Bunbury is a coastal city in the Australian state of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, approximately south of the state capital,

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

. It is the state's third most populous city after Perth and

Mandurah Mandurah () is a coastal city in the Australian state of Western Australia, situated approximately south of the state capital, Perth. It is the state's second most populous city, with a population of 107,641 as of the 2021 census. Mandurah's ...

, with a population of approximately 75,000. Located at the south of the Leschenault Estuary, Bunbury was established in 1836 on the orders of Governor James Stirling, and named in honour of its founder, Lieutenant (at the time) Henry Bunbury. A port was constructed on the existing

natural harbour A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...

soon after, and eventually became the main port for the wider South West region. Further economic growth was fuelled by completion of the South Western Railway in 1893, which linked Bunbury with Perth. Greater Bunbury includes four

local government areas A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a state, province, division, or territory. The phrase i ...

(the

City of Bunbury The City of Bunbury is a local government area in the South West region of Western Australia, covering an area of along the coast about south of Perth, the capital of Western Australia. The City of Bunbury is one of four local governments comp ...

and the shires of Capel,

Dardanup Dardanup is a small town in the South West (Western Australia), South West region of Western Australia. The town is in the fertile Ferguson valley and is near the Ferguson River (Western Australia), Ferguson River. The first European settlemen ...

, and

Harvey Harvey, Harveys or Harvey's may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Harvey'' (play), a 1944 play by Mary Chase about a man befriended by an invisible anthropomorphic rabbit * Harvey Awards ("Harveys"), one of the most important awards ...

), and extends between Yarloop in the north, Boyanup to the south and Capel to the southwest.

History

Pre-European history

The original inhabitants of Greater Bunbury are the

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the so ...

people. The people hunted and fished throughout the sub-region prior to the first European settlement in the 1830s. The area was originally known as "Goomburrup" before the arrival of Lt. Bunbury.

Early colonial period

The first registered sighting of Greater Bunbury was by French explorer Captain Louis de Freycinet from his ship the ''Casuarina'' in 1803. He named the area Port Leschenault after the expedition's botanist, Leschenault de La Tour. The bay on Greater Bunbury's western shores was named ''Geographe'' after another ship in the fleet. In 1829, Dr

Alexander Collie Dr Alexander Collie (2 June 1793 – 8 November 1835) was a Scottish surgeon and botanist who journeyed to Western Australia in 1829, where he was an explorer and Colonial Surgeon. Early life Collie was born in Insch in Aberdeenshire, Scotland on ...

and Lieutenant Preston explored the area of Bunbury on land. In 1830 Lieutenant Governor Sir James Stirling visited the area and a military post was subsequently established; it only lasted six months. The area was renamed Bunbury by the Governor in recognition of Lieutenant

Henry William St Pierre Bunbury Colonel Henry William St Pierre Bunbury CB (2 September 1812 – 18 September 1875) was a British Army officer who served for periods in Australia, South Africa, and India. Early life Bunbury was the son of Lt.-Gen. Sir Henry Bunbury, 7th Baro ...

, who developed the very difficult inland route from Pinjarra to Bunbury. Bunbury's first settlers were John and Helen Scott, theirs sons Robert, William and John Jr, and step-son Daniel McGregor, who arrived in January 1838. Bunbury township was mentioned in the Government Gazette in 1839, but lots in the township were not surveyed until 1841. In March 1841 lots were declared open for selection. Intermittent bay whaling activity was conducted on the coast from the 1830s through to the 1850s. By 1842 Bunbury was home to 16 buildings including an

inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...

. Thereafter, a growing

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

serviced the settlers and the subsequent local industries that developed. One of the major industries to open up to cement the importance of Bunbury as a port was the

timber industry Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...

. Timber logs would be floated down the

Collie River The Collie River is a river in the South West region of Western Australia. The Collie River was named by Lieutenant Governor Stirling after Alexander Collie who, along with Lieutenant William Preston, in November 1829 was the first European ...

to be loaded aboard ships headed to the Northern Hemisphere or to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

where the hardwood timbers were used for

railway sleeper A railroad tie, crosstie (American English), railway tie (Canadian English) or railway sleeper ( Australian and British English) is a rectangular support for the rails in railroad tracks. Generally laid perpendicular to the rails, ties trans ...

s. In 1884 the Government decided to construct a railway from Bunbury to Boyanup, long. When the line was completed in 1887, the contractor who had built it obtained a contract to control and work it, which he did with horses. The line was eventually taken over by the Government in 1891 and operated with locomotives. The inconvenience of a railway isolated from the capital gave rise to agitation and in 1893 the South Western Railway was constructed between

East Perth East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

and Picton, connecting Greater Bunbury and Perth. The Boyanup line was extended to Donnybrook in the same year. The railways connected the port of Bunbury to the

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

and

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2 ...

deposits and agricultural areas to the north and east of Greater Bunbury. The population of the town was 2,970 (1,700 males and 1,270 females) in 1898. In 1903 a breakwater to further protect the bay and port area was completed.

Federation to present day

The

Old Bunbury railway station The Old Bunbury railway station was the main railway station for Bunbury from 1894 until 1996. It was the terminus for the ''Australind'' passenger railway service from Perth. It was replaced in May 1985 by the current Bunbury Terminal in Eas ...

served as the terminal for the

Australind Australind is a town in Western Australia, located 12 km north-east of Bunbury's central business district. Its local government area is the Shire of Harvey. At the 2016 census, Australind had a population of 14,539. History Prior to Eur ...

passenger train between

, transporting its first passengers on 24 November 1947. The last train to use the station departed on 28 May 1985 with a new station opening at East Bunbury, to the south-east the following day. The railway land was then sold and Blair Street realigned.

Geography

Bunbury is situated south of Perth, at the original mouth of the

Preston River The Preston River is a river in the South West region of Western Australia. The river has a total length of and rises near Goonac siding then flows in a north-westerly direction until discharging into the Leschenault Estuary. The headwaters ...

and near the mouth of the

at the southern end of the

Leschenault Inlet Leschenault Estuary is an estuarine lagoon that lies to the north of Bunbury, Western Australia. It had in the past met the Indian Ocean at the Leschenault Inlet, but that has been altered by harbour works for Bunbury, and the creation of The Cu ...

, which opens to Koombana Bay and the larger

Geographe Bay Geographe Bay is in the south-west of Western Australia around 220 km southwest of Perth. The bay was named in May 1801 by French explorer Nicolas Baudin, after his ship, ''Géographe''. The bay is a wide curve of coastline extending from ...

which extends southwards to

Cape Naturaliste Cape Naturaliste is a headland in the south western region of Western Australia at the western edge of the Geographe Bay. It is the northernmost point of the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge which was named after the cape. Also the Leeuwin-Naturaliste ...

Climate

Bunbury has a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

(

Köppen classification Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author an ...

''Csa'') with warm to hot, dry summers and cool wet winters. Precipitation peaks from the months of May to September.

Demographics

In 2007 Bunbury was recognised as Australia's fastest growing city for the 2005/06 period by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. At June 2018 the estimated urban population of Bunbury was 74,363. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. At the 2016 Census the median age was 38. It is estimated that by 2031 the population of the Greater Bunbury region will exceed 100,000 people. In urban Bunbury, 72.1% of people were born in Australia. The most common other countries of birth were

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

6.0%,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

3.4%,

1.9%, the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

1.1% and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

0.7%. 85.0% of people only spoke

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

at home. Other languages spoken at home included

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

1.0%,

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

0.8%, Tagalog 0.5%,

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

0.2%, and

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

0.4%. In the 2016 Census the most common responses for religion in Bunbury were No religion 34.6%,

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

20.5%, Anglican 17.8%, Christian, nfd (not further described) 3.4%. The most common occupations in Bunbury included Technicians and Trades Workers 19.0%, Professionals 15.8%, Labourers 12.7%, and Clerical and Administrative Workers 11.8%. In 2016 Bunbury had an unemployment rate of 8.2%.

Governance

ISS015-E-31842 - View of Western Australia

The Greater Bunbury sub-region comprises the four local government areas of the

Shire of Capel The Shire of Capel is a local government area in the South West region of Western Australia, taking in the land between the cities of Bunbury and Busselton about south of the state capital, Perth. The Shire covers an area of , and its seat ...

Shire of Dardanup The Shire of Dardanup is a local government area in the South West region of Western Australia, immediately to the east and southeast of the City of Bunbury and about south of the state capital, Perth. The Shire covers an area of , and its se ...

and

Shire of Harvey The Shire of Harvey is a local government area of Western Australia. Harvey is located in the state's South West region, approximately 140 km south of Perth, and includes some of Bunbury's northern suburbs. The shire covers an area of 1, ...

. The ''Greater Bunbury Region Scheme'', in operation since November 2007, provides the legal basis for planning in the Greater Bunbury sub-region. The Greater Bunbury sub-region is administered by State and local governments. There is no sub-region government structure in place for Greater Bunbury. In December 2013 the

Western Australian Planning Commission The Western Australian Planning Commission (WAPC) is an independent statutory authority of the Government of Western Australia that exists to coordinate strategic and statutory planning for future urban, rural and regional land use. The authori ...

published the ''Greater Bunbury Strategy'' to guide urban, industrial and regional land use planning; and associated infrastructure delivery in the Greater Bunbury sub-region in the short, medium and long terms. The Strategy provides for the growth of Greater Bunbury through infill development of existing urban areas and the development of

greenfield land Greenfield land is a British English term referring to undeveloped land in an urban or rural area either used for agriculture or landscape design, or left to evolve naturally. These areas of land are usually agricultural or amenity properties ...

in Waterloo east of Eaton, to provide for a population of 150,000 people beyond 2050.

Economy

The economy of Bunbury is diverse, reflecting the range of heavy and general industries in the locality,

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

, agricultural landscapes,

services Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a p ...

for the growing population, key

transport Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelin ...

links and the influence of Perth. The mining and mineral processing sector remains the main economic driver for Bunbury ($2 billion annual turnover). The agriculture sector however, remains vitally important as the value of production is approximately $146 million per annum (2005/06) which equates to approximately 30 per cent of the South West region's agricultural production. Other industries that are vital to the economic well-being of Greater Bunbury include retail and service industries, building industry, timber production and

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...

. Bunbury is home to SIMCOA, which is Australia's only silicon manufacturing company. The Bunbury Port will continue to be the centre of economic activity for the Greater Bunbury sub-region with the flow of goods through it to and from all parts of the world. The proposed expansion of the port, as identified in the ''Bunbury Port Inner Harbour Structure Plan'', will promote further economic growth for the sub-region, and may in time be an economic stimulus for the corporate support and ancillary services associated with port-based industries locating to Bunbury city centre, further strengthening its role as a regional city.

Education

Education is compulsory in Western Australia between the ages of six and seventeen, corresponding to primary and secondary school. Schools that serve high school students in the area include

Bunbury Senior High School Bunbury Senior High School is a comprehensive public co-educational high day school, located in Bunbury, a regional centre in the South West region, south of Perth, Western Australia. History The school was established in 1918 and in 2017 ha ...

Newton Moore Senior High School , motto_translation = , established = , type = Independent public co-educational high day school , educational_authority = WA Department of Education , principal = Susan Kerr , location = So ...

, Manea Senior College, College Row School (K–12 education support),

Australind Senior High School Australind Senior High School is a comprehensive public co-educational high day school, located in Australind, a regional centre in the South West region, south of Perth, Western Australia. Overview The campus is made up of modern buildings ...

Eaton Community College Eaton Community College is a comprehensive public co-educational high day school, located in Eaton, Western Australia, sited to the east of Bunbury and south of Perth. The school was established in 2003 and caters for students from Year 7 to ...

, Dalyellup College,

Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School (often denoted BCGS), is an independent school in Gelorup, Western Australia, a semi-rural suburb 10 kilometres south of Bunbury. Providing kindergarten, primary and secondary education, the school serves approx ...

(K–12), Bunbury Catholic College, Grace Christian School, and Our Lady of Mercy College.

Tertiary education

Tertiary education is available through a number of universities and

technical and further education Technical and further education or simply TAFE (), is the common name in English-speaking countries in Oceania for vocational education, as a subset of tertiary education. TAFE institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational cours ...

(TAFE) colleges. South Regional TAFE is a State Training Provider providing a range of vocational education with campuses in Bunbury, Albany, and other locations in the southern Western Australia region.

Edith Cowan University Edith Cowan University (ECU) is a public university in Western Australia. It is named in honour of the first woman to be elected to an Australian parliament, Edith Cowan, and is the only Australian university named after a woman. Gaining unive ...

also has a campus based in Bunbury.

Media

Radio

AM band * 6EL 621 kHz AM – Easy listening format. Different from its Easy Listening Network partners in the Eastern states. Has local advertising. Part of

Spirit Radio Network Spirit Radio Network was a commercial radio network covering regional Western Australia. It was part of the Redwave Media Group owned by Seven West Media and broadcast to most towns and regional centers in Western Australia including Bunbury, ...

. * ABC South West WA (6BS): 684 kHz AM – News, talk and sport. Broadcasts breakfast and morning programs from Bunbury. *

Triple M Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 40 radio stations broadcasting a mainstream rock music format and 5 digital radio stations. The network dates back to ...

963 kHz AM – Adult Contemporary for the 40+, with local news and sport. Mostly 60s, 70s, 80s, & 90s (part of the Southern Cross Austereo LocalWorks network) * Vision Radio Network 1017 AM – Christian praise and worship music and talk *

6MM This is a list of firearm cartridges which have bullets of a caliber between and . *''Length'' refers to the cartridge case length *''OAL'' refers to the overall length of the cartridge Measurements are in millimeters then inches, i.e. ''mm (in ...

1116 kHz AM – Easy listening format from Mandurah * ABC Radio National 1224 kHz AM – Speciality talk and music * ABC News Radio 1152 kHz AM – News and sport FM band *

(The Wave) 91.7 kHz FM – Easy listening format from Mandurah * ABC Classic FM 93.3 MHz FM – Classical music *

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...

94.1 MHz FM – Alternative music * Hit FM 95.7 MHz FM – Hit music (was Hot FM) * Bunbury Community Radio 103.7 MHz FM * Harvey Community Radio 96.5 MHz FM * Coast FM 97.3 MHz FM – Hit music from Mandurah

Television

Television services available include: *The

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

(ABC) – ABC TV, ABC TV Plus/Kids, ABC Me, ABC News (digital channels) *The

Special Broadcasting Service The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from the Australian Government. SBS operates six TV channels ( SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS World ...

(SBS) – SBS TV, SBS Viceland, SBS World Movies, SBS Food, NITV (digital channels) *

GWN7 GWN7 was an Australian television network serving all of Western Australia outside metropolitan Perth. It launched on 10 March 1967 as ''BTW-3'' in Bunbury. It was an affiliate of the Seven Network and served one of the largest geographic tel ...

(Golden West Network), an owned formerly affiliated station of the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia ...

WIN Television WIN Television is an Australian television network owned by WIN Corporation that is based in Wollongong, New South Wales. WIN commenced transmissions on 18 March 1962 as a single television station covering the Wollongong region. The WIN Netw ...

, an affiliate station of the Nine Network * West Digital Television, an affiliate station of the

Network 10 Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

(provided jointly by Prime Television and WIN Television) The programming schedule is mainly the same as the Seven, Nine and Ten stations in Perth with variations for news bulletins, sport telecasts such as the Australian Football League and

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

, children's and lifestyle programs and infomercials or paid programming. GWN7 had its origins in Bunbury as BTW-3 in the late 1960s and then purchased other stations in Kalgoorlie and

Geraldton Geraldton ( Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West region of the Australian state of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. At June 2018, Geraldton had an urban population of 37,648. ...

, as well as launching a satellite service in 1986 to form the current network. GWN7's studios and offices are based at Roberts Crescent in Bunbury, with its transmitter located at Mount Lennard approximately 25 km to the east. The station produces a nightly 30-minute news program for regional WA at 5:30pm on weeknights. WIN Television maintains a newsroom in the city; however, the station itself is based in Perth. The WIN newsroom provides regional coverage for sister station NEW-10's ''10 News First'' bulletins at 5pm each night, which are simulcast on WIN. On 28 July 2011, new digital television services from GWN and WIN commenced transmission. A new stand alone

affiliated channel branded as West Digital Television was the first of the new digital only channels to go on-air. The other new digital only channels that are also now available in Bunbury include 7two,

7mate 7mate is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Seven Network on 25 September 2010. The channel contains sport and regular programs aimed primarily to a male audience, with programming drawn from a c ...

ishop tv ishop TV is an Australian free-to-air television channel and a digital advertorial datacasting service that was launched on 30 April 2013. The channel is owned by Seven West Media (formerly Prime Media Group) and Brand Developers, broadcastin ...

, RACING.COM,

10 HD 10 HD is an Australian free-to-air television channel that was originally launched on 16 December 2007 on channel 1. The channel was available to high definition digital television viewers through Network 10 owned-and-operated stations. The ...

10 Bold 10 Bold is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel owned by Network 10. It originally launched on 26 March 2009 as One HD with a focus on broadcasting sports-based programming and events, but rebranded to One in April 2011 to ...

, 10 Peach, A placeholder on channel 54 currently showing WIN Television’s Australian landmark videos,

TVSN TVSN (an acronym for "Television Shopping Network") is an Australian and New Zealand broadcast, cable television and satellite television network specializing in home shopping. It is owned by parent company Direct Group Pty Ltd, a home marketi ...

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

9Gem 9Gem is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, launched by the Nine Network in September 2010. The channel provides general entertainment and movie programming, from which the original name "GEM" is derived. History Nine N ...

9Life 9Life is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel owned by Nine Entertainment. The channel airs mostly foreign lifestyle and reality programs, with the channel having a licensing agreement with Discovery Inc. (previously Scripp ...

and

9Go! 9Go! is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Nine Network on 9 August 2009, replacing Nine Guide. It is a youthful channel that offers a mix of comedy, reality, general entertainment, movies, ani ...

. Subscription Television service Foxtel is available via satellite.

Newspapers

''Bunbury Herald'', ''South Western Times'' and ''Bunbury Mail'' are local newspapers available in Bunbury and surrounding region. Newspapers from Perth including ''

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, '' The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuous ...

'' and ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

'' are also available, as well as national newspapers such as ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

'' and ''

The Australian Financial Review ''The Australian Financial Review'' (abbreviated to the ''AFR'') is an Australian business-focused, compact daily newspaper covering the current business and economic affairs of Australia and the world. The newspaper is based in Sydney, New Sou ...

''.

Culture

Arts and entertainment

A number of cultural organisations are located in Bunbury, including: *Bunbury Regional Art Galleries *Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre, with theatre, film and live performance *Stirling Street Arts Centre The Bunbury Historical Society is located in the historic King Cottage, which was built around 1880. In 1966 the cottage was purchased by the

and subsequently leased to the Society. The rooms of the cottage are furnished and artifacts displayed to reflect the way of life for a family in Bunbury in the period from the 1880s to the 1920s. The WA Performing Arts

Eisteddfod In Welsh culture, an ''eisteddfod'' is an institution and festival with several ranked competitions, including in poetry and music. The term ''eisteddfod'', which is formed from the Welsh morphemes: , meaning 'sit', and , meaning 'be', means, ac ...

is held annually at the Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre.

Tourism and recreation

There are many tourism and recreational opportunities in Bunbury. Some of the most popular attractions include * Dolphin Discovery Centre * Bunbury Back Beach * Koombana Bay * Bunbury Wildlife Park * Bunbury Farmers Market *

Bunbury is also very close to the Ferguson Valley.

Sport

A number of football clubs are based in Bunbury and play in the

South West Football League The South West Football League is an Australian rules football league based in the South West (Western Australia), south-west of Western Australia. The league is affiliated to the West Australian Country Football League. History The idea of cr ...

. A notable stadium is

Hands Oval JE Hands Memorial Park, more commonly known as Hands Oval, is a stadium in South Bunbury, Western Australia. The ground is mainly used for football matches, but has also hosted soccer and rugby union games and for a short time cricket. Uses A ...

in South Bunbury. Hay Park Sports Precinct is home to many junior and senior sports codes. Located in the precinct is South West Sports Centre, home to Bunbury Basketball Association.

Infrastructure

Health

Transport

Bunbury Airport Bunbury Airport is an airport servicing the Western Australian city of Bunbury. Bunbury Airport is located south-east of the city centre and is the only airport serving the city. The airport is used largely as a facility for General Aviation, ...

services Greater Bunbury and is located southeast of the city centre.

TransWA Transwa is Western Australia's regional public transport provider, linking 240 destinations, from Kalbarri in the north to Augusta in the south west to Esperance in the south east. The Transwa system provides transport to the major regional ...

provides rail and coach services from Bunbury Terminal: Australind train, GS3, SW1 and SW2 to Bunbury and services south from Bunbury and

South West Coach Lines South West Coach Lines is a bus and coach operator in South West Western Australia. It is a subsidiary of the Australian Transit Group. History South West Coach Lines was founded in 1977 by David and Lenita Adams. In January 1986, it commenc ...

provides coach services to and from Bunbury. Bus services in Greater Bunbury are run by

TransBunbury TransBunbury is the public bus transportation system in Bunbury, Western Australia, consisting of 10 public routes as well as 30 school routes.

with 10 routes. National Route 1 provides road access to the wider region, and includes: *

Forrest Highway Forrest Highway is a highway in Western Australia's Peel and South West regions, extending Perth's Kwinana Freeway from east of Mandurah down to Bunbury. Old Coast Road was the original Mandurah–Bunbury route, dating back to the 1840s. ...

, a dual carriageway road linking north to Perth *

South Western Highway South Western Highway is a highway in the South West region of Western Australia connecting Perth's southeast with Walpole. It is a part of the Highway 1 network for most of its length. It is about long. Route description Perth to Bunbury ...

linking to the southeast of Bunbury

Bussell Highway Bussell Highway is a generally north–south highway in the South West region of Western Australia. The highway links the city of Bunbury with the town of Augusta and is approximately in length. The highway is signed ''State Route 10'', exc ...

links to Busselton to the west. The Eelup Rotary, where Forrest Highway terminates in East Bunbury, was named by the

Royal Automobile Club of Western Australia The Royal Automobile Club of Western Australia (RAC WA) is a motoring club and mutual organisation, offering motoring services and advice, insurance, travel services, finance, driver training and exclusive benefits for their members. As an indep ...

as the worst regional intersection in Western Australia and has since undergone a $16m upgrade, which included eight sets of

traffic light Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – known also as robots in South Africa are signalling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order to control flows of traffic. Traffic light ...

s (which were switched on in the early hours of Monday 21 May 2012) and extra lanes for each entrance. The government was criticised for breaking a 2008 election promise to build an overpass and underpass. Bunbury is planned to be bypassed when the Bunbury Outer Ring Road is opened in 2024, linked Forrest Highway in Australind to Bussell Highway in Dalyellup.

Notable people

Notable people who come from or have lived in Bunbury include: John Forrest 1898

Leon Baker Leon Baker (born 17 August 1956) is a former Australian rules footballer who represented in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) during the 1980s. Baker started playing senior football quite ...

, AFL footballer for Essendon Football Club, played in 1984 and 1985 Premierships * Paul Barnard, AFL footballer for Essendon Football Club, played in 2000 Premiership *

Natalie Barr Natalie Anne Barr (born 19 March 1968) is an Australian journalist, news presenter and television presenter. Barr is currently co-host of the Seven Network's breakfast television program ''Sunrise'' alongside David Koch. She was previously new ...

, current ''

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects. Terminology A ...

'' news presenter * Jamie Bennell,

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Football L ...

AFL player * Noel Brunning, GWN news anchor *

Dianne Buswell Dianne Claire Buswell (born 6 May 1989) is an Australian professional dancer. She is best known for her appearances on the British television show '' Strictly Come Dancing''. After competing on '' Dancing with the Stars'' in Australia, she joine ...

, professional dancer, ''Strictly Come Dancing'' * Dorothy Carroll, geologist *

Brett Peter Cowan Brett Peter Cowan (born 18 September 1969) is an Australian murderer and child rapist. He was convicted of the murder of Daniel Morcombe, a 13-year old boy who disappeared from the Sunshine Coast on 7 December 2003. His abduction led to an e ...

, convicted murderer and rapist * Tracey Cross, Paralympic swimmer * Kevin Cullen, doctor and winemaker *

Mary Ellen Cuper Mary Ellen Cuper ( 1847 – January 12, 1877) was an Australian telegraphist and postmistress. She was born as Ellen Pangieran in Western Australia and was sent to New Norcia, Western Australia, New Norcia for education after her father deserte ...

, Aboriginal postmistress and telegraphist * Courtney Eaton, actress, '' Mad Max: Fury Road'' *

Troy Elder Troy Elder OAM (born 15 October 1977 in Bunbury, Western Australia) is a field hockey striker and midfielder from Australia, who was a member of the Men's National Team that won the golden medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in ...

, field hockey player *

Alexander Forrest Alexander Forrest CMG (22 September 1849 – 20 June 1901) was an explorer and surveyor of Western Australia, and later also a member of parliament. As a government surveyor, Forrest explored many areas of remote Western Australia, particu ...

, explorer, politician and investor * John Forrest, First Premier of Western Australia and cabinet minister in Australia's first parliament * Cameron Gliddon,

Cairns Taipans The Cairns Taipans are an Australian professional basketball team based in Cairns, Queensland. The Taipans compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at the Cairns Convention Centre, known colloquially as "The ...

NBL player * Murray Goodwin, Zimbabwe, Western Australia and Sussex cricketer * Alexandra Hagan, Olympic rower in Australian Women's Eight at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic games *

Ben Howlett Ben Howlett (born 21 October 1988) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Howlett was selected by Essendon with pick 30 in the 2010 rookie draft ...

, Essendon Football Club AFL player * Adam Hunter,

ex-AFL player * Neville Jetta, Melbourne Football Club AFL player *

Bob Maumill Walter Robert Maumill (born 10 March 1938) is a Western Australian radio presenter and writer. Early life Maumill was born in Bunbury, Western Australia. His father was Walter William Maumill (Wharf labourer) and his mother Elsie (barmaid). He m ...

, 882 6PR radio presenter *

Newton Moore Major General Sir Newton James Moore, (17 May 1870 – 28 October 1936) was an Australian politician, businessman and army officer. He served as the eighth Premier of Western Australia from 1906 to 1910 and, following service in the First World ...

, Mayor of Bunbury, Minister for Lands and Agriculture, 8th Premier of Western Australia, Major General (WWI), member of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom *

John Boyle O'Reilly John Boyle O'Reilly (28 June 1844 – 10 August 1890) was an Irish poet, journalist, author and activist. As a youth in Ireland, he was a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, or Fenians, for which he was transported to Western Australi ...

, Irish-born poet, sent to Bunbury in February, 1868 as a convict, escaped on an American whaling ship in 1869. *

Aristos Papandroulakis Aaron Aristos Papandroulakis (born 1965 in Bunbury, Western Australia) is an Australian chef best known for hosting the Seven Network cooking show ''Surprise Chef''. He also hosted ''BYO Chef'', also for Seven. Papandroulakis has authored two c ...

, television, ''

Surprise Chef ''Surprise Chef'' is an Australian cooking television show that was broadcast on the Seven Network from 2001 to 2003. The show revolved around chef Aristos Papandroulakis, who would surprise an unwitting Coles supermarket shopper with an offer ...

'' *

Kyle Reimers Kyle Reimers (born 10 January 1989) is a former Australian rules footballer, who played with Essendon in the AFL. Debuting in 2007, Reimers was pick number 47 in the 2006 AFL Draft, having played with Peel Thunder in the WAFL. He played for ...

, Essendon Football Club ex-AFL player *

Josh Risdon Joshua Robert Risdon (born 27 July 1992) is an Australian professional football (soccer) player who currently plays as a right back for Western United. Risdon has represented Australia on several occasions since debuting in 2015. Club career ...

, Soccer player for

Western Sydney Wanderers FC Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, or simply as Wanderers) is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in ...

in the A-League and Australia national soccer team * Edwin Rose, pastoralist president, Royal Agricultural Society of WA * Barry Shepherd, cricketer *

Richard Adolphus Sholl Captain Richard Adolphus Sholl, J.P., (18 December 1847 – 9 May 1919) was a Postmaster-General in Western Australia. Sholl was the son of Robert John Sholl and Mary Ann (''née'' Berckelman) his wife, and was born in Bunbury, Western Australia. ...

, Member of the WA Legislative Council 1886–90, member of Legislative Assembly 1890–97 *

Robert Frederick Sholl Robert Frederick Sholl (27 August 1848 – 4 December 1909) was an entrepreneur and a member of the Parliament of Western Australia. His business interests included pearling vessels, real estate and mining. Sholl was also a representative at th ...

, Western Australian representative at the Australasian Federal Convention 1897 *

Nicole Trunfio Nicole Trunfio (born 16 March 1986) is an Australian model. Early life Trunfio was born on 16 March 1986 in Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia to father, Giuseppe and mother, Kim. She is the youngest of three siblings. Her father was of Italian ...

, model *

Bruce Wallrodt Bruce Wallrodt, (26 September 1951 – 2 July 2019) was an Australian Paralympic athlete. He competed at five Paralympic Games and won nine medals, four of them gold. Personal Wallrodt was born on 26 September 1951 in the Western Australian c ...

, Paralympic athlete *

Shani Waugh Shani Waugh (born 2 September 1969) is an Australian professional golfer. She played on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and Ladies European Tour, as well as on the ALPG Tour in her home country. Waugh turned professional in 1991 and joined the Ladies E ...

, professional golfer * Mark Worthington,

NBL player, 2008 and 2012 Olympian * Jennifer Fowler, composer

References

External links

City of Bunbury website

Bunbury Historical Society's King Cottage Museum

Local History of Bunbury

{{Authority control Coastal cities in Australia Port cities in Western Australia 1836 establishments in Australia Populated places established in 1836 Whaling stations in Australia