Launceston, Tasmania

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Launceston is a small city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia, population approximately 98,000, located at the juncture of the North Esk, South Esk, and Tamar rivers. It is the second largest city in Tasmania and 18th largest in Australia. Like many Australian cities and towns, it was named after a town in the United Kingdom—in this case, Launceston, Cornwall. (Note, however, that while the English Launceston is pronounced Template:IPA or Template:IPA, the Australian one is pronounced Template:IPA.)

1 History
2 Government
3 Geography and landmarks
4 Transport
5 Culture, sport, notable achievements
6 External links

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History

Europeans originally settled at the mouth of the Tamar River at George Town in 1804 but moved to the present site of Launceston in 1805. As such, it is Australia's third oldest city (after Sydney and the state capital, Hobart) and has a lot of historical buildings and sights.

Launceston was once the home of John Batman (see History of Melbourne). From Launceston, Batman planned and designed the city of Melbourne, and in 1834 he sailed with John Pascoe Fawkner across Bass Strait to settle at Port Phillip, Victoria. Note: The spelling of John Batman's name is Bateman in some literature.

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Government

The city is governed by the Launceston City Council, led by a mayor and eleven other aldermen. The current mayor is Ivan Dean, who was sworn in on 31 October 2005.

The immediate past mayor, Janie Dickenson, was, at the time of her election, the youngest female mayor in Australia. She was first elected mayor in February 2002 at the age of 27.

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Geography and landmarks

Image:Launceston view of city.JPG Launceston serves as the commercial hub for the north of the state and, like many parts of Tasmania, is a major tourist centre. Some points of attraction are:

The Cataract Gorge, a natural wonder of Tasmania and only five minutes walk from the city
The City Park, which includes an enclosure for Japanese Macaque monkeys, a gift from the sister-city of Ikeda, Japan
The Tamar Valley, which is home to some of Australia's best vineyards
The Boags Brewery, which produces one of Australia's premium beers.

Launceston is the home of Aurora Stadium (a.k.a. York Park), which is the state's only first-class sports ground equipped with lights for evening games. As a result, two of the Melbourne teams, Hawthorn and St Kilda, have agreed to play a small number of AFL (Australian football) games there each year.

The Launceston General Hospital is one of 3 major public hospitals in the state. The Launceston Remand Centre serves as the area's detention facility.

Launceston is the hub for the state's medical retrieval service. The Royal Flying Doctor Service is serviced by the state's ambulance service, and doctors from the Launceston General Hospital.

The University of Tasmania has a large campus close to the city, at Newnham. The Australian Maritime College is located on the grounds.

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Transport

Image:Launceston st john st..JPG Launceston has a public bus service operated by the Tasmanian government owned company Metro Tasmania. Buses operate on regular time tables and take commuters between city suburbs. Services run from most stops per half hour, Monday to Friday and with less services on weekends. However many buses remain only partly filled and the number of commuters, with the exception of school children, is quite low.

Launceston is the hub of five of the state's major highways:

The Midlands Highway, the primary route to Hobart
The Bass Highway, the primary route to Devonport and Burnie
The Tasman Highway, the alternate scenic route to Hobart via Scottsdale and the east coast.
The West Tamar Highway and East Tamar Highway, on either side of the Tamar River.

The city is served by Launceston Airport (IATA code LST), just south-east of the city. There are direct flights to and from Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

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Culture, sport, notable achievements

Launceston was the home of several firsts:

first use of anaesthetic in Southern Hemisphere
first Australian city to have underground sewers
first Australian city to be lit by hydro-electricity (see Duck Reach Power Plant)
longest single span chairlift in the world at The Gorge
first telephone call in Australia
first laminated tennis racket
first use of two way radios in taxis
first shopping mall in Australia
first breeding of seahorses in captivity, in the world
youngest female elected mayor in Australia

There is heated (but friendly) rivalry between residents of Launceston and the southern capital Hobart. The AFL games mentioned above are an example — Hobart residents are disappointed about missing out — while Hobart hosts all international cricket games played in the state at the Bellerive Oval.

Launceston produced two of Australia's top cricket batsmen in recent years: David Boon and Ricky Ponting. Notable Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe originally hailed from Launceston.

Launceston was recently the home of the Gone South music festival.

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