Hobart

Hobart is the capital and largest city of Tasmania, Australia’s island state. Australia’s southernmost capital city, Hobart is the second oldest capital city in Australia after Sydney. Located in the Hobart Region, Hobart is situated on the Derwent River estuary. The City of Hobart is a local government area (LGA) within metropolitan Hobart, called Greater Hobart for clarity. Four other LGAs comprise Greater Hobart: City of Glenorchy, City of Clarence, Municipality of Kingborough and Municipality of Brighton. With a population of 247,086 (according to the 2021 Census), Hobart is Tasmania’s financial centre and the site of the University of Tasmania’s main campus. Originally established as a British penal colony, Hobart has become a destination for tourists, a key shipping port and a gateway for tourism and research in the Southern Ocean and Antarctica.

Historical Perspective

The first inhabitants of Tasmania arrived around 38,000 BCE from the Australian mainland. Rising sea levels cut them off from the mainland around 6,000 BCE, where they remained isolated until British contact. Two English settlements were established in 1803 on the Derwent River by independent expeditions on behalf of the King of England. The initial locations of both settlements were deemed unsatisfactory, so the settlements jointly relocated to Sullivan Cove in 1804. While Hobart was initially settled to prevent French colonial expansion in Tasmania, convict transportation to Hobart began in 1804 and continued for fifty years. Many of the old buildings in Hobart were constructed by convicts and the Botanical Gardens contain Australia’s oldest convict-built wall.

Hobart became an important base for the Royal Navy by 1820. It soon became a thriving base for whaling and sealing in the Southern Ocean. It also exported wool and hardwood timber. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, people moved into Hobart for trade and industry and out of Hobart during the Victoria gold rush. The Tasman Bridge was completed in 1964, allowing expansion to the eastern shore.

Geography and Climate

Hobart is situated on the banks of the Derwent River. It forms a deep-water port that is not affected by intertidal changes. The river has been impacted by several forms of pollutants, including inadequately treated residential wastewater, agricultural runoff and introduced marine pests. In spite of the pollution, the river supports a number of fish species as well as local and migratory waterbirds. In 2014, humpback whales were seen feeding in the estuary, the first sighting in the estuary since intensive whaling efforts decimated the population in the nineteenth century. Since 2014, southern right whales have also been sighted. West of Hobart and the Derwent River is Mount Wellington. The mountain forms a backdrop to the city and supports more than five hundred native plant species. It also supports native fauna, especially birds.

Hobart has a temperate, maritime climate. It has mild winters, with frost occurring less than ten times per year, and narrow annual temperature ranges compared to Tasmania’s inland locations. Records from 2011 show average daily maximum temperatures of about 21.6 degrees Celsius in the summer and 11.7 degrees Celsius in the winter, with average rainfall of 615 mm annually. Average rainfall has declined since the mid-1970s, which has been attributed to climate change.

Economy

Hobart is best known as a port. It is a key exporter of Tasmanian products and is a significant driver of the economy. While industry in the greater Hobart metropolitan area saw a decline in the 1970s, Hobart still acts as a centre for management and exportation of various state-wide industries, including agriculture, aquaculture, forestry, fishing and mining. The port’s location has made it an ideal gateway to Antarctica and the Southern Ocean for both scientific research and tourism.

Tourism has increasingly become a foundation of Hobart’s economy, with visitors from mainland Australia and abroad coming to enjoy Hobart’s climate and natural environment or to take advantage of the port as a stopover before continuing to Antarctica. The increase in tourism has seen a slow shift in economic priorities as local environmental groups have been able to successfully pressure mining and logging companies to conduct themselves in a more environmentally friendly way in order to retain and encourage the growing tourist industry.

Demographics

There were 247,086 people in greater Hobart area as of the 2021 census, making Hobart the second smallest capital city in Australia after Darwin, the capital of the Northern Territory. Most residents identified themselves as English (42.5 per cent) or Australian (37.6 per cent). Other common ancestries include Irish (10.7 per cent), and Scottish (9.4 per cent).

The early days of Hobart were marked by conflict with the Aboriginal population, which is thought to have been between 3,000 and 15,000 people before Europeans arrived. As colonies expanded, many Aboriginals were killed in warfare and by disease. Conflict largely halted in 1823 when the remaining Aboriginal Tasmanians were moved to camps on islands surrounding Tasmania. By 1835, about four hundred officially recognized, full-blooded Aboriginal Tasmanians were left. By the 1860s, all but four had died. While efforts have been made to raise awareness for people with Aboriginal Tasmanian ancestry, DNA testing has been generally opposed by groups that identify as Aboriginal Tasmanian. Even so, through self-identified ancestry or migration, 4.1 per cent of people in the greater Hobart area identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people in the 2021 census.

Bibliography

Bailey, Sue. “Tasmania’s Economy Continues to Go Gang Busters.” The Examiner, 3 Dec. 2018. www.examiner.com.au/story/5788732/tasmanias-economy-continues-to-go-gang-busters/. Accessed 11 June 2024.

“Case Study 6 — Derwent Estuary.” Australia’s National Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-Based Activities, 2006, www.environment.gov.au/system/files/pages/2c223360-76b9-45e9-b1f9-caea4def637b/files/derwent.pdf. Accessed 11 June 2024.

“Climate Statistics for Australian Locations: Hobart Airport.” Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology, 2024, www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw‗094008.shtml. Accessed 11 June 2024.

“Greater Hobart.” Australian Bureau of Statistics, www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/6GHOB. Accessed 11 June 2024.

“Local Climate Profile: Hobart City Municipality.” Tasmanian Government, recfit.tas.gov.au/‗‗data/assets/pdf‗file/0010/348913/Hobart‗Climate‗Profile.pdf. Accessed 11 June 2024.

Mather, Anne. “It’s Mighty Mouth: Whales Feeding in River Derwent.” The Mercury, 26 Jul. 2014. www.themercury.com.au/news/tasmania/its-mighty-mouth-whales-feeding-in-river-derwent/news-story/eea8681df60501ed32164bd035f8c703. Accessed 11 June 2024.