Mount Gambier
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Mount Gambier is the second most populated city in
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
, with an estimated urban population of 33,233 . The city is located on the slopes of
Mount Gambier Mount Gambier is the second most populated city in South Australia, with an estimated urban population of 33,233 . The city is located on the slopes of Mount Gambier, a volcano in the south east of the state, about south-east of the capital Ad ...
, a volcano in the south east of the state, about south-east of the capital
Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
and just from the
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...
n border. The
traditional owners Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have rights ...
of the area are the Bungandidj (or Boandik) people. Mount Gambier is the most important settlement in the
Limestone Coast The Limestone Coast is a name used since the early twenty-first century for a South Australian government region located in the south east of South Australia which immediately adjoins the continental coastline and the Victorian border. The ...
region and the seat of government for both the
City of Mount Gambier The City of Mount Gambier is a local government area centred in Mount Gambier in the Limestone Coast region of South Australia. While it is the southernmost ''city'' council in the state, the District Council of Grant is the southernmost counci ...
and the
District Council of Grant The District Council of Grant is a local government area located in the Limestone Coast region of South Australia, and is the southernmost council in the state. The council was formed on 1 July 1996 after the amalgamation of the District Counci ...
. The city is well known for its geographical features, particularly its volcanic and limestone features, most notably
Blue Lake / Warwar Blue Lake / Warwar (The Blue Lake) is a large, monomictic, crater lake located in a dormant volcanic maar associated with the Mount Gambier maar complex. The lake is situated near in the Limestone Coast region of South Australia, and is one ...
, and its parks, gardens, caves and
sinkholes A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...
.


History

Before
British colonisation of South Australia British colonisation of South Australia describes the planning and establishment of the colony of South Australia by the British government, covering the period from 1829, when the idea was raised by the then-imprisoned Edward Gibbon Wakefield ...
, the
Bungandidj The Bungandidj people are an Aboriginal Australian people from the Mount Gambier region in south-eastern South Australia, and also in western Victoria. Their language is the Bungandidj language. Bungandidj was historically frequently rendered a ...
(or Boandik) people were the original Aboriginal inhabitants of the area. They referred to the peak of the volcanic mountain as 'ereng balam' or 'egree belum', meaning 'home of the eagle hawk', but the mountain itself was called Berrin. The sinkhole in the township was referred to as "thu-ghee".Christina Smith,
The Booandik Tribe of South Australian Aborigines: A Sketch of Their Habits, Customs, Legends, and Language
', Spiller, 1880
The peak of the dormant Mount Gambier crater was sighted in 1800 by Lieutenant James Grant from the survey brig,
HMS Lady Nelson Lady Nelson may refer to: * Frances Nelson (1758–1831), wife of British admiral Horatio Nelson * , Royal Navy survey vessel in Australian waters * , Canadian ocean liner (1928–1968) * was launched in Bermuda in 1801. She was lost on 15 Novemb ...
, and named after Lord
James Gambier Admiral of the Fleet James Gambier, 1st Baron Gambier, (13 October 1756 – 19 April 1833) was a Royal Navy officer. After seeing action at the capture of Charleston during the American Revolutionary War, he saw action again, as captain of the ...
, Admiral of the Fleet. It was the first place named by the British in what was later to become the colony of South Australia. The peak is marked by Centenary Tower, built in 1901 to commemorate the first sighting. In 1839,
Stephen Henty Stephen George Henty (3 November 1811 – 18 December 1872) was a farmer and politician in colonial Victoria, a member of the Victorian Legislative Council. Henty was born in West Tarring, Sussex, England, the son of Thomas Henty (1775–1839) an ...
, one of the Henty brothers who occupied large landholdings at
Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
and
Merino The Merino is a breed or group of breeds of domestic sheep, characterised by very fine soft wool. It was established in Spain near the end of the Middle Ages, and was for several centuries kept as a strict Spanish monopoly; exports of the bree ...
, led an overland expedition to explore the Mount Gambier region. He was the first white man to climb the peak and view the blue crater lake. The Henty brothers subsequently laid claim to Mount Gambier in 1842 and established a
sheep station A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...
there. Conflict with the local Aboriginal residents quickly ensued that same year with Henty's men shooting a number and burning their corpses. In March 1844, a band of Aboriginal people led by Koort Kirrup took a large number of Henty's sheep. Henty's men pursued and engaged them in a prolonged skirmish which resulted in the colonists having to retreat. Other British pastoralists and their shepherds in the region were being robbed, speared and murdered by the local Aboriginal population and they proposed to form hunting parties to shoot them indiscriminately. After the Aboriginal population destroyed between 200 and 300 sheep, the Henty brothers were forced to abandon the Mount Gambier property later in 1844 with significant loss of capital. Evelyn Sturt, the brother of the explorer
Charles Sturt Charles Napier Sturt (28 April 1795 – 16 June 1869) was a British officer and explorer of Australia, and part of the European exploration of Australia. He led several expeditions into the interior of the continent, starting from Sydney and la ...
soon took up the leasehold, establishing himself at nearby Compton and bringing 500 cattle and 3000 sheep to pasture at Mount Gambier. Sturt claimed he was able to control the Bungandidj people by "a good rifle aimed by a correct eye". In May 1845, seven armed colonists pursued Aboriginal groups after livestock were taken. In late 1845, the first police station at Mount Gambier was formed. In 1846, the South Australian Mounted Police were involved in an affray with the Aborigines, shooting one and wounding another two. In 1847, Aboriginal people speared cattle and threatened to spear Sturt. Subsequently, Corporal McCulloch and his troopers went on a mission to disperse them. In November, two police and three men tracked a group of Aboriginal people who had taken about 300 sheep to the coast. In their attempt to handcuff them, spears were thrown at them, and during the ensuring fight, four were shot dead. Industries soon began to appear. The Post Office opened on 22 September 1846, an Afro-American named John Byng built the Mount Gambier Hotel in 1847, and Dr Edward Wehl arrived in 1849 to begin a flour-milling operation. Hastings Cunningham founded "Gambierton" in 1854 by subdividing a block of . From 1861 to 1878 the Post Office was known by this name before reverting to Mount Gambier. Local government appeared in 1863 when Dr Wehl, who now owned a substantial millhouse on Commercial Road, was elected chairman of the District Council of Mount Gambier. In December 1864 this became the District Council of Mount Gambier West and, at the same time, a separate District Council of Mount Gambier East was formed. Incorporation in 1876 saw a further division, with the creation of the Town Council and Mr John Watson elected
Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
. Mount Gambier was governed in this fashion until 1932, when the District Council of East and West merged to form a single District Council of Mount Gambier once more. On 9 December 1954, Mount Gambier was officially declared a city, and is now an important tourism centre in south-east South Australia. the town has not been officially
dual-named Dual naming is the adoption of an official place name that combines two earlier names, or uses both names, often to resolve a disagreement over which of the two individual names is more appropriate. In some cases, the reasons are political. Some ...
, but the lakes and several other culturally significant features of the location were given dual names in February 2022, and dual naming is being planned for the city, mostly likely as Berrin, the name by which it is known to the local Indigenous community.


Geography

Mount Gambier's urban area is located mainly along the northern slopes and plain of a
maar A maar is a broad, low-relief volcanic crater caused by a phreatomagmatic eruption (an explosion which occurs when groundwater comes into contact with hot lava or magma). A maar characteristically fills with water to form a relatively shallow ...
volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...
of the same name,
Mount Gambier Mount Gambier is the second most populated city in South Australia, with an estimated urban population of 33,233 . The city is located on the slopes of Mount Gambier, a volcano in the south east of the state, about south-east of the capital Ad ...
. Comprising several
crater Crater may refer to: Landforms *Impact crater, a depression caused by two celestial bodies impacting each other, such as a meteorite hitting a planet *Explosion crater, a hole formed in the ground produced by an explosion near or below the surfac ...
s, it is part of the
Newer Volcanics Province The Newer Volcanics Province is a geological area which is a volcanic field, formed by the East Australia hotspot across south-eastern Australia. It covers an area of , with over 400 small shield volcanoes and volcanic vents. The area contain ...
complex of volcanoes. One of these contains a huge lake of high-quality
artesian Artesian may refer to: * Someone from the County of Artois * Artesian aquifer, a source of water * Artesian Builds, a former computer building company * Artesian, South Dakota, United States * Great Artesian Basin, Australia * The Artesian Hotel ...
drinking water which changes colour with the seasons. In winter, it is a steel grey and then changes to a spectacular
cobalt blue Cobalt blue is a blue pigment made by sintering cobalt(II) oxide with aluminum(III) oxide (alumina) at 1200 °C. Chemically, cobalt blue pigment is cobalt(II) oxide-aluminium oxide, or cobalt(II) aluminate, CoAl2O4. Cobalt blue is lighter ...
in the summer, giving rise to its name, Blue Lake. This deep lake also accommodates a range of unusual aquatic flora and fauna, in particular fields of large
stromatolites Stromatolites () or stromatoliths () are layered sedimentary formations (microbialite) that are created mainly by photosynthetic microorganisms such as cyanobacteria, sulfate-reducing bacteria, and Pseudomonadota (formerly proteobacteria). The ...
. There are several other craters in the city including Valley Lake and the Leg of Mutton River. The region surrounding the city also includes other volcanic features such as
Mount Schank Mount Schank is a high dormant volcano in the southeast corner of South Australia, near Mount Gambier. It was sighted by James Grant on 3 December 1800 and named after Admiral John Schank, designer of Grant's ship, HMS '' Lady Nelson''. Moun ...
, along with many
karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...
features such as water-filled caves, cenotès and
sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...
s. Mount Gambier’s urban area encompasses the City of Mount Gambier and parts of the District Council of Grant. The city’s metropolitan area includes the following suburbs: Mount Gambier CBD (inner-city suburb), Suttontown (north-western suburb),
Wandilo Wandilo is a north-western suburb of Mount Gambier in the Australian state of South Australia. It was named after the railway station on the Mount Gambier railway line, and is recorded to mean "a swamp where native companions resort". Wandilo ...
(north-western suburb), Mil-Lel (northern suburb),
Worrolong Worrolong is a north-eastern suburb of Mount Gambier. Most of the suburb is in the District Council of Grant. A small portion of the southwest including the Mount Gambier Golf Course is in the City of Mount Gambier. The eastern boundary includes ...
(north-eastern suburb), Glenburnie (eastern suburb),
Yahl Yahl is a south-eastern suburb of Mount Gambier The area around present day Yahl were inhabited by the local Bungandidj people. Yahl is the aboriginal word for "waters, much water". The following have been listed as state heritage places on th ...
(south-eastern suburb),
Compton Compton may refer to: Places Canada * Compton (electoral district), a former Quebec federal electoral district * Compton (provincial electoral district), a former Quebec provincial electoral district now part of Mégantic-Compton * Compton, Que ...
(western suburb),
Moorak Moorak is a southern suburb of Mount Gambier - a city in South Australia. The name Moorak may be a native word for "Mountain", but not from the local tribe, according to Doctor Browne who was an early landowner. vide "History of the South East" ...
(southern suburb), Square Mile (south-eastern suburb), and
OB Flat OB Flat is a south-eastern suburb of Mount Gambier in South Australia. The name for this suburb is believed to derive from a herd of cattle bearing the brand "OB" (owned by O. Beswick) which once roamed in the area. The 2016 Australian census w ...
(south-eastern suburb).


Climate

Mount Gambier experiences a temperate mediterranean climate, with mild, relatively dry summers with very cool nights; mild springs and autumns with moderate rainfall; and cool winters with high rainfall. July is the wettest month with an average of 100.5 mm falling on a staggering 21.9 days, whereas February normally records the lowest rainfall with an average of 26.6 mm on only 7.8 days. The highest temperature recorded in Mount Gambier was 45.9 °C on 20 December 2019 and the lowest temperature recorded was −3.9 °C on 20 June 1950 and 2 July 1960. Mount Gambier only has 40.5 clear days on an annual basis. Summers (and likewise annual mean temperatures) are cool for the latitude on account of its exposure to the prevailing westerly belt. Extreme summer minima near are especially of note compared to northern hemisphere locations at a similar latitude and near the coast at sea-level.


Governance

Council Chamber in the Civic Centre at 10 Watson Terrace, Mount Gambier is the
seat of local government The seat of government is (as defined by ''Brewer's Politics'') "the building, complex of buildings or the city from which a government exercises its authority". In most countries, the nation’s capital is also seat of its government, thus that ...
for the
City of Mount Gambier The City of Mount Gambier is a local government area centred in Mount Gambier in the Limestone Coast region of South Australia. While it is the southernmost ''city'' council in the state, the District Council of Grant is the southernmost counci ...
. The council was created in 1932 when the District Council of Mount Gambier West and District Council of Mount Gambier East merged to become the District Council of Mount Gambier which was later proclaimed a city on 9 December 1954. The city consists of a mayor and ten
councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...
s, elected equally from the East and West
wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...
once every four years by
postal voting Postal voting is voting in an election where ballot papers are distributed to electors (and typically returned) by Mail, post, in contrast to electors voting in person at a polling place, polling station or electronically via an electronic voti ...
. The Mayor of Mount Gambier council is Lynette Martin. The local government area is situated entirely within the
District Council of Grant The District Council of Grant is a local government area located in the Limestone Coast region of South Australia, and is the southernmost council in the state. The council was formed on 1 July 1996 after the amalgamation of the District Counci ...
and due to the city's growth there have been ongoing talks of amalgamation, the most recent boundary changes taking place in 2010. Law and order for the Limestone Coast region is maintained via the Mount Gambier Police Complex at 42 Bay Road Mount Gambier, the Mount Gambier Magistrates Court at 41 Bay Road Mount Gambier and the
Mount Gambier Prison Mount Gambier Prison is an Australian prison located in Moorak immediately south of Mount Gambier. It is managed and operated by G4S. Prison life The prison accommodates medium and low security male sentenced and remand prisoners. Short-term ...
at
Moorak Moorak is a southern suburb of Mount Gambier - a city in South Australia. The name Moorak may be a native word for "Mountain", but not from the local tribe, according to Doctor Browne who was an early landowner. vide "History of the South East" ...
south of the city. In state politics, Mount Gambier is located in the
South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide. Overview The House of Assembly was creat ...
electoral district of Mount Gambier Mount Gambier is a single-member electoral district for the South Australian House of Assembly. It covers the far south-east corner of the state containing the City of Mount Gambier and District Council of Grant local government areas. It is ce ...
, which has been held since 2014 by former Liberal Party member
Troy Bell Troy Delvon Bell (born November 10, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and other leagues mostly in Europe. He is also a R&B producer. He was an All-American college player at ...
, who was re-elected as an independent in the 2018 state election. In federal politics, Mount Gambier is located in the
Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members of the ...
division of Barker The Division of Barker is an Australian Electoral Division in the south-east of South Australia. The division was established on 2 October 1903, when South Australia's original single multi-member division was split into seven single-member div ...
, which has been represented by
Tony Pasin Antony "Tony" Pasin (born 1 October 1977) is an Australian politician. He is a member of the Liberal Party of Australia for the House of Representatives seat of Barker since the 2013 election. Early life Pasin was born in Mount Gambier, Sout ...
since 2013. It is a safe
Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...
seat.


Demographics

The government in the south-east area of the state, consisting of three local councils, amounted to a single administration. In consequence, many residents of Victoria used to look across the border to Mount Gambier as their centre. Consequently, during the 1970s many elderly locals relocated to Victor Harbor and Moonta, both rural areas but with more resources available to cope with an ageing population. A 1976 study found that less than 10 per cent (around 160 people) of residents aged over 65 had lived in the area for less than 5 years, leading to a lack of specific aged-care facilities. According to the 2006 Census the population of the Mount Gambier census area was 24,905 people, making it the largest urban area in the state outside
Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
, and the 50th largest urban area in Australia. Approximately 51.7% of the population were female, 84.9% were Australian born, over 91.5% of residents were Australian citizens and 1.6% were indigenous. The most popular industries for employment were Log Sawmilling and Timber Dressing (8%), School Education (4.8%) and Retail Trade (3.8%), while the unemployment rate is approx. 7%. The median weekly household income is A$814 or more per week, compared with $924 in Adelaide. According to the 2006 Census,2006 Census Table : Mount Gambier (C) (Statistical Local Area)
Censusdata.abs.gov.au. Retrieved on 2012-06-27.
60.0% of residents identified themselves as being
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
. The largest denominations represented were
Catholics 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 ...
at 21.5%,
Anglicans Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the l ...
at 11.4%, the
Uniting Church The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was founded on 22 June 1977, when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of the Congregational Union ...
at 8.6%, and
Presbyterians Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
at 6.9%. 26.9% of people claim no religion. A further 12.1% of people chose either not to state their beliefs, or did not adequately define them. it is the second most populated city in
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
, with an estimated urban population of 29,639. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018.


Economy

The economy of Mount Gambier is driven by all three
economic sector One classical breakdown of economic activity distinguishes three sectors: * Primary: involves the retrieval and production of raw-material commodities, such as corn, coal, wood or iron. Miners, farmers and fishermen are all workers in the ...
s, though it has emerged as a regional
service economy Service economy can refer to one or both of two recent economic developments: * The increased importance of the service sector in industrialized economies. The current list of Fortune 500 companies contains more service companies and fewer ma ...
with its main industry being the
service industry The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the second ...
and its key areas of business including
tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
,
hospitality Hospitality is the relationship between a guest and a host, wherein the host receives the guest with some amount of goodwill, including the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. Louis de Jaucourt, Louis, chevalier de J ...
,
retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and t ...
,
professional services Professional services are occupations in the service sector requiring special training in the arts or sciences. Some professional services, such as architects, accountants, engineers, doctors, and lawyers require the practitioner to hold professi ...
, government administration and
education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...
. The city's historic
primary sector The primary sector of the economy includes any industry involved in the extraction and production of raw materials, such as farming, logging, fishing, forestry and mining. The primary sector tends to make up a larger portion of the economy in de ...
roots including
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 via ...
,
agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
and
forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...
continue to play a key role as well as being a major
road transport Road transport or road transportation is a type of transport using roads. Transport on roads can be roughly grouped into the transportation of goods and transportation of people. In many countries licensing requirements and safety regulations e ...
and trucking centre.


Tourism

Mount Gambier is the major service centre for the tourism region known as The
Limestone Coast The Limestone Coast is a name used since the early twenty-first century for a South Australian government region located in the south east of South Australia which immediately adjoins the continental coastline and the Victorian border. The ...
. The area has many natural attractions, including volcanic craters, lakes, limestone caves, sinkholes, underground aquifers and stunning Cenotès, surrounded by a city with a wide range of accommodation, shopping and entertainment opportunities. Tourism generates around $100 million for the Mount Gambier economy. The city is a major accommodation gateway for the region. Major tourism attractions include the Blue Lake and Valley Lake wildlife park, and caves such as Umpherston Sinkhole / Balumbul, Cave Garden / Thugi and
Engelbrecht Cave Engelbrecht Cave (also known as North Terrace Cave, Vansittarts Cave and 5L19 & 5L20) is a cave system in the Australian state of South Australia consisting of a sinkhole with two major passages located under the Mount Gambier, South Australia, ...
. Engelbrecht Cave is a popular
cave diving Cave-diving is underwater diving in water-filled caves. It may be done as an extreme sport, a way of exploring flooded caves for scientific investigation, or for the search for and recovery of divers or, as in the 2018 Thai cave rescue, other ...
venue. The region around Mount Gambier also has many water-filled cenotès,
caves A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...
and
sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...
s which attract cave divers from around the world. File:Blue Lake, Mount Gambier, November 2018.jpg,
Blue Lake / Warwar Blue Lake / Warwar (The Blue Lake) is a large, monomictic, crater lake located in a dormant volcanic maar associated with the Mount Gambier maar complex. The lake is situated near in the Limestone Coast region of South Australia, and is one ...
File:Umpherston Sinkhole, Mount Gambier, November 2018.jpg , Umpherston Sinkhole / Balumbul File:Engelbrecht Cave, Mount Gambier, November 2018.jpg,
Engelbrecht Cave Engelbrecht Cave (also known as North Terrace Cave, Vansittarts Cave and 5L19 & 5L20) is a cave system in the Australian state of South Australia consisting of a sinkhole with two major passages located under the Mount Gambier, South Australia, ...


Service industries

As a major service centre for the region, the city has several key retail districts including the Commercial Street CBD. Mount Gambier Marketplace, opened in August 2012, is one of three major shopping centres in the city, the other two being Mount Gambier Central (formerly known as Centro Mount Gambier) and Coles shopping complex on Ferrers Street, which was opened in December 2020. Major department stores include
Big W Big W (stylized as BIG W) is an Australian chain of discount department stores, which was founded in regional New South Wales in 1964. The company is a division of Woolworths Group and as at 2019 operated 176 stores, with around 22,000 employee ...
,
Kmart Kmart Corporation ( , doing business as Kmart and stylized as kmart) is an American retail company that owns a chain of big box department stores. The company is headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States. The company was inc ...
and
Harvey Norman Harvey Norman is a large Australian-based, multi-national retailer of furniture, bedding, computers, communications and consumer electrical products. It mainly operates as a franchise, with the main brand and all company-operated stores owned ...
. Additionally each of the major supermarkets
Aldi Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when t ...
, Coles (both replaced
Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...
which closed in May 2019), Woolworths, Foodland and
IGA Iga may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Ambush at Iga Pass, a 1958 Japanese film * Iga no Kagemaru, Japanese manga series * Iga, a set of characters from the Japanese novel '' The Kouga Ninja Scrolls'' Biology * ''Iga'' (beetle), a gen ...
are represented. Other retailers in Mount Gambier include
Bunnings Warehouse Bunnings Group Limited, trading as Bunnings Warehouse or Bunnings, is an Australian household hardware chain. The chain has been owned by Wesfarmers since 1994, and has stores in Australia and New Zealand. Bunnings was founded in Perth, Wester ...
,
Mitre 10 Mitre 10 is an Australian retail and trade hardware store chain. Operations are based on a cooperative system, where the store owners are members of the national group and each has voting rights. The chain name references the mitre joint. The ...
,
Dan Murphy's Dan Murphy's is an Australian liquor store owned by Endeavour Group, with over 250 stores across the country. The business was founded in 1952 by winemaker Daniel Francis Murphy. Dan Murphy's competes principally with Coles Group brands First C ...
,
Spotlight Spotlight or spot light may refer to: Lighting * Spot lights, automotive auxiliary lamps * Spotlight (theatre lighting) * Spotlight, a searchlight * Stage lighting instrument, stage lighting instruments, of several types Art, entertainment, an ...
, BCF and
Dimmeys Dimmeys is an Australian discount department store chain. Founded as a gold-rush era drapery "Dimelow & Gaylard's", in rural Maryborough, the business became colloquially known as 'Dimmeys'. In the early 1900s the business name was changed. O ...
, Servicing the financial sector are branches of the big four Australian retail banks,
National Australia Bank National Australia Bank (abbreviated NAB, branded nab) is one of the four largest financial institutions in Australia (colloquially referred to as "The Big Four") in terms of market capitalisation, earnings and customers. NAB was ranked 21st-la ...
,
ANZ ANZ may refer to: People * Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician Banks * ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia ** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand ** ...
,
Commonwealth Bank The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), or CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of financial services including retail, busines ...
and
Westpac Westpac Banking Corporation, known simply as Westpac, is an Australian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered at Westpac Place in Sydney, New South Wales. Established in 1817 as the Bank of New South Wales, it ...
along with
Bendigo & Adelaide Bank Bendigo and Adelaide Bank is an Australian financial institution, operating primarily in retail banking. The company was formed by the merger of Bendigo Bank and Adelaide Bank in November 2007. Before the merger, Bendigo Bank delivered its pro ...
,
People's Choice Credit Union Australian Central Credit Union Limited, trading as People's Choice, is an Australian credit union based in Adelaide, South Australia. It is one of Australia's largest credit unions, with branches located in South Australia, Northern Territory ...
,
St George Bank St.George Bank is an Australian bank with its headquarters in Sydney. Since a 2008 merger, the bank has been part of Westpac, having previously been an independent legal entity. In 2010, St.George was deregistered as a company and ceased to be ...
and a number of smaller independent financial services firms. In December 2020, the first Australian regional
Krispy Kreme Krispy Kreme, Inc. (previously Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc.) is an American multinational doughnut company and coffeehouse chain. Krispy Kreme was founded by Vernon Rudolph (1915–1973), who bought a yeast-raised recipe from a New Orleans ch ...
store was opened in the city.


Arts and culture

The city's
civic centre A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building. Recently, the ...
is in the refurbished and extended old town hall and
Institute An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes can ...
buildings. A
cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking * ...
was operated in the early 1950s in this building by
D. Clifford Theatres D. or d. may refer to, usually as an abbreviation: * Don (honorific), a form of address in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and their former overseas empires, usually given to nobles or other individuals of high social rank. * Date of death, as an abbreviat ...
. Located around Cave Gardens, is the hub of the city's arts and includes the Riddoch Art Gallery, South Australia's major regional art gallery. It also houses the
University of South Australia The University of South Australia (UniSA) is a public research university in the Australian state of South Australia. It is a founding member of the Australian Technology Network of universities, and is the largest university in South Australi ...
's James Morrison Academy. The complex was extended in 2011 to include "The Main Corner", a modern building which includes a theatre. Nearby are the public library, a cafe next to the library and the old post office.


Music

Every year the town and the surrounding area, hosts nearly 7,000 secondary school musicians for the Generations in Jazz Festival. Jazz artists like James Morrison, Ross Irwin, and
Graeme Lyall Graeme William Lyall ( AM), is an Australian saxophonist, composer and arranger. He became a Member of the Order of Australia on 26 January 2003: "''For service to music as Artistic Director of the Western Australian Youth Jazz Orchestra, and ...
travel to perform and adjudicate the stage band competition. Special guests have included
Gordon Goodwin Gordon L. Goodwin (born 1954) is an American pianist, saxophonist, composer, arranger, and conductor. He is the leader of Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band. He has won four Grammy Awards and three Daytime Emmy Awards, and has received over twenty G ...
and his Big Phat Band, Whycliffe Gordon and recently (2017) the
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra (ASO) is a South Australian performing arts organisation comprising 75 full-time musicians, established in 1936. Based in Adelaide, South Australia, the orchestra's primary performance venue is the Adelaide Town Ha ...
.


Media


Newspapers

The local newspaper for Mount Gambier, Limestone Coast and South East region of South Australia was ''
The Border Watch ''The Border Watch'' is an Australian newspaper based in Mount Gambier, South Australia, as of October 2020 owned by TBW Today Pty Ltd. The paper services Mount Gambier, the South Australian Limestone Coast, and parts of Western Victoria. It is ...
''. It was published and available in the local area every Tuesday through Friday (with the exception of some public holidays such as Christmas Day). Daily newspapers from Melbourne (''
Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the Murdoch owned News Corp. The ''Herald S ...
'' and ''
The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'') and Adelaide ('' The Advertiser'') 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 ''
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 ...
'' are also available. Some newspapers from nearby towns such as Millicent and Penola, specialty newspapers like the British ''
International Express The ''International Express'' ( th, รถด่วนพิเศษระหว่างประเทศ; ms, Ekspres Antarbangsa) is an express train between Bangkok, Thailand and Padang Besar, Malaysia. The train formerly traveled to But ...
'' weekly newspaper, agricultural newspapers such as ''The Weekly Times'' newspaper from Victoria and ''The South Australian Stock Journal'' (published by
Australian Community Media Australian Community Media (ACM) is a media company in Australia responsible for over 160 regional publications. Its mastheads include the ''Canberra Times'', ''Newcastle Herald'', '' The Examiner'', ''The Border Mail'', '' The Courier'' and th ...
) and ''
The Independent Weekly ''InDaily'', initially the online subscriber daily news service is of weekly newspaper, ''The Independent Weekly'', replaced the printed version entirely in November 2010. It shares its website with ''CityMag'', a weekly digital magazine whic ...
'' from Adelaide are also available from local newsagents. Historically, the town was served by multiple newspapers. Two earlier papers, the biweekly ''Mount Gambier Standard'' (3 May 1866 – 1874), and the ''South Eastern Star'' (2 October 1877 – 13 October 1930), were taken over by ''The Border Watch''. Another, the ''South-Eastern Ensign'' (2 July 1875 – 30 June 1876), was also briefly printed. Later, a free commercial paper, the ''Exchange'' (1902– 8 October 1942) ran in opposition to the ''Watch'', and was published by the Clark family. However, it ceased when the Second World War caused paper restrictions and a decline in advertising. On 21 August 2020, The Border Watch was discontinued after 159 years of publishing, due to financial circumstances during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.


Television

* 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,
ABC TV Plus ABC TV Plus (formerly ABC2 and ABC Comedy) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and part of its ABC Television network. The channel broadcasts a range of general entertainment prog ...
/ ABC Kids,
ABC Me ABC Me (stylised as ABC ME) is an Australian English language children's free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It was officially launched by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on 4 December 2009 as ABC3. Hist ...
,
ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...
(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,
SBS Viceland SBS Viceland (stylised as SBS VICELAND) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). It began as SBS TWO on 1 June 2009, and was branded as SBS 2 between 2013 and 2016. On 8 April 2017, SBS ...
,
SBS World Movies SBS World Movies is an Australian free-to-air television channel showing international movies. The channel features foreign language films, documentaries, independent and mainstream cinema and interviews with international movie stars. It was ...
,
SBS Food SBS Food is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). The channel airs programs about food and cooking, from cultures around the world. History SBS first revealed it would launc ...
,
SBS WorldWatch SBS WorldWatch is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). The channel shows multilingual international news bulletins in more than 30 languages, as well as two local bulletins i ...
,
NITV National Indigenous Television (NITV) is an Australian free-to-air television channel that broadcasts programming produced and presented largely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It includes the half-hourly nightly ''NITV News'' ...
(digital channels) *
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 Netwo ...
(7, 9 & 10) as
SES-8 SES-8 is a geostationary Communications satellite operated by SES S.A. SES-8 was successfully launched on SpaceX Falcon 9 v1.1 on 3 December 2013, 22:41:00 UTC. It was the first flight of any SpaceX launch vehicle to a supersynchronous tran ...
and MGS-41 – SES-8 relays the programming from
Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...
(Seven SA),
Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...
(Nine SA) &
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 ...
(10 SA). *
Foxtel Foxtel is an Australian pay television company—operating in cable television, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April 2018, superseding an earlier company from 1995. The service was establi ...
– Subscription Television service
Foxtel Foxtel is an Australian pay television company—operating in cable television, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April 2018, superseding an earlier company from 1995. The service was establi ...
is also available via satellite. Channel Nine broadcasts Nine Network programming, Channel Seven broadcasts Seven Network programming & WIN Television broadcasts Network 10 programming. The programming schedules for these channels is the same as Channel Nine, Channel Seven and Channel 10 in Adelaide, with local commercials inserted and some variations for coverage of
Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...
or
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 ...
matches, state and national news and current affairs programs, some lifestyle and light entertainment shows and infomercials. As of February 2013, there are no local news programs for the Mount Gambier area since the closure of WIN Television's news operation. WIN Television also broadcasts
Sky News Regional Sky News Australia is an Australian news channel owned by News Corp Australia. Originally launched on 19 February 1996, it broadcasts rolling news coverage throughout the day, while its prime time lineup is dedicated to opinion-based programs f ...
programming, the programming schedule for these multichannel is the same as
Sky News Australia Sky News Australia is an Australian news channel owned by News Corp Australia. Originally launched on 19 February 1996, it broadcasts rolling news coverage throughout the day, while its prime time lineup is dedicated to opinion-based programs f ...
and Fox Sports News, with local commercials inserted. On 11 November 2011, WIN Television commenced transmission of the digital TV multi-channels
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 10 Peach is an Australian free-to-air television channel operated by Network 10. It was launched on 11 January 2011 as Eleven. It is owned by ElevenCo, which was established as a joint venture between Ten Network Holdings and CBS Studios Inter ...
,
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, anim ...
,
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 ...
, 7two (an acronym of "72") and
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 ...
for Mount Gambier and the surrounding South East region of South Australia. Due to the close proximity to the Victoria/South Australia state border, most people in Mount Gambier and some adjacent areas of southeast South Australia can receive television services from Western Victoria. These channels are broadcast from the Mount Dundas transmitter near the town of
Cavendish, Victoria Cavendish is a township in the Shire of Southern Grampians in the Western District of Victoria, Australia, on the Wannon River. At the 2006 census, Cavendish and the surrounding area had a population of 454. The township was settled in the earl ...
. The transmitter site is located approximately 100 kilometres northeast of Mount Gambier and broadcasts all the television channels from Western Victoria including
Prime7 Prime7, formerly Prime Television and other names, was an Australian television network. Prime Television launched on 17 March 1962 as '' CBN-8'' in Orange, and later expanded to cover regional New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capi ...
Television ( AMV),
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 Netwo ...
Victoria ( VTV),
Southern Cross 10 10 Regional is an Australian television network owned by Southern Cross Austereo that is broadcast in Queensland, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and South Australia. The network is the primary affiliate of Network 10 i ...
(
BCV BCV could refer to: Places * Bruce Grove railway station, London, England Airports * Birchwood Airport (FAA LID code), an airport near Birchwood, Alaska * Hector Silva Airstrip (IATA code), Belmopan, Belize Banks * Central Bank of Venezuela * ...
), the ABC and SBS Victorian services, as well as the digital free-to-air multi-channels that are also now available from the Mount Burr transmitter, north west of Mount Gambier.


Radio

;ABC * ABC South East SA (1476 AM) * ABC South East SA (1161 AM, Naracoorte) *
ABC 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 broadc ...
(102.5 FM) *
ABC Radio National Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. History 1937: Predecessors an ...
(103.3 FM) *
ABC Classic FM ABC Classic, formerly ABC-FM (also ABC Fine Music), and then ABC Classic FM, is an Australian classical music radio station available in Australia and internationally. Its website features classical music news, features and listening guides. ...
(104.1 FM) *
ABC NewsRadio ABC NewsRadio, since 2017 broadcast under the ABC News brand and for a short time known as ABC News on Radio, is a 24-hour news radio service broadcast by the Australian public broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). ABC ...
(105.7 FM) ;Commercial *
Radio TAB RadioTAB is a radio station primarily covering horse and greyhound racing in Australia and internationally, operated by Tabcorp, which operates the Totalisator Agency Boards based in Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia and Northern Territory ...
* Triple M Limestone Coast (963 AM) *
SAFM SAFM (official callsign: 5SSA) is a commercial FM radio station owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo as part of the Hit Network. The station is broadcast to Adelaide, South Australia from studios in Franklin Street. History The stati ...
(96.1 FM) (formerly Hit 96.1) * 5GTR FM (100.1 FM) * LIME FM (104.9 FM) (Formerly
Rhema FM Rhema FM is the name used for a number of Christian radio stations established with the help of, and assisted for many years by United Christian Broadcasters (UCB) in Australia. Each station is independent, being run and programmed locally with ...
) Some ABC radio services can also be received from the nearby town of Naracoorte and from Western Victoria.


Sport

There are four
Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
teams competing in the
Western Border Football League The Western Border Football League is an Australian rules football competition based in the Lower South East region of South Australia, and south-western border region of Victoria. It is an affiliated member of the South Australian National Foo ...
: North Gambier, East Gambier, South Gambier and West Gambier. They have produced such AFL players as David Marshall,
Nick Daffy Nick Daffy (born 11 May 1973) is a former Australian rules football player who played in the AFL between 1992 and 2001 for the Richmond Football Club and then played one game in 2002 for the Sydney Swans Football Club. Early life Daffy grew ...
and Matthew Clarke. There is also a range of different sporting leagues and clubs in Mount Gambier and surrounding regions, including soccer, netball, basketball, tennis, hockey, cricket, swimming, cycling, triathlon,Mount Gambier Cycling and Triathlon Club
. Mgcatc.com. Retrieved on 2012-06-27.
rifle, gun and pistol shooting, lawn bowls, ten-pin bowling, angling, archery and golf. Motor sport is also popular, with the main facilities being the
McNamara Park McNamara Park, commonly known as Mac Park, is a motorcycle only racing circuit, located near Mount Gambier in South Australia. The 2.4 km track has 12 corners and runs clockwise. Owned and run by the Mount Gambier Motorcycle and Light Car Cl ...
road racing circuit, and the
Borderline Speedway Borderline Speedway, is a dirt track racing venue in the Australian state of South Australia located in the locality of Glenburnie, South Australia about east of the city of Mount Gambier. Racing at the speedway generally takes place between ...
, a dirt track oval speedway nicknamed "The Bullring". Borderline Speedway hosts an annual Sprintcar event called the "
Kings Challenge The Kings Challenge is an annual dirt track racing meeting held in Australia for Sprint car racing, Sprintcars. The meeting is held at the long Borderline Speedway in Mount Gambier, South Australia. After the success of the 1995 Australian Sprint ...
", first run in 1995 and is held in January each year a week before the
Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic The Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic is an Australian dirt Sprint car racing meet that takes place at the Sungold Stadium Premier Speedway in Warrnambool, Victoria every year in late January. The classic traditionally takes place one week before ...
in nearby
Warrnambool Warrnambool ( Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Warrnambool had a population of 35,743. Situated on the Princes Highway, Warrnambool (Al ...
(
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...
), and two weeks before the Australian Sprintcar Championship. Borderline has played host to many Australian and South Australian speedway championships throughout its over 50-year history and is regarded as one of the best run and promoted speedways in Australia. The speedway is currently managed and promoted by former star sprintcar driver, Mount Gambier native Bill Barrows. In 2007, Borderline hosted the fifth and final round of the Australian Individual Speedway Championship, Australian Solo Championship. The round and the championship was won by Australia's own 2006 Speedway Grand Prix, reigning Speedway World Championship, World Champion Jason Crump. Mount Gambier is the home of "The Alex Roberts 100 Mile Classic", a cycling event that lays claim to the longest continuing open cycling event in South Australia. The event held annually by the Mount Gambier Cycling Club. The Mount Gambier Greyhound Racing Club hold Greyhound racing in Australia, greyhound racing meetings at a purpose-built complex called the Tara Raceway, at 161 Lake Terrace East. The Club moved from Glenburnie Racecourse in late 1996 and held its first meeting on Saturday 25 January 1997.


Mount Gambier Gift

The 120m Mount Gambier Gift was held annually on the first Saturday in December at Vansittart Oval was the 2nd richest professional footrace in South Australia. Resurrected in 2001 the athletic carnival includes races from 70m to 1600m and attracts athletes from all over Australia, mostly from South Australia and Victoria. Of the eleven Mount Gambier athletic carnivals held to date, three Victorians have won the 120 m Gift. On 3 December 2011, 21-year-old Wallace Long-Scafidi won the Gift for the second year in a row. The race has not been held since 2012, and to this date continues to go unheld.


Mount Gambier Pioneers Basketball Club

The Mount Gambier Pioneers Basketball Club are the city's only representative team to participate in a national competition. The Pioneers entered the South Eastern Basketball League in 1988 and currently play in the NBL1 South Conference, the second tier competition underneath Basketball Australia's premier elite professional competition the Australian NBL.


Infrastructure


Health

The city has a major regional hospital, Mount Gambier Hospital out of which operates the Mount Gambier and Districts Health Service. Additionally there are a number of private health services including the Mount Gambier Private Hospital (now closed).


Utilities

The city's main catchment is the Blue Lake, the volcano lake is both a tourist attraction and the city's main reservoir. Water supply, sewage collection and disposal are provided by South East Catchment Water Management Board.


Education

There are six Reception to Year 6 (R-6) Primary schools: *Reidy Park Primary School; *McDonald Park; *Compton Primary School; *Melaleuca Park; *Mulga Street Primary School; *Mount Gambier North Primary School. There are two Reception to Year 12 (R-12) colleges: * Tenison Woods College * St Martins Lutheran College. There are two high schools for Year 7 to 12: * Mount Gambier High School * Grant High School (Mount Gambier), Grant High School. Post-secondary education is offered by the following providers: * TAFE South Australia has a campus in Mount Gambier providing an extensive variety of vocational study. *
University of South Australia The University of South Australia (UniSA) is a public research university in the Australian state of South Australia. It is a founding member of the Australian Technology Network of universities, and is the largest university in South Australi ...
has a modern, state of the art campus in Mount Gambier which offers full-time or part-time undergraduate degrees in Education, Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work with enabling courses in Foundation Studies and Aboriginal Pathways Program also offered. * Flinders University also operates Flinders Rural Health SA in the grounds of Mount Gambier Hospital.


Transport

Mount Gambier sits on a number of highways which connect the city to other major towns in the region, as well as to Adelaide and Melbourne. * Princes Highway ''(Jubilee Highway)'' travels through the city east to west. ** to Melbourne via Dartmoor, Victoria, Dartmoor,
Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
and
Warrnambool Warrnambool ( Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Warrnambool had a population of 35,743. Situated on the Princes Highway, Warrnambool (Al ...
** to Adelaide via Millicent, Kingston SE and Meningie, South Australia, Meningie * Riddoch Highway ''(Penola / Bay Road)'' travels through the city north to south. ** to Adelaide via Naracoorte, South Australia, Naracoorte and Keith, South Australia, Keith ** to Port Macdonnell Before conversion of the Adelaide–Wolseley railway line to standard gauge in 1995, Mount Gambier railway station, Mount Gambier was connected to Adelaide on the Irish gauge, broad gauge network via Naracoorte, South Australia, Naracoorte, Bordertown railway station, Bordertown and Tailem Bend railway station, Tailem Bend. Normal commercial passenger services to Adelaide ceased on 31 December 1990, while limited freight services operated until the line was disconnected from the national network on 12 April 1995. Limestone Coast Railway operated tourist trains to Coonawarra, Penola, Millicent, Tantanoola and Rennick until it ceased on 28 June 2006. In 2015, the former railyards were converted into a park. Mount Gambier Airport is located a few kilometres north of the city via the Riddoch Highway. The city is served by Rex Airlines, which flies Saab 340 aircraft to
Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
and Melbourne up to three times per day. Since March 2021, Qantas operates one daily flight to and from Adelaide and Melbourne using De Havilland Canada Dash 8 aircraft in QantasLink livery. Stateliner operate coach services to Mount Gambier from Adelaide Central bus station, Adelaide. V/Line operates a daily interstate coach service from Mount Gambier to Warrnambool railway station, Warrnambool, connecting with a rail service to Southern Cross railway station, Melbourne. The Mount Gambier Visitor Centre (formally known as The Lady Nelson) is an agent for public passenger services tickets sales, and the services use the car park to arrive and depart from.


Notable people

* Kasey Chambers (born there in 1976) * George Crennan, Director of the Federal Catholic Immigration Office in Australia from 1949 until 1995 * Gavin Wanganeen (AFL Footballer) (born there in 1973) * Elizabeth Grant (architect and anthropologist), Elizabeth Grant, (born there in 1963 and lived there until 1980). * Dave Graney (born there in 1959 and lived there until 1978) Note: [On-line] version updated from 1999 book. * Mark Yeates (Australian rules footballer), Mark Yeates (AFL Footballer) (born there 1960) * Robert Helpmann (Sir) (1909-1986) * David Marshall (Australian footballer with the Adelaide Crows in the AFL, Glenelg in the SANFL, North Gambier in the WBFL) *
Tony Pasin Antony "Tony" Pasin (born 1 October 1977) is an Australian politician. He is a member of the Liberal Party of Australia for the House of Representatives seat of Barker since the 2013 election. Early life Pasin was born in Mount Gambier, Sout ...
Liberal politician * Allan Scott (businessman), Allan Scott (1923-2008, businessman) * James Stein pioneer overlander and pastoralist, died and buried there 1877. * John Tremelling Olympian. * Josip Skoko Socceroo - 51 Caps. * William Paltridge politician. * Matthew Clarke Australian Footballer *
Nick Daffy Nick Daffy (born 11 May 1973) is a former Australian rules football player who played in the AFL between 1992 and 2001 for the Richmond Football Club and then played one game in 2002 for the Sydney Swans Football Club. Early life Daffy grew ...
Australian Footballer * Lucas Herbert (footballer), Lucas Herbert Australian Footballer * Simon Feast Australian Footballer * Gary Lazarus Australian Footballer * Tim O'Brien (footballer) Australian Footballer * Brad Close Australian Footballer


References


External links

*
City of Mount GambierDiscover Mount Gambier - Mount Gambier tourism website
{{City of Mount Gambier localities, state=collapsed Mount Gambier, South Australia, Cities in South Australia Limestone Coast, Mount Gambier Populated places established in 1854 1854 establishments in Australia