Penguin, Tasmania

Infobox Australian Place | type = town
name = Penguin
state = tas


caption =
lga = Central Coast Council
postcode = 7316
pop = 2,943
pop_footnotes=
est = 1861
stategov = Braddon
fedgov = Braddon
dist1 = 283
dir1 = NW
location1= Hobart
dist2 = 128
dir2 = NW
location2= Launceston
dist3 = 29
dir3 = W
location3= Devonport

Penguin is a town in the north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. It is located in the Central Coast Council Local Government Area on the Bass Highway, between Burnie and Ulverstone. At the 2006 census, Penguin had a population of 2,943.Census 2006 AUS
id=UCL612200 |name=Penguin (Urban Centre/Locality)|accessdate=2007-11-11|quick=on]

Penguin was first settled in 1861 as a timber town, and proclaimed on 25 October 1875. The area's dense bushland and easy access to the sea lead to Penguin becoming a significant port town, with large quantities of timber shipped across Bass Strait to Victoria, where the 1850s gold rushes were taking place. The town was named by the botanist Ronald Campbell Gunn for the Fairy Penguin rookeries that are common along the less populated areas of the coast. [ [http://www.theage.com.au/news/Tasmania/Penguin/2005/02/17/1108500205886.html Travel: Penguin] , "The Age", February 8, 2004.]

Notable residents

*Fashion designer Alannah Hill lived in Penguin during her childhood, as her parents owned a milk bar in the town. [ [http://www.women.tas.gov.au/significantwomen/search/allanah_hill.html Significant Women: Alannah Hill] , Government of Tasmania.]
*Trevor Kaine, the second Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory, was born in Penguin.
*Russell Robertson, an Australian rules footballer for the Melbourne Demons, attended Penguin High School from 1991 to 1994.

References