Gippsland

Introduction

This article is about the rural region. For other uses, see Gippsland (disambiguation). Region in Victoria, AustraliaRegion in Victoria, AustraliaGippsland RegionRegionJohn Longstaff's Gippsland, Sunday night, 20 February 1898, depicting the "Red Tuesday" bushfires that ravaged GippslandGippsland RegionThe location of Bairnsdale, a town in GippslandCoordinates: 37°51′S 147°35′E / 37.850°S 147.583°E / -37.850; 147.583CountryAustraliaStateVictoriaLGA (by population) Latrobe Baw Baw East Gippsland Wellington Bass Coast South Gippsland Location 120 km (75 mi) E of Melbourne Government • State electorate Bass Gippsland East Gippsland South Morwell Narracan  • Federal division Gippsland Monash Area • Total41,556 km2 (16,045 sq mi)Population • Total271,266 (2016 census) • Density6.52772/km2 (16.90672/sq mi)Time zoneUTC+10 (AEST) • Summer (DST)UTC+11 (AEDT) Regions around Gippsland Region Hume Hume New South Wales Greater Melbourne Gippsland Region Tasman Sea Bass Strait Bass Strait Bass Strait Gippsland (/ˈɡɪpslænd/) is a rural region in the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains south of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It covers an elongated area of 41,556 km2 (16,045 sq mi) east of the Shire of Cardinia (Melbourne's outermost southeastern suburbs) between Dandenong Ranges and Mornington Peninsula, and is bounded to the north by the mountain ranges and plateaus/highlands of the High Country (which separate it from Hume region in Victoria's northeast), to the southwest by the Western Port Bay, to the south and east by the Bass Strait and the Tasman Sea, and to the east and northeast by the Black–Allan Line (the easternmost section of the Victoria/New South Wales state border). Gippsland is divided by the Strzelecki Ranges and tributaries of the Gippsland Lakes into West Gippsland, South Gippsland, Latrobe Valley, Central Gippsland and East Gippsland. At the 2016 Australian census, Gippsland had a population of 271,266, with the principal centres Traralgon, Warragul, Drouin, Bairnsdale, Moe, Sale, Morwell, Wonthaggi, Leongatha, and Phillip Island. Gippsland is known for mining, power generation and farming as well as its tourist destinations — Phillip Island, Wilsons Promontory, the Gippsland Lakes, Walhalla, the Baw Baw Plateau, and the Strzelecki Ranges. It also includes around a hundred islands, mostly between the mainland and Tasmania.

History

[edit] The traditional owners are Indigenous Australians of the Gunai nation and in part of West Gippsland the Bunurong nation. Before permanent European colonisation, the area was visited by sealers and wattle bark gatherers who did not settle.[citation needed] Samuel Anderson (1803–1863), a Scottish immigrant from Kirkcudbright, agriculturist and explorer, arrived in Hobart, Tasmania, in 1830, and in 1835 established a squatter agricultural settlement on the Bass River in Gippsland, the third permanent colonial settlement in Victoria (then called the Port Phillip District). His business partner Robert Massie joined him in 1837. Both had worked for the Van Diemen's Land Company at Circular Head, Tasmania. Samuel's brothers Hugh (1808–1898) and Thomas (1814–1903) arrived at Bass shortly after, where they established a successful farming venture. Further European colonisation followed two separate expeditions to the area. During his expedition to the South (December 1839 – May 1840) in March 1840, Polish explorer Paweł Edmund Strzelecki led an expedition across Gunai country, and gave his own names to many of their natural landmarks and places. Following these expeditions, the name "Gippsland" stuck, a name chosen by Strzelecki in honour of the New South Wales Governor, George Gipps, his sponsor. Angus McMillan led the second European expedition between 1840, naming Gunai country "Caledonia Australis". The naming of this geographical region, however, remained the name given by P. E. Strzelecki – Gippsland. The township of Bass was surveyed and colonised in the early 1860s. The intensive colonisation of south Gippsland began late in the 1870s. A story of that process is told in, The land of the Lyre Bird (1920). Before the Victorian state government decision to cancel plans for hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games, Gippsland was set to serve as one of its hosts in regional Victoria.

Geography

[edit] Regions ofGippsland East West South Central Latrobe Valley Old growth forests in East Gippsland Gippsland is traditionally subdivided into four or five main sub–regions or districts: West Gippsland (roughly equivalent to the Baw Baw Shire) South Gippsland (Bass Coast and South Gippsland Shires) the Latrobe Valley (Latrobe City and areas of Baw Baw to the north) East Gippsland (Shires of Wellington and East Gippsland). Sometimes a fifth region, Central Gippsland (corresponding approximately to the Shire of Wellington), is added to refer to the drier zone between the Gippsland Lakes and Yarram. Gippsland Plains Grassy Woodland is an endangered vegetation community within the region.

Climate

Flora and fauna

[edit] Gippsland is home to many species of flora and fauna. Animals that live there include the swamp wallaby, koala, echidna and wombat.[citation needed] Native plants and trees include grass trees (Xanthorrhoea australis), which provide a valuable food source of nectar, pollen, larvae and seeds for birds, insects and mammals.[citation needed]

Natural resources

[edit] This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007) (Learn how and when to remove this message) See also: Energy in Victoria Potato farming in the Thorpdale region The soils in Gippsland are generally very infertile, being profoundly deficient in nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and calcium. Apart from frequently flooded areas, they are classed as Spodosols, Psamments and Ultisols. Consequently, heavy fertilisation is required for agriculture or pastoral development. Despite this, parts of Gippsland have become highly productive dairying and vegetable-growing regions: the region supplies Melbourne with most of its needs in these commodities. A few alluvial soils (chiefly near the Snowy) have much better native fertility, and these have always been intensively cultivated. In the extreme northeast is a small section of the Monaro Tableland used for grazing beef cattle. Gippsland possesses very few deposits of metallic minerals (gold rushes in the nineteenth century around Foster, Buchan petered out quickly). However, the deep underground gold mines operated at Walhalla for a fifty-year period between 1863 and 1913. Gippsland has no deposits of major industrial nonmetallic minerals, but it does feature the world's largest brown coal deposits and, around Sale and offshore in the Bass Strait, some of the largest deposits of oil and natural gas in Australia. Like the rest of Australia, the seas around Gippsland are of very low productivity as there is no upwelling due to the warm currents in the Tasman Sea. Nonetheless, towns such as Marlo and Mallacoota depended for a long time on the fishing of abalone, whose shells could fetch very high prices because of their use for pearls and pearl inlays.

Administration

[edit] Political representation[edit] For Australian federal elections for the House of Representatives, the electoral divisions of Flinders, Monash, and Gippsland lay entirely or partly in the Gippsland region. Flinders and McMillan are currently held by the Liberal Party, while Gippsland is held by the Nationals. For elections for the Victorian Legislative Assembly, the electoral districts of Bass, Narracan, Morwell, Gippsland South and Gippsland East lay entirely or partly in the Gippsland region. Bass is held by Labor, Narracan is held by the Liberals, while Gippsland East, Gippsland South and Morwell are held by the Nationals. Local government areas[edit] Gippsland contains six local government areas: Gippsland region LGA populations Local government area Area Population(2011 census) Source(s) Population(2016 census) Source(s) km2 sq mi Bass Coast Shire 864 334 29,614 32,804 Shire of Baw Baw 4,031 1,556 42,864 48,479 Shire of East Gippsland 20,941 8,085 42,196 45,040 Latrobe City 1,426 551 72,396 73,257 South Gippsland Shire 3,305 1,276 27,208 28,703 Shire of Wellington 10,989 4,243 41,440 42,983 Totals 41,556 16,045 255,718 271,266 Environmental protection[edit] The Gippsland region contains the Alfred National Park, Baw Baw National Park, Coopracambra National Park, Croajingolong National Park, Errinundra National Park, Gippsland Lakes Coastal Park, Lind National Park, Mitchell River National Park, Morwell National Park, Snowy River National Park, Tarra-Bulga National Park, The Lakes National Park, and Wilsons Promontory National Park. There are also large areas of State forest that contribute towards conservation objectives.

Notable people

[edit] Ricky Megee (born 1970/1971), outback survivor Lionel Rose (born 1948), professional boxer from Warragul Dale Thomas (born 1987), former AFL player for Collingwood and Carlton from Drouin Josiah Brooks (born 1989), artist and YouTuber of ‘Draw with Jazza’ Beau Miles (born 1979), outdoor educator and YouTuber

Gippsland

From Wikipedia

Seasonal rhythms for the road‑tripper

Local fare beyond the tourist menus

Comparing the coastal stretch to its southern neighbours