Lapoinya (pronounced La-poin-ya) is a small agricultural centre on the north-west coast of

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

west of Wynyard. The name is

Tasmanian Aboriginal The Aboriginal Tasmanians (palawa kani: ''Palawa'' or ''Pakana'') are the Aboriginal people of the Australian island of Tasmania, located south of the mainland. At the time of European contact, Aboriginal Tasmanians were divided into a numb ...

word for "fern tree", a plant that abounds in those surviving untouched parts of the original

temperate rainforest Temperate rainforests are rainforests with coniferous or Broad-leaved tree, broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive heavy rain. Temperate rainforests occur in oceanic moist regions around the world: the Pacific temperate ...

. At the 2006 census, Lapoinya had a population of 368.

History

First developed commercially around 1900, the town has been a centre for forestry, mixed agriculture (especially

potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

-growing), and grazing (mostly

dairy A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

). Lapoinya Post Office opened on 1 November 1912, and closed in 1970. In November 2014, it was announced the town was fighting

Forestry Tasmania Sustainable Timber Tasmania, formerly Forestry Tasmania, is a government business enterprise owned by the Government of Tasmania, Australia. It is responsible for the management of public production forest in Tasmania, which is about 800,000 h ...

to attempt to stop the company logging the towns surrounding forest. In January 2016,

Bob Brown Robert James Brown (born 27 December 1944) is an Australian former politician, medical doctor and environmentalist. He was a Australian Senate, senator and the parliamentary leader of the Australian Greens. Brown was elected to the Australian ...

and three others were arrested during an anti-logging protest on a 49-hectare Forestry Tasmania coupe at Lopoinya.

References

Localities of Waratah–Wynyard Council Towns in Tasmania {{WaratahWynyard-geo-stub