men associated with the penal colony such as Lieutenant Matthew Mitchell and Major A.C. Innes.[9]
In 1840 the Wool Road from the Northern Tablelands was under construction to enable wool and other produce to be shipped from the port. Port Macquarie was declared a municipality in 1887, but the town never progressed as a port owing to a notorious coastal bar across the mouth of the river.
Over 20 shipwrecks occurred in the Tacking Point area before a lighthouse was designed by James Barnet and erected there in 1879 by Shepard and Mortley. Tacking Point Lighthouse is classified by the National Trust of Australia (NSW).
Writer Louis Becke was born and grew up in the town in the 1860s and later recalled those days, saying Port Macquarie was an,
old-time town ... a quaint, sleepy little place of six hundred inhabitants, who spend their days in fishing and waiting for better times. There are two or three fairly good hotels, very pretty scenery along the coast and up the river, and a stranger can pass a month without suffering from ennui – that is, of course, if he is fond of fishing and shooting; if he is not, he should avoid going there, for it is the dullest coast town in New South Wales.[19]
Modern development and events
In the 1970s, Grace Easterbrook, a retired secretary from Scotland, began a campaign against the high-rise developments which were multiplying up the coast. She led a group of citizen activists in lobbying against a large development on Windmill Hill and other efforts to conserve the coast.[20] In 1974, residents of Port Macquarie requested that the Builders Labourers Federation place a green ban against the construction of high rise buildings on beach head and water front.[21] Easterbrook died in 1984, before the culmination of her conservation efforts, the beautiful coastal walks, were completed.[20]
Severe flooding occurred in March 2021 when the Hastings River flooded during a severe weather event affecting much of New South Wales.[22]
Heritage listings
Port Macquarie has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
In 1847, the population was 819, of whom 599 were males and 220 were female.[33] The gender disparity was probably due to the penal station there at the time.
According to the 2021 census, there were 50,193 people in Port Macquarie urban area[34] and 86,762 in the local government area.
The estimated urban population of Port Macquarie has grown 1.8% on prior year and from 41,496 over the prior decade. Port Macquarie is expected to be the fastest growing place in New South Wales. The town is expected to grow from an estimated 43,655 people in 2009 to 58,888 in 2027.[35]
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 5.3% of the population.
80.9% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 4.5%, New Zealand 1.6%, Philippines 0.6%, India 0.6% and South Africa 0.5%.
90.1% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 0.3%, Nepali 0.3%, German 0.2%, Spanish 0.2%, and Tagalog 0.2%.
The most common responses for religion were No Religion 37.7%, Catholic 21.7% and Anglican 18.0%.[36]
General
Port Macquarie is a coastal destination, known for its extensive beaches and waterways. The town is also known for its koala population, being the home to the Billabong Zoo (a wildlife park and koala breeding centre) and the Koala Preservation Society's Koala Hospital, caring for koalas injured through bushfire, dog attacks and collisions with vehicles.[37]
In 2016 the war memorial was relocated from Town Green to its original location at the intersection of Clarence and Horton Streets.[38]
The residential suburbs stretch to Lighthouse Beach in the south, Thrumster to the west and to North Shore, on the northern bank of the river. In July 2010, Sovereign Hills began development in the west.
Port Macquarie was found to be the least affordable smaller market in Australia by Demographia's 2013 International Housing Affordability Survey.[39]
Port Macquarie's central business district contains two shopping centres, many specialty stores, a marina, and the starting point for the 9 km coastal walk, a scenic walking trail that travels from Westport Park, through the Port Macquarie CBD to Tacking Point Lighthouse. The Glasshouse, a centrally located arts, conference and entertainment centre, includes a visitor-information facility. Bus services link the town with Laurieton, Wauchope, Kempsey, Lake Cathie and Bonny Hills.
The main shopping centre Port Central, sits next to the Glasshouse, a hub of culture and entertainment, boasting a 594-seat theatre, performance and art studio, gallery, visitor information centre, shop and theatre bar.
One of Australia's largest internet finance comparison websites, Credit Card Compare, now called Finty, was founded in Port Macquarie by Andrew and David Boyd.[40]
Transit Hill
Transit Hill to the south is crowned by telecommunication towers. The district is the site of two arterial roads which provide a direct link between Lighthouse Beach and Port Macquarie CBD. The main intersection of Pacific and Kennedy Drive is situated midway up Transit Hill. It is an area of high-priced real estate owing to ocean and city views. Transit Hill borders Lighthouse Beach, Dahlsford, Shelly Beach and Waniora.
Sovereign Hills
Sovereign Hills is a newer development in Port Macquarie, between the locality of Thrumster to the east, and the Pacific Highway to the west. Its development is currently managed by the Lewis Land Group. Most recent press releases have suggested that the area will have around 2500 homes when complete.[41]
St Joseph's Regional College moved from its previous location on Warlters Street to Sovereign Hills in 2009.[42] A town centre is planned for opening in 2019, and has been advertised to initially include a supermarket, pharmacy and a café.[43] The local organisation Hastings Co-Op has announced that they will operate the supermarket to be built in this new town centre.[44]
Beaches and attractions
Beaches (in order from north to south) are: North Shore, Town Beach, Oxley Beach, Rocky Beach, Flynns Beach, Nobbys Beach, Shelly Beach, Miners Beach (unofficial clothing-optional[45]) and Lighthouse Beach. Only Town, Flynns and Lighthouse Beaches are staffed by Surf Life Saving Clubs. Lighthouse Beach is patrolled at only the northern end. Dogs can be walked off-leash at Lighthouse Beach, south of Watonga Rocks, excluding sections at the northern end and Nobbys Beach.
Sea Acres National Park is adjacent to Shelly Beach and contains a visitor centre with access controlled rainforest boardwalk.
Climate
Port Macquarie has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) with warm, humid summers and short, mild winters, albeit with cool nights;[46] Rainfall is spread throughout the year. In winter and spring, the town can occasionally be affected by foehn winds due to its leeward position of the Great Dividing Range.[47] The town receives 118.9 clear days annually. In addition, it is the northernmost locality on the coast to receive southerly busters, although they are not as intense as those in the southern coast.
According to the CSIRO, Port Macquarie was considered the best climate in Australia due to its mild winters and pleasant summers, and also for its warm water for most of the year that is suited for swimming.[48]
Climate data for Port Macquarie (Port Macquarie Airport AWS, 1995–2020)
MacKillop College (formerly St. Paul's High School & MacKillop Senior College)[63]
Newman Senior Technical College (Year 11 and 12)[64]
Private schools
Heritage Christian School (Kindergarten to Year 12)[59]
St Columba Anglican School (Kindergarten to Year 12)[60]
Tertiary educational facilities
Charles Sturt University, Port Macquarie campus
Three universities and TAFE offer a range of courses in Port Macquarie, as well as other vocational institutions. Charles Sturt University opened a new campus in 2016, and offers courses in Creative Industries, Psychology, Medical Imaging and Medical Radiation Science, Environmental Sciences, Paramedicine, Social Work, Business Studies and Accounting, Criminal Justice Studies, Exercise Sports Science and Physiotherapy, among others. Nursing will be offered from 2020. There is a TAFE campus for further qualifications and pathway options into higher education. Courses are also offered by the University of Newcastle through the TAFE campus. The University of New South Wales has run a clinical school from Port Macquarie since 2007, and now runs the complete six-year medical degree from this Campus. The growth in tertiary educational options in the region has been in response to significant research designed to retain young people in the area and contribute to the growth of the educational standards for the Hastings region.[citation needed]
There is no railway station in Port Macquarie. However, the Port Macquarie CBD and northern suburbs are served by the nearby Wauchope railway station (17 km west of town), and the southern suburbs including satellite towns of Lake Cathie and Laurieton are served by Kendall railway station (30 km [19 mi] southwest). Both stations are on the North Coast Line operated by NSW TrainLink with three services daily in each direction towards either Sydney or northwards to Grafton, Casino and Brisbane.[65] There is a railway-operated connecting bus service available from Wauchope railway station to the Port Macquarie CBD. The largest local bus operator is Busways while long distance services are operated by Greyhound Australia and Premier Motor Service.[66]
Road access is via the Pacific and Oxley Highways. The Pacific Highway lies between Port Macquarie and Wauchope, and is the main road for tourists travelling from coastal areas.
Four significant nearby road projects have been completed in recent years to help with road traffic issues in the area:
Pacific Highway – Karuah to Bulahdelah section 2 and 3[67] (Karuah to Bulahdelah section 1 – Completed December 2006).[68]
Pacific Highway – Bulahdelah Bypass[69][70][71] The Bulahdelah bypass/upgrade fills the only missing Pacific Highway link between Hexham and Port Macquarie after the opening of the Karuah to Bulahdelah section(s) 2 and 3 and the Coopernook to Herons Creek upgrade.[72]
Pacific Highway – Coopernook to Herons Creek.[73][74]
The Oxley Highway upgrade, from a 2 lane undivided road to a 4-lane divided carriageway, from Wrights Road to the Pacific Highway.[75]
These four projects are all from the AusLink funding on a joint basis from the Commonwealth and the state of NSW making equal financial contributions.[76]
Annual events
Notable events held in the Port Macquarie area include:[77]
Port Macquarie Kart Racing Club's Pacific Coast Titles[82]
Hello Koalas Festival, established 2017, is the world's first festival celebrating the koala and is held annually in September. Port Macquarie has the largest koala population on the east coast of Australia.[83]
AFT International Sports Fitness Festival.[84] Highlights include the Move8 VR Walk-a-Hunt which promotes Sports Inclusion, Health Talks & Workshops and a showcase of Youth in Sports.
Notable people
Ryley Batt OAM (born 1989), wheelchair rugby player, four-time Paralympian.
^Tindale, Norman Barnett (1974). "Birpai (NSW)". Aboriginal Tribes of Australia: Their Terrain, Environmental Controls, Distribution, Limits, and Proper Names. Australian National University Press. ISBN978-0-708-10741-6.
^Tony Dawson, James Ralfe and the early surveys at Port Macquarie, Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society, Vol. 104, No. 1, Jun 2018: [62]-82. INFORMIT.701710455619274
^"NEWS OF THE DAY". The Sydney Monitor. Vol. XII, no. 1063. New South Wales, Australia. 21 July 1837. p. 2 (EVENING). Retrieved 4 January 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
^William Henry Wells (1848, facsimile edition 1970), A geographical dictionary or gazetteer of the Australian colonies 1848, Sydney, State Library of New South Wales, p.346. ISBN07240-9983-2
^"Australia"(PDF). International Housing Affordability Survey: 2013. Demographia. Archived(PDF) from the original on 23 January 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
^Margaret Canning (4 July 2018). "Northern Ireland brothers behind Oz comparison website in major Asian deal". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 3 July 2023. Ballymena men David (36) and Andrew Boyd (37) set up Credit Card Compare as a joint project when David moved Down Under around 10 years ago. Now they've acquired 90% of Finty, a rewards-based financial comparison marketplace in Singapore that was launched in April last year. The company is headquartered in Port Macquarie on Australia's north coast.
