EDEN, NEW SOUTH WALES

'Eden' (postcode 2551. Population 2001 census: 3,157) is a town located on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia, on the northern shores of Twofold Bay. The town is situated on a deep harbour 476km south of Sydney near the border with Victoria. The town’s main industries include fishing, forestry, and tourism.

Contents

History

Government

Industry

See also

References and external links

History

The local Aboriginal people who lived in the region prior to the arrival of Europeans were the Thawa people.
Whaling ships had been operating in the area in 1791. George Bass first took shelter in Twofold bay on a voyage to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) in 1798. Later that year, on a subsequent voyage with Matthew Flinders, he and Flinders surveyed the bay for the first time. They also made first contact with the local Thawa Aboriginal people on this occasion.
The first whaling station was established in the area in 1828. Local Aboriginal people were employed in the whaling industry. The town was surveyed and laid out in 1843. Eden grew in the 1850s following the decline of nearby Boydtown, and the discovery of gold in Kiandra.
Being equidistant between Sydney and Melbourne, the port town was considered as a location for the Australian capital following Australian Federation in 1901 however was not chosen (the ‘Limestone Plains’ in Southern New South Wales were chosen as the location of the new city of Canberra).
Whaling declined in the 1920s and ended in 1930. A tuna cannery opened in the town in 1949. It was closed in 1999, at the cost of many jobs.
As a nod of the hat to the town's whaling history, the local Australian Rules Football team was christened the Eden Whalers FC.

Government

The town of Eden lies within the Bega Valley Shire Council local government area.
It is within the federal electorate of Eden-Monaro, which has for a long time been a key marginal seat, resulting in significant focus by the media and political parties during election campaigns. It is represented in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly by the electorate of Monaro.

Industry

A number of industries are based in the town.
A significant fishing fleet is based in the harbour. A fish processing plant is located in the town. The forestry industry plays a significant role in the region. A woodchip mill is located on the southern side of the harbour and woodchips are exported through the port.
The Eden woodchip mill is owned by South East Fibre Exports(SEFE), a subsidiary of Japan's biggest paper manufacturer, Nippon Paper Industries. Last year, SEFE exported a million tonnes of native forest chips. The mill can only process whole tree logs and cannot process waste wood. The Eden chipmill was Australia's first chipmill and has been vigorously opposed by conservationists for over 35 years. Conservationists argue that woodchipping not only kills millions of native animals and birds, it is a major contributor to climate change, however, they are derided by the general public for the interruptions they cause the economy.
Parallel to the woodchip mill is a naval munitions storage depot.
Tourism contributes $180 million Australian dollars yearly to the economy of the shire – which includes Bega and several other towns. The area receives 550,000 visitors annually. Many people visit Eden for whale watching as whales migrate from Antarctic to tropical waters in June and July, and back again later in the year.
Whaling played a very important role in the town’s economy for over 100 years before its decline in the area in the 1920s and its end in 1930. Eden’s ‘Killer Whale Museum’ informs visitors of the history of whaling in the area and the role of orcas (killer whales) in herding whales into the harbour and helping whalers kill them. The whalers rewarded the orcas by allowing them to eat the lips and tongues of the dead whales.
== 'Port of Eden' ==
The Port of Eden is one of two regional ports in New South Wales administered by the New South Wales Maritime Authority, the other is at Yamba on the North Coast. The Port of Eden is the largest fishing port in NSW. Major exports from the port are woodchips. The port is shared with the Department of Defence and handles warships. The port also handleds cruise ships. ^[1]
From the 1850s to 1950s the port was serviced by the Illawarra Steam Navigation Company.

See also

★ Old Tom - The leader of a pack of killer whales who helped whalers in the port of Eden to capture baleen whales in return for the whales lips and tongues as food. Old Tom's skeleton is on display in Eden's Killer Whale Museum, and it is the only complete killer whale skeleton on display in the southern hemisphere.

★ Woodchipping

References and external links

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★ Bega Valley Shire Council

★ Holidayonline.com.au (Includes pictures)

★ Port of Eden website

★ South Coast Visitors Guide

★ Capital Region Development Board

★ Sydney Morning Herald Tourism Page

★ Killers of Eden

★ Opposition to the woodchipping industry[1] - also [2]