Point Wilson is a locality located on the northern shores of

Corio Bay Corio Bay is one of numerous internal bays in the southwest corner of Australia's Port Phillip, and is the bay on which abuts the City of Geelong. The nearby suburb of Corio takes its name from Corio Bay. Etymology When Hamilton Hume and Will ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. It is approximately 60 kilometres by road from

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, and 25 kilometres by road from

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

. The locality is bounded by Pousties Road to the west, the

Princes Freeway Princes Freeway is a Australian freeway, divided into two sections, both located in Victoria, Australia. The freeway links Melbourne to Geelong in the west, and to Morwell in the east. It continues beyond these extremities as the Princes ...

to the north west, Little River to the north east, and

to the south. Point Wilson is sparsely populated, and public access to the area is restricted due to the

explosives An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An exp ...

facility located in the area. Other nearby land uses include the Murtcaim Wildlife Area and

Melbourne Water Melbourne Water is an Australian statutory authority owned by the Victorian State Government, which controls and manages much of the water bodies and supplies in metropolitan Melbourne, the capital of Victoria. Its jurisdiction includes all t ...

Western Treatment Plant The Western Treatment Plant (formerly the Metropolitan Sewage Farm or, more commonly, the Werribee Sewage Farm) is a sewage treatment plant in Cocoroc, Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's central business district, on the coast of Por ...

Environment

The Point Wilson area is environmentally sensitive. It forms part of the

Port Phillip Bay (Western Shoreline) and Bellarine Peninsula Ramsar Site The Port Phillip Bay (Western Shoreline) and Bellarine Peninsula Ramsar Site is one of the Australian sites listed under the Ramsar Convention as a wetland of international importance. It was designated on 15 December 1982, and is listed as Ram ...

as a wetland of international importance. It contains important habitat for the critically endangered

orange-bellied parrot The orange-bellied parrot (''Neophema chrysogaster'') is a small parrot endemic (ecology), endemic to southern Australia, and one of only three species of parrot that bird migration, migrate. It was described by John Latham (ornithologist), John ...

that uses the coastal

salt marsh A salt marsh, saltmarsh or salting, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. I ...

as a wintering site. The site is part of the Werribee and Avalon Important Bird Area, identified as such by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

because of its importance for

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

and

waterbird A water bird, alternatively waterbird or aquatic bird, is a bird that lives on or around water. In some definitions, the term ''water bird'' is especially applied to birds in freshwater ecosystems, although others make no distinction from seabi ...

s as well as orange-bellied parrots. The area surrounding the jetty consists of salt marshes, a low basalt bluff, and shelly ridges. The environment is considered in good condition due to the lack of human disturbance.

Explosives

Point Wilson has been used as an

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

since 1962, when the facility was relocated from the Altona explosives storage near Laverton. Owned by the

Commonwealth of Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It has a total area of , making it the sixth-largest country in ...

, the Point Wilson Explosives Area is 326 hectares in size. A 2,700 metre long steel and concrete jetty and wharf structure was constructed in the late 1950s for the importation of explosives. Four explosives storage and handling buildings were constructed in 1981. Commercial ships are used to transport ordnance and explosives from

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to Australia, where they are offloaded at facilities including Point Wilson. 1994 saw the East Coast Armaments Complex proposal made by the Commonwealth of Australia, which involved the upgrade of the facility to handle the loading of explosives to naval ships. The proposal was deferred, although the facility continues to handle the import of explosives for the defence forces.

Chemicals

ICI proposed a

chloralkali The chloralkali process (also chlor-alkali and chlor alkali) is an industrial process for the electrolysis of sodium chloride (NaCl) solutions. It is the technology used to produce chlorine and sodium hydroxide (caustic soda), which are commodit ...

-based

petrochemical Petrochemicals (sometimes abbreviated as petchems) are the chemical products obtained from petroleum by refining. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or renewable s ...

complex for Point Wilson in the 1970s. This proposal did not succeed. The Victorian State Government in 1994 proposed that the

Coode Island Coode Island is a former island at the convergence of the Yarra and Maribyrnong Rivers, 4 km west of central Melbourne, Australia. The island was formed by the excavation of the Coode Canal in 1887, and became connected to the mainland ...

bulk liquid chemical storage facility be relocated to the adjacent Point Lillias. The proposal was dropped in June 1997.

Climate

Point Wilson possesses an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

( Köppen: Cfb), with tepid summers and mild winters. Average maxima vary from in January to in July while average minima fluctuate between in January and in July. Extreme temperatures have ranged from on 25 January 2003 to on 26 February 1994. Point Wilson is the location of a

Bureau of Meteorology The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM or BoM) is an executive agency of the Government of Australia, Australian Government that is responsible for providing Weather forecasting, weather forecasts and Meteorology, meteorological services to Australia a ...

weather station A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for measuring atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasting, weather forecasts and to study the weather and clima ...

that opened in 1990.

Culture

Some of the shooting locations featured in the film ''

Mad Max ''Mad Max'' is an Australian media franchise created by George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It centres on a series of post-apocalyptic and dystopian action films. The franchise began in 1979 with '' Mad Max'', and was followed by three sequels: ...

'' are on Point Wilson Road.

References

Coode Island/Point Lillias: Case Study - Intergovernmental Resource (Miss)Management
''Peter D Brotherton, B Sc(Hons), Ph D, Dip Ed''
REPORT relating to the proposed EAST COAST ARMAMENT COMPLEX POINT WILSON, VIC
{{authority control Towns in Victoria (state) Ramsar sites in Australia Wilson Important Bird Areas of Victoria (state) Suburbs of Geelong