Launceston

History

The first inhabitants of the area of Launceston were largely nomadic Aboriginal Tasmanians believed to have been part of the Northern Midlands Nations. Three Nations made up the area around so called Launceston, the Stoney Creek Nation, Tyerenotepanner; Panninher and Lettermairrener.

The first White explorers arrived in 1798, when George Bass and Matthew Flinders were sent to explore the possibility that there was a strait between Australia and Van Diemen's Land, now Tasmania. They originally landed in Port Dalrymple at the mouth of the Tamar River, 40 kilometres (25 mi) to the north-west of Launceston.

The first significant colonial settlement in the region dates from 1804, when the commandant of the colonial garrison. Lt. Col. William Paterson, and his men set up a camp on the current site of George Town. A few weeks later, the settlement was moved across the river to York Town. In 1805, they moved to where Launceston stands.

Initially, the settlement was called Patersonia. Paterson later changed the name to Launceston in honour of the New South Wales Governor Captain Philip Gidley King, who was born in Launceston, Cornwall. The name still survives in the tiny hamlet of Patersonia 18 kilometres (11 mi) north-east of Launceston. Paterson himself also served as Lieutenant-Governor of northern Van Diemen's Land from 1804 to 1808.

The geographical area in which Launceston is now located was previously occupied by the Aboriginal Tasmanian Letteremairrener people. The Letteremairrener country encompasses most of the Tamar Valley region. In 1804, reports from early European voyagers describe a number of Letteremairrener camps, consisting of up to ten bark huts located on either side of the Tamar River. Extensive archeological evidence suggests that occupation and usage of the Tamar basin can be dated from at least 7,000 years ago, although it was likely used as long as 35,000 years ago.

The Letteremairrener, as seasonal hunter-gatherers, spent the winter months near George Town and the summer months residing on Ben Lomond, before returning to the banks of the Tamar River for the mutton-bird season. Campbell Macknight characterizes early colonial contact with the Letteremairrener people as a mixture of fear, curiosity and aggression.

Demographics

In the 2021 census the population of Launceston was 76,849. Launceston is the 21st most populous city in Australia.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 3.5% of the population.

79.2% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were United Kingdom 2.9%, Nepal 1.6%, India 1.5%, China 0.9% and New Zealand 0.8%.

85.1% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Nepali 2.3%, Mandarin 1.2%, Punjabi 0.5%, Urdu 0.4% and Vietnamese 0.3%.

The most common responses for religion were No Religion 47.9%, Anglican 13.8% and Catholic 12.1%.

City of Gastronomy

Launceston's designation as a UNESCO City of Gastronomy in 2021 signifies global acknowledgment of this gastronomic paradise.

Geography

Launceston is at 41°26′31″S 147°8′42″E in the Tamar Valley, Northern Tasmania. The valley was formed by volcanic and glacial forces over 10 million years ago.

The city is about 45 kilometres (28 mi) south of the Bass Strait, with its closest neighbour-city being Devonport, about 99 kilometres (62 mi) to the north west.

Launceston combines steep, originally heavily wooded ridges, and low-lying areas, originally wetlands – with parts of the suburbs of Inveresk and Invermay below high-tide level.

As a result, areas of Launceston are subject to landslip problems. Others areas are liable to poor drainage and periodic flooding. The topography of the area is not conducive to easy dispersion of airborne pollution, due to the phenomenon of thermal inversion.

Since the 1990s, Launceston's air quality has improved. A 2007 study indicated that 73% percent of air pollution in Launceston and surrounding areas during the winter period was caused by wood smoke, while about 8% was from motor vehicle pollution. During the early 1990s about 60% of households used wood heaters, but since the mid-2000s only 25–30% of households use wood heating. In the 2011 Tasmanian Air Monitoring report, particulate matter met the Air NEPM goals starting in 2006, and did not exceed the PM10 standard in the years 2009–2011.

Launceston is situated at the confluence of the South Esk River and the North Esk River, forming the Tamar River estuary. It is used for commercial and recreational shipping and boating. In earlier years, oceangoing shipping used the river to obtain access to the Port of Launceston wharves located in the city centre and Invermay.

The Port for Launceston is now located at the George Town suburb of Bell Bay, some 40 kilometres (25 mi) downstream on the east bank of the Tamar estuary, close to the river mouth.

The South Esk River is the longest river in Tasmania. It starts in the North East Mountains near Roses Tier and flows through the Fingal Valley where it passes through the towns of Fingal and Avoca before flowing into the Northern Midlands where it flows through the towns of Evandale, Perth, Longford and Hadspen before reaching Launceston via the Cataract Gorge.

Flooding and levee system

Since the 1960s, parts of Launceston have been protected by a series of flood levees that reach up to 4 metres (13 ft) in height as large portions of the suburbs Invermay and Newstead sit within a flood plain. The last major flood occurred in 1929 when Invermay was completely devastated. More than 4,000 people were left homeless after just one night of flooding. Since then, there have only been minor floods. Work was under way in 2011 on a $59 million flood levee upgrade that should protect the city from 1-in-200-year events, that was then expected to take five to six years to construct.

The council acquired land used by eighteen businesses on the south side of Lindsay Street in Invermay, with businesses having until July 2009 to leave. In 2016 the Tamar River flooded resulting in the widespread flooding of low lying suburbs. The St Leonards and West Tamar Highways were temporarily closed as water levels rose, causing significant disruption to the city and loss of livestock.

Climate

Launceston has an oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb), bordering on a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csb), with mild to warm, somewhat dry summers and cool damp winters with chilly nights. Launceston is located in the Tamar Valley and is surrounded by many large hills and mountains. With this type of topography, Launceston's weather patterns can change considerably in a short period. The warmest months are in January and February with an average air temperature range of 12.2 to 24.4 °C (54 to 76 °F). Throughout the year there is an average of 4.3 days a year over 30 °C (86 °F). The maximum recorded temperature was 39 °C (102 °F) on 30 January 2009, with Launceston Airport reaching 40.4 °C (105 °F) on that same day, during the 2009 Southeastern Australia heat wave. The city averages 67.3 clear days and 148.8 cloudy days per annum.

Winters are cool with minimum temperatures dropping below 2 °C (36 °F) an average of 61 days a year. The coldest month is July, with an average temperature range of 2.2 to 12.5 °C (36 to 55 °F).

The lowest recorded minimum at Launceston's weather station, Ti Tree Bend was −5.2 °C (22.6 °F) on 21 July 1991. Launceston very rarely receives snowfall, with snow falling in 1951 and 1986, and again on 3 August 2015, when most of the state received snowfall due to a cold front moving up from Antarctica. On the night of 4 August 2020, Launceston received an inch of snow on the ground, with varying levels around the state.

Winter, for Launceston, is also the season with the least amount of wind. Because of this and the topographical effect of the Tamar Valley, Launceston winters are renowned for foggy mornings, with Launceston Airport the most fog-bound commercial airport in Australia. The average annual rainfall, with moderate to low variability, is 665 mm (26 in), falling on an average of 88.4 days a year. The most rain Ti Tree Bend has received in a year was 829.6 millimetres (32.66 in) in 1992, though Launceston Airport received 953.1 millimetres (37.52 in) in 1956. As in most of Tasmania, 2006 was the driest year, when just 394.8 millimetres (15.54 in) fell.

2007 was the warmest year ever recorded in Launceston since temperatures were first recorded in 1884. Temperatures ranged from a minimum of 8.1 °C (46.6 °F) to a maximum of 19.2 °C (66.6 °F). In 2006 and 2007, Launceston had the hottest maxima throughout the state. In 2008, Launceston had the highest average maximum temperature out of all Tasmanian cities with 18.6 °C (65.5 °F).

Architecture

Many of the buildings in the city's central business district (CBD) were constructed in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and Launceston is a major location of Federation style housing. Launceston's has many well preserved Victorian and Georgian buildings, include the Launceston synagogue, a rare example of architecture in Egyptian Revival style.

Launceston's diverse collection of art-deco architecture, such as Holyman House and Lucks Corner in the CBD, the former Star Theatre in Invermay and the former Launceston General Hospital, give the city an unusual period ambience. 20th century examples of architecture that are part of the city include the Government offices of Henty House in Charles Street, the Police Station Building and the ANZ Building on the corner of Brisbane & George Street.

This is at least in part a matter of deliberate policy – concerns that high rise development might compromise the character of the city centre have led to strictly enforced building regulations that restrict the height of new structures in the city, so that most buildings in the CBD have fewer than five storeys.

Governance

Local government in Launceston began with the proclamation of Launceston Municipality in 1852. The municipality was proclaimed a Town 1858, then proclaimed a City in 1888. Launceston City absorbed St Leonard’s Municipality in 1985 and Lilydale Municipality in 1987. It absorbed part of Evandale Municipality and part of Westbury Municipality in 1993.

Most of the Launceston urban area is contained within the City of Launceston local government area, although some outer suburbs are part of adjacent council districts: for instance Riverside, Legana and parts of Trevallyn are part of the West Tamar Council; Prospect Vale and Blackstone Heights are included in the Meander Valley Council.

Launceston City Council meetings are held in the Launceston Town Hall. The Mayor of the City of Launceston uses the honorific the Right Worshipful. In 2002, Janie Dickenson became the youngest female elected mayor in Australia. The current mayor is Matthew Garwood, elected in 2023. He was elected via by-election following the previous mayor, Danny Gibson, stepping down from the role due to grooming allegations.[1] The mayor preceding Danny Gibson, Albert Van Zetten, was initially elected in 2007, before being re-elected in 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2018.

State Upper House seats that incorporate parts of Launceston are the Electoral Divisions of Paterson, Windermere and Rosevears. For federal elections, Launceston falls within the Division of Bass, with the sitting member being Jess Teesdale from the Australian Labor Party, who won the seat in the 2025 election. The state Lower House seat is also called the Division of Bass and is one of the five electorates in the Tasmanian House of Assembly. Both federal and state seats share common boundaries.

Flag

The Launceston flag design is based on the city's Coat of Arms granted by the College of Arms, London, on 11 June 1957. The Brisbane Street Mall, the War memorial at Royal Park, atop the Council Chambers and on top of the Albert Hall are places in the city where the flag is regularly flown. Flying the flag is restricted to Council Property.

The three intersecting lines in the flag represent the city's three rivers (North Esk, South Esk and Tamar) and the two rectangles in the lines represent tin ingots. The strip across the top with the jagged edge is green to represent the city's parks, gardens and surrounding countryside. Waratah flowers at the top symbolise all flowers and similar beauties of nature. The ingots are included because Launceston used to be a large tin-smelting centre. The little circle at the river junction is Launceston.

Economy

Along with being a major retail centre with an average of 75% of market share in surrounding local councils, Launceston is a major service centre for the north of Tasmania. The city is home to a campus of the University of Tasmania including the Australian Maritime College and also has a minor minerals and manufacturing base.

Launceston is a major hub for the regional agricultural and pastoral activities. Historically, this has been connected with the growing of apples – in recent years the stress has moved to viticulture. Superfine wool remains an important part of the rural economy of north-east Tasmania and wool sales in Launceston attract many international buyers. The various agricultural industries in the district are supported by the Tasmanian Institute of Agricultural Research which operates the Mount Pleasant Research Laboratories in the Launceston suburb of Prospect.

Tourism

Launceston serves as the commercial hub for the north of Tasmania, and like many parts of the state, is becoming a major tourist centre. Visitors to the city have grown over the past few years: during 2004 Launceston attracted 412,800 visitors, up 51% from 2001. The United Kingdom is the origin of 25% of all international visitors to the city and 17% originate from the United States. The Cataract Gorge is Launceston's largest tourist attraction and is in close proximity to the city centre. It is home to the longest single span chairlift in the world, stretching 308 metres (1,010 ft) across the gorge.

Launceston has many parks throughout the city including City Park, located next to the city centre. City Park is home to Albert Hall. The park also has a large enclosure for Japanese macaque monkeys, a gift from sister city Ikeda, Japan.

The Launceston General Post Office is a heritage-listed building that dates back to the 1880s, with a clock tower added in the early twentieth century. The GPO clock chime chimes every quarter-hour, twenty-four hours a day. Tasmania Zoo, which is known for its wildlife conservation work, including a breeding program for Tasmanian devils, is located near the city.

Culture

Arts and entertainment

Launceston's Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery was established in 1891.

Now the largest museum located outside a capital city in Australia, the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery is located at two sites across the city: the original purpose-built building at Royal Park and another at the Inveresk Cultural Precinct, on the grounds of the former railway station and rail yards in buildings largely converted from the former Railway Workshops. The precinct also includes the Launceston Tramway Museum, which houses the No. 29 tram, the 'Mary St' shelter shed and a host of other memorabilia. The state's largest preservation railway, the Don River Railway, also has a carriage rebuilding workshop on the site. Australia's oldest bookshop, A.W. Birchall & Sons (Birchalls) dating from November 1844, was closed in 2017

Located in the Southern Launceston suburb of Prospect, the Country Club Casino is a hotel, casino and golf course complex. It was the second casino to be built in Tasmania and one of the first in Australia.

Launceston Aquatic, a $26.3 million regional aquatic centre was completed in July 2009. The site, just outside the central business district spans about 6,450 square metres (69,400 sq ft).

From 1999 to 2003, Launceston was the site of three of the four Gone South music festivals. From 2006 to 2011, it hosted the MS Fest, a music festival held at the Inveresk Show grounds each summer to raise funds for multiple sclerosis research. This has since been replaced with the Breath of Life Festival from 2012 to 2014, a similar event held at the Inveresk show grounds to raise funds for lung cancer research.

Launceston is also the host of the Junction Arts Festival. The Junction Arts Festival was first held in 2010, and spans five days in the Launceston CBD each year. The Festival program changes each year, and includes various art forms, including music, dance, visual and interactive art, short films and live performances, from local, national and international artists.

Sport

Sport is a popular recreational and spectator activity in Launceston and like most of the state, cricket and Australian rules football are popular sports. Launceston is the birthplace of two prominent Australian cricketers, the former Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting and the retired cricketer and Australian selector David Boon. It is also the birthplace of Australian cricketer James Faulkner, who along with Ponting and Boon all have the distinction of having been Player of the Match in the Final of the Cricket World Cup. The first first-class cricket match played in Australia was at the Northern Tasmania Cricket Association Ground between the Melbourne Cricket Club and the Launceston Cricket Club in 1851.

Australian rules football is very popular in Launceston, and is often played at York Park (University of Tasmania Stadium). Holding 20,000 people—more than any other stadium in Tasmania—York Park was swampland before becoming Launceston's showgrounds in 1873. Hawthorn has played between two and five AFL matches each season since 2001, and the St Kilda Football Club played two games a year between 2003 and 2006.

In 2007, the Tasmanian Government signed a A$16.4 million, five-year sponsorship deal with the Hawthorn Football Club, under which the club will play four regular season games and one National Australia Bank Cup pre-season match at the venue each year. Throughout its history, York Park has hosted major pop concerts and other entertainments. Since 2001 it has been a venue for international sports events, and in 2005 was redeveloped at a cost of $23.6 million.

Association football (commonly known in Launceston as "soccer") is also played and watched in Launceston [York Park]—the only place in Tasmania to have hosted national league soccer matches. A National Soccer League game was held at Aurora Stadium in 2002 between Perth Glory and Melbourne Knights. A-League's Melbourne Victory have held a pre-season cup game at the venue each year since 2006. The record crowd is 8,061.

Launceston is not represented by an NRL Football Club, but is expected to be represented by an AFL Team by 2028, as Tasmania was awarded the 19th AFL Licence on 2 May 2023 when AFL Presidents Unanimously approved the Tasmanian bid

Rugby league football is played in the region at junior level and senior level, the Launceston Warriors play in the Tasmanian Rugby League and were minor premiers in the 2012–2013 season.

Media

Launceston's local newspaper The Examiner was founded by James Aikenhead in 1842, and has been continually published ever since. The newspaper is currently owned by Nine Entertainment Co (Nine having merged with Fairfax Media in 2018). Another local media site is The Tasmanian Times.

Along with the rest of the state, the city has four free-to-air television stations, including two government funded channels from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) and two commercial stations; Seven Tasmania (7HD) & WIN (9HD) These services are available in digital format as well as eleven digital-only stations, one carrying Network 10 programming Tasmanian Digital Television (10 HD), and nationwide digital-only stations ABC Family/ABC Kids, ABC Entertains and ABC News (on ABC), SBS Viceland, SBS Food and NITV (on SBS), 7two and 7mate (on Seven), 9Gem, 9Go! and 9Life (on WIN), and 10 Drama, 10 Comedy and Nickelodeon (on TDT).

Radio stations aired around Launceston are: LAFM and Chilli FM – part of the Grant Broadcasters radio network, TOTE Sport Radio – Racing Radio, Triple J – ABC, ABC Northern Tasmania – (ABC), ABC NewsRadio – (ABC), ABC Classic – (ABC), Radio National – (ABC), City Park Radio – Community Radio, SBS Radio – (SBS), Way FM – Christian Radio – LCFM Launceston colleges radio station and 7RPH which is a relay of 864 AM from Hobart.

Infrastructure

Health

Launceston General Hospital is Launceston's 300-bed public hospital, located just south of the city centre. Every year, LGH treats over 24,000 inpatients and over 225,000 outpatients. St Lukes Private Hospital and St Vincent's Hospital are the major private facilities. Launceston was also the location of the first use of anaesthesia in the Southern Hemisphere.

Launceston is the hub for Tasmania's medical retrieval service. The Royal Flying Doctor Service supplies an aircraft and pilots under contract to Tasmania's ambulance service. The aircraft, a Beechcraft Super King Air, is staffed by Ambulance Tasmania's Intensive Care Paramedics and doctors from the Launceston General Hospital.

Education

University of Tasmania has its second largest campus in Launceston, based in Newnham. It is currently relocating a significant portion of its campus to Inveresk.

TasTAFE has two major operations in Launceston based at Alanvale and the Central Business District.

Utilities

Launceston's electricity is primarily generated by renewable hydro electric power plants including the Trevallyn Power Station which is supplied with water from Trevallyn Dam. The major retailer is Aurora Energy.

Historically, Launceston was powered by gas from the Launceston Gas Company, later Gas Corporation of Tasmania. In 1988 it was sold to Boral. The first gas plant was built in 1860 as a horizontal retort Gas Works house made from brick and sandstone on the site's SW corner. This was followed by keepers cottages, labs, the Headquarters Building and the iconic 1930s vertical retort recognised by the wording "COOK WITH GAS" written in its brickwork.

The Duck Reach Power Station replaced gas for street lighting when it was completed in 1895, the first municipally owned power station in the Southern Hemisphere. Until the 1950s when Trevallyn Power Station was built, Duck Reach supplied Launceston with most of its power needs. It is now an interpretive historic site. The former Gas Works houses the Launceston Hogsbreath Cafe.

Launceston's water comes from the Launceston Water Catchment. The majority is sourced from St Patricks River, a tributary of the North Esk River which flows through Launceston. The main retailer is Ben Lomond Water. The first reticulated water supply constructed in 1857 still serves the CBD. There were fears that the Tamar Valley Pulp Mill might adversely affect Launceston's water supply.

Like many Australian cities, several major companies provide mobile telecommunications services and wireless internet services to Launceston. Launceston's communication infrastructure was upgraded in 1997 through the federal "Networking the Nation" program. Beginning in 2010, the National Broadband Network began installation of fire optic cables in Launceston. In 2016, Launceston became the first city in Tasmania to be fully connected to the NBN.

Transport

Road

The car is by far the most dominant form of transport in Launceston, with the city having 721 km of urban and rural roads, even though much of the CBD has narrow one-way streets. One way streets were introduced in Launceston's central business district in May 1974.

In July 1955, Launceston's tram and trolleybus networks were taken over by the Metropolitan Transport Trust. In addition, Kinetic Tasmania offers school services and travels to many destinations across Tasmania.

Because of its central location, Launceston is the hub of five of the state's major highways. The Midland Highway is the primary route to Hobart. The Bass Highway is the primary route to Devonport and Burnie. The Tasman Highway is an alternate scenic route to Hobart via Scottsdale, the East Coast, the West Tamar Highway and East Tamar Highway.

Tram and rail network

Launceston operated a suburban tramway system between 1911 and 1952. A decade before the tram system was abandoned, Launceston had begun converting to trolleybuses, especially for the hilly routes. The Launceston trolleybus system ran from 1951 until 1968.

A regional passenger rail system operated in Tasmania, of which Launceston was a major hub. After many years of gradual retrenchment it was closed in July 1978. The Launceston Railway Workshops was the primary servicing centre for the Tasmanian Government Railways diesel locomotive fleet.

Former passenger railway lines servicing Launceston:

Launceston & Western Railway (1871–1873)

Launceston–Deloraine (1875–1978)

Launceston–Hobart (via Evandale) (1876–1978)

Launceston–Devonport (1885–1978)

Launceston–Burnie (1901–1978)

The TasRail freight rail system links Launceston to Burnie, Hobart and Bell Bay.

Airport

The city is served by the small curfew-free Launceston Airport, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) south-east of the city. The airport serves over one million passengers annually. Jetstar, QantasLink, Sharp Airlines and Virgin Australia operate scheduled services at the airport. As at November 2020, there are direct flights to and from Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney.

Port

Launceston's port is located about 48 kilometers north on the Tamar River at Bell Bay. The Port of Bell Bay handles around 5,300,000 tons of domestic and international cargo each year, and has five piers for cruise and passenger ships. The port is adjacent to an industrial park that houses facilities for Temco, Sims Metal, BP and Arrium, among other companies. The Port of Bell Bay is part of a network of ports managed by TasPorts.

Sister cities

Launceston has three sister cities.

Notable people

Notable people from or who have lived in Launceston include:

Nathaniel Atkinson, footballer for Melbourne City F.C.

Marcos Ambrose, NASCAR driver

Harold Napier Baker, Rural Dean of St John's Church

Simon Baker, actor

George Bailey, cricketer and Australian cricket selector

Lance Barnard (1919–1997), former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia under Gough Whitlam

Alfred Beresford (1850–1935), Anglican Archdeacon of Launceston

David Boon, cricketer

Harry Cooper, TV veterinarian

James Faulkner, cricketer

Sir Wilmot Hudson Fysh, Qantas founder

Daniel Ganderton, jockey

Daniel Geale, boxer

Belle Gibson, scam artist

Simon Hanselmann, cartoonist

Hazel Holyman (1899–1992), the first air hostess in Australia

Simon Hussey, songwriter and record producer

Tasman Jones, swimmer and diver

David Lambourne, judge