About Burnie
Population: about 20,000 Tasmania's most westerly city
Location: North West Tasmania on the shore of Bass Strait
Climate: Cool Temperate
Average Rainfall: 970mm per annum
Longitude: 145°
Latitude: 41°
Main Language: Australian
Closest Airport: Burnie Airport
Closest Passenger Seaport: Devonport
Closest International Airport: Melbourne
Currency: $AUD
Median House Price: $167,500 AUD
About 10,000 years ago the first Tasmanians walked across a land bridge before the rising seas flooded the Bassian Plain in The Great South Land, creating Bass Strait and the island of Tasmania. For the next 10,000 years the descendents of these original 4000-5000 aboriginal people hunted and gathered, largely without tools and weapons. They had to carry fire sticks, because it is believed they did not have the knowledge of lighting fire.
Tasmania was not known to any one else in the world, until in 1642 a Dutch seaman, Able Tasman, "discovered" it. Claimed by Captain James Cook in 1770, British sovereignty was asserted when the first settlement in Tasmania was established in 1803, on the Derwent River.
In 1828 a struggling pastoral company chose Burnie as a settlement site because of its port, and a home was carved out of the huge eucalypt forests of Emu Bay. Like all pioneers these first white settlers were makers.
For the next 100 years the port of Burnie shipped out the timbers, minerals and produce from the region, and the people of Burnie made things. They made paper and pulp from the timber, they made chemicals for paint products, they made acids for industry and keeping with the technologies of their time, they made a mess of their environment.
In the early 1990's Burnie's generational reliance on big companies that made things, was shaken to the core when several companies closed under pressure of global markets and environmental issues.
The people of Burnie were desperate to find a new way of looking at things.
After lots of reflection, they intervened in their own future by cleaning up the environment and thinking about the things they chose to make.
These days for global markets, the people of Burnie make giant machines to mine the ore, wonderful cheese, single malt whisky and milk. They make delicious and healthy things to eat from local produce. They make paper by hand from recycled materials, and they make inspirational and functional artworks inspired by the natural and industrial environment.
They make a noise at performances and footy matches and make peace in natural places of reflection and recreation. They make time to look out for each other and make improvements to native wildlife habitat.
The people of Burnie have interesting stories to tell and invite you to discover them for yourself, when you visit.
