| Port Pirie South Australia |
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The lead smelter and grain silos of Port Pirie, South Australia. |
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Port Pirie
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| Population: | 13,206(2006 Census) |
| Established: | 1845 |
| Postcode: | 5540 |
| Elevation: | 4 m (13 ft) |
| Time zone:
• Summer (DST) |
ACST (UTC+9:30) |
| Location: | 224 km (139 mi) from Adelaide |
| LGA: | Port Pirie Regional Council |
| State District: | Frome |
| Federal Division: | Grey |
Port Pirie (post code: 5540) () is the sixth most populous city in South Australia after Adelaide, Mount Gambier, Whyalla, Murray Bridge and Port Augusta. It is a seaport located on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf, 224 km (139 mi) north of Adelaide.
The settlement was founded in 1845 and is the site of the world's largest lead smelter, operated by Nyrstar.[1] It also produces refined silver, zinc, copper and gold.
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Prior to European settlement, the location that became Port Pirie was occupied by the indigenous tribe of Nukunu. The location was called 'Tarparrie', which is suspected to mean "Muddy Creek". The first European to see the location was Matthew Flinders in 1802 as he explored the Spencer Gulf by boat. The first land discovery by settlers of the location was by the explorer Edward Eyre who explored regions around Port Augusta. John Horrocks also discovered a pass through the Flinders Ranges to the coast, now named Horrocks Pass.
The town was originally called Samuel's Creek after the discovery of Muddy Creek by Samuel Germein. In 1846, Port Pirie Creek was named by Governor Robe after the John Pirie, the first vessel to navigate the creek when transporting sheep from Bowman's Run near Crystal Brook. In 1848 Matthew Smith and Emanuel Solomon bought 85 acres (34 ha) and subdivided it as a township to be known as Port Pirie.
The government town was surveyed in December 1871 by Charles Hope Harris. The thoroughfares and streets were named after the family of George Goyder, Surveyor General of South Australia, with the streets running parallel and at right angles to the river. In 1873 the land of Solomon and Smith was re-surveyed and named Solomontown. On 28 September 1876, Port Pirie was declared a municipality, with a population of 947.
The smelter was built in 1889, it became the biggest lead smelter in the world by 1934, primarily due to the presence of the Broken Hill Associated Smelters (BHAS). Originally established in 1915, the smelter processed lead and zinc ore from Broken Hill.
Port Pirie was declared South Australia's first provincial city in 1953, and today it is South Australia's second largest port. It is characterised by a gracious main street and some interesting and unusual historic buildings.[2]
According to the 2006 Census, the population of the Port Pirie census area was 13,206 people. Approximately 51.8% of the population were female, 86.9% are Australian born, over 92.7% of residents are Australian citizens and 2.6% were Aboriginal people.
The most popular industries for employment were Basic Non-Ferrous Metal Manufacturing (9.7%), School Education (6%), Hospitality (only including hotels) (11%), Health (5.4%) and Animal Husbandry (4%), while the unemployment rate is approx. 11%. The median weekly household income is A$608 or more per week, compared with $924 in Adelaide. 27.1% of the population identify themselves as Catholic, while 23.7% identify with no religion at all.[3]
Port Pirie is at an elevation of 4 metres above sea level. It is located approximately 8 km inland, on the Pirie River, which is a tidal saltwater inlet from Spencer Gulf. It is located on the coastal plain between Spencer Gulf (to the west) and the Flinders Ranges to the east.
Port Pirie exists in a region with a semi-arid climate, outside Goyder's Line, surrounded by mallee scrub. Average temperatures vary from 16.4 °C to 31.8 °C. Its average annual rainfall is 345.2 millimetres.
According to the Köppen climate classification, Port Pirie has a cold semi-arid climate, noted as BSk.
| Climate data for Port Pirie | |||||||||||||
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| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 31.9 (89.4) |
31.8 (89.2) |
29.4 (84.9) |
24.8 (76.6) |
20.4 (68.7) |
17.1 (62.8) |
16.4 (61.5) |
18.1 (64.6) |
21.3 (70.3) |
24.5 (76.1) |
27.6 (81.7) |
30.0 (86.0) |
24.4 (75.9) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 17.6 (63.7) |
17.8 (64.0) |
16.0 (60.8) |
13.1 (55.6) |
10.7 (51.3) |
8.4 (47.1) |
7.7 (45.9) |
8.2 (46.8) |
9.8 (49.6) |
11.9 (53.4) |
14.3 (57.7) |
16.3 (61.3) |
12.7 (54.9) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 18.8 (0.74) |
17.8 (0.701) |
17.9 (0.705) |
27.7 (1.091) |
38.1 (1.5) |
40.6 (1.598) |
33.9 (1.335) |
34.9 (1.374) |
35.7 (1.406) |
33.1 (1.303) |
23.9 (0.941) |
22.1 (0.87) |
344.4 (13.559) |
| Source: Bureau of Meteorology[4] | |||||||||||||
Port Pirie is located 5 km (3 mi) off National Highway One. It is serviced by an airport five minutes out of the city.
The first railways in Port Pirie were of the narrow [3' 6"] gauge.[5]
From 1938 to 1970, Port Pirie had the distinction of being a break-of-gauge railway junction between railways of three different gauges:
| Preceding station | Great Southern Railway | Following station | ||
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towards East Perth
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Indian Pacific |
towards Sydney
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towards Darwin
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The Ghan |
Terminus
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The original railway station was in Ellen Street, with firstly narrow gauge, then additionally broad gauge, tracks running down the centre of the street from 1875 to 1967.[6]
The main industries are the smelting of metals, and the operation of silos to hold grain. The silos have been closed.
Port Pirie's main employer is Nyrstar Limited, which operates the largest lead smelter/refinery in the southern hemisphere.[1] A lead smelter has been operating in Port Pirie since the 1880s, and high blood lead levels in the local population are an ongoing concern. The Stack, which can be seen miles away, is 205 metres tall, and is the tallest structure in the state. In 2006 Zinifex formed a joint venture with Umicore to create Nyrstar, which owns the smelter, with the intention that it would eventually be an entity separate from the parent companies.[7][8]
Flinders Industrial, a new industrial estate, is currently in its second stage and is planned to be home to the new council depot. There were plans to build a sulphuric acid plant for the benefit of the Nyrstar Smelter, but this project has been shelved and deemed not feasible.
A new $3.3 million cultural precinct is being built in the city by the Port Pirie Regional Council in partnership with the Federal Government. A committee is also looking at building a multi-purpose stadium. The swimming pool is now state of the art after receiving a $1 million refit. Plans are underway to establish a large shopping complex in the city with an additional supermarket and department store. The city's population is continually growing and property prices continue to rise. The Port Pirie Regional Council has a number of large projects that will be launched or completed next financial year.
Magdiens Australia have selected a site to build a $15 million abattoir in Port Pirie to slaughter camels from the outback. The facility may employ 40 staff.[9] The town had an abattoir operated by Conroys, which was eventually shutdown several years ago. Not only will camels be slaughtered, but goats and buffalo as well. The final product would be exported to areas of the world such as the Middle East.
The PPRC, with the State Government, are creating a waterfront which will revitalise the area from the Main Road boat ramp up to the area off Ellen street. Plans are to build parks, bikeways, bistros, a large playground (largely funded by Zinifex) and retail areas. The development has already started and is estimated to cost nearly $3m, but the development has been delayed.
Lead smelters contribute to several environmental problems, especially raised blood lead levels in some of the town population. The problem is particularly significant in many children who have grown up in the area. There is a government project to address this.[10] Nyrstar plans to progressively reduce lead in blood levels such that ultimately 95% of all children meet the national goal of 10 micrograms per decilitre. This has been known as the tenby10 project. Community lead in blood levels in children are now at less than half the level that they were in the mid 1980s.[11]
The Port Pirie smelter has a project underway to reduce lead levels in children to under 10 micrograms per decilitre by the end of 2010.[12]
"The goal we are committed to achieving is for at least 95% of our children aged 0 to 4 to have a blood lead level below ten micrograms per decilitre of blood (the first ten in tenby10) by the end of 2010 (the second ten in tenby10)."[12]
Higher concentrations of lead have been found in the organs of bottlenose dolphins stranded near the lead smelter, compared to dolphins stranded elsewhere in South Australia.[13] The health impacts of these metals on dolphins has been examined and some associations between high metal concentrations and kidney toxicity were noted.[14]
Port Pirie is the main centre for the Mid North area. Many towns in the area rely on Port Pirie for shopping and employment. It also has many educational institutions such as John Pirie Secondary School[15] (years 8-12), St Mark's College[16] (reception - year 12), Mid North Christian College[17] (reception - year 12), many preschools and primary schools, and a TAFE Campus (Adult Education).
Port Pirie is home to the National Trust Historic and Folk Museum and Memorial Park. Every September and October it hosts a country music festival. It has significant Italian & Greek communities.
The Keith Michell Theatre, within the Northern Festival Centre, is named after the actor Keith Michell who grew up in Warnertown, 5 km (3 mi) from Port Pirie.
Port Pirie is serviced by two local newspapers, The Recorder (Tuesdays and Thursdays) and Flinders News (Free) (Wednesdays). The Recorder has recently changed to a morning paper, after being delivered at around 3pm in the afternoon. Now readers can grab a copy of the paper off their front lawn early in the morning. It covers a small coverage area outside of the city however the Flinders News covers the mid north, Clare Valley and part of the Yorke Peninsula.
Just recently the Flinders News won an award at the nationwide Fairfax Regional Media Awards for best co-op as well as placing runner-up in best feature and sales team of the year.The Advertiser also covers some Port Pirie news, but to a very small extent. Television coverage is broad. ABC and SBS are available in the city with Southern Cross (7, 9 and 10) as well as Austar. Several radio stations cover Port Pirie including ABC 639AM, ABC 891AM, 1044 5CS, 1242 5AU, triple j, Magic FM and Trax FM (a community station).
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The results shown are from "Port Pirie West", the largest polling booth in Port Pirie, which is located at the SA TAFE Campus.
Port Pirie is part of the federal division of Grey, and has been represented by Liberal MP Rowan Ramsey since 2007. Grey is held with a margin of 4.43% but is considered a safe Liberal seat.
The city is part of the state electoral district of Frome, which had been held since 1993 by former Liberal Premier, Rob Kerin, with a margin of 3.4%. It also has been considered a safe Liberal seat.
Although the region is generally Liberal-leaning because of its agricultural base, Port Pirie is an industrial centre that is favourable to the ALP.
In late 2008 Rob Kerin announced his retirement, which led to a by-election being held in January 2009. Port Pirie mayor Geoff Brock announced his candidacy as an independent, and subsequently took the seat off the Liberals at the 2009 Frome by-election. After the poll for the by-election had closed and first preferences had been counted, (but before other preferences had been distributed), the result was Lib: 39.2%; ALP: 26.1%; Brock 23.6%; Nat: 6.6%; Greens: 3.8%; Other: 0.7%.[21][22]
State Opposition Leader Martin Hamilton-Smith (Liberal Party) (prematurely) claimed victory.[23] Distribution of National, Greens and other preferences placed Brock ahead of the ALP candidate. Hence with the assistance of the ALP candidate's preferences, Geoff Brock won the by-election 51.7% to 48.3% for the Liberal candidate.[21][22]
Port Pirie is in the Port Pirie Regional Council (PPRC) local government area (along with some of the sparsely inhabited areas around it).
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