Weipa
Weipa () is a coastal mining town in the local government area of Weipa Town in Queensland. It is the largest town on the Cape York Peninsula. It exists because of the enormous bauxite deposits along the coast. The "Port of Weipa" is mainly involved in exports of bauxite. There are also shipments of live cattle from the port. In the , Weipa had a population of 3,899 people. Geography. Weipa is on the western coast of the Cape York Peninsula facing the Gulf of Carpentaria. Weipa is just south of Duyfken Point, which was named by Matthew Flinders on 8  November 1802 after the ship "Duyfken" commanded by the Dutch explorer Willem Janszoon. It is claimed that Janszoon was the first European to sight the Australian coast in the Gulf of Carpentaria in 1606, 164 years before Lieutenant James Cook sailed up the east coast of Australia. The town consists of three residential suburbs, Rocky Point, Trunding, and Nanum, in addition to the industrial suburb of Evans Landing; these suburbs are contiguous. The town also includes the suburb of Weipa Airport which is not connected to the other suburbs and contains the town's airport. History. Traditional owners and languages . Yupanguthi (Yuputhimri, Jupangati, Yupangathi, Nggerikudi, Yupungati, Jupangati) is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken on Yupanguthi country. The Yupanguthi language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the landscape within the local government boundaries of the Shire of Cook and Weipa Region. Kugu Yi'anh is a language of Cape York. The traditional language area of Kugu Yi'anh includes landscape within the local government boundaries of the Cook Shire. Kugu Nganchara (also known as Wik, Wiknantjara, Wik Nganychara, Wik Ngencherr. See also related Wik languages) is a traditional language of the area which includes the landscape within the local  government boundaries of the Cook Shire. Kugu Muminh (also known as Kuku-Muminh. See also related Wik languages) is one of the traditional languages which includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the Cook Shire.Thaynakwith (also known as Awngthim, Tainikuit and Winduwinda) is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken on Western Cape York in the Weipa area taking in Albatross Bay and Mission River. The language region includes areas within the local government boundaries of Weipa Town Council and Cook Shire. Weipa Mission. In 1895 Presbyterian missionary Reverend Nicholas John Hey established a mission at the junction of  Embley River and Spring Creek which he called Weipa, which is believed to derive from the Anhathangayth word meaning "fighting ground". In 1932 the mission relocated approximately to Jessica Point, continuing under the same name, Weipa Mission. Very restrictive legislation was enacted by the state of Queensland in 1911, making the Protector of Aborigines the legal guardian of every Aboriginal and part-Aboriginal child (until he/she was 21), and the right to confine (or expel) any such person within any Aboriginal reserve or institution, and the right to imprison any Aboriginal or part-Aboriginal person for 14 days if , in the Protector's judgement, they were guilty of neglect of duty, gross insubordination or wilful preaching of disobedience. It also gave powers to the police to confine Aboriginal people to reserves to "protect them from corruption". This latter power was given by Comalco in 1957 to justify the removal of Weipa Aboriginal people. In 1932 the community had to relocate to its present site, at Jessica Point now called Napranum because of malaria. It is about south of the present town of Weipa. At this time most of the people were Awngthim but soon different tribes and clans and  other communities were forcibly removed from Old Mapoon. To prevent the spread of malaria, the Old Mapoon settlement was burnt down on 15 November 1963. Mining town. In 1955 a geologist, Henry Evans (1912–1990), discovered that the red cliffs on the Aboriginal reserve, previously remarked on by the early Dutch explorers and Matthew Flinders, were actually enormous deposits of bauxite – the ore from which aluminium is made – and to a lesser extent tungsten. The ""Comalco Act 1957"" revoked the reserve status, giving the company of Aboriginal reserve land on the west coast of the Peninsula and on the east coast  of Aboriginal-owned (though not reserve) land. Mining commenced in 1960. In 1962, residents accepted Comalco’s offer to rebuild the Jessica Point village at a cost of £150,000. By the time building began in 1965, it became clear that funding was inadequate to build houses for the whole community, which contributed towards the Presbyterian Church’s decision to hand over responsibility for the mission to the Queensland Government. The community became known as Weipa South after this. The Weipa Parish of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns was established in 1982. On 30 March 1985, the Weipa South  community elected the Weipa South Aboriginal Council, and the Aboriginal reserve held by the government was transferred to the Council on 27 October 1988 under a Deed of Grant in Trust (DOGIT). In 1990, the Weipa South community became known as Napranum, meaning "meeting place of the people". The DOGIT lands became known as the Napranum DOGIT in 1991. In 1992, the Peppan people, originally located to the east of Napranum, were granted freehold title to former Aboriginal reserve land, which had been leased to the Commonwealth for the construction of Scherger Air Force Base. This was the first real  compensation to the people of Napranum for use of their land. On 1 January 2005, the Napranum Aboriginal Council became the Napranum Aboriginal Shire Council. Climate. Weipa has a tropical savanna climate, with hot temperatures above throughout the year. Three distinct seasons exist. The wet season, which runs from January to April, is characterised by heavy downpours on an almost daily basis. Monsoon lows and tropical cyclones cause even more extreme rainfall, up to 200 mm (8 in) in 24 hours. The dry season, running from May to September, features hot and dry days; however, night-time lows are cooler  and rainfall is almost non-existent. The build-up season, running from October to December, is oppressively hot and humid, with frequent days over . Dewpoints in the wet season average ; in the dry season they average . Rainfall during the build-up is infrequent, but when it does occur, it usually falls in brief, heavy downpours associated with severe thunderstorms. These seasons are not always set, however; sometimes the wet season can start as early as November or the dry season can extend as late as December, and monsoonal downpours have occurred as late as May. Extreme temperatures have ranged from  to . The highest daily rainfall recorded was 327.8 mm (12.9 in) during the passage of Tropical Cyclone Oswald in January 2013. Bauxite mining. The present town was constructed mainly by Comalco (now called Rio Tinto), a large aluminium company, which began making trial shipments of bauxite to Japan in 1962. A railway was constructed to transport the ore from the mine at Andoom to the export facility at Lorim Point. The bauxite mine is amongst the world's largest. Using figures from 2006, "Reuters" reported that it ranked third in the world, with capacity and production at 15.5 and 16.1  million tonnes respectively. Education. There are two schools in Weipa. The Western Cape College is a government co-educational school; it provides early childhood (kindergarten), primary and secondary schooling. It is on the corner of Central and Eastern Avenues in Rocky Point (). In 2015, the school had an enrollment of 1,073 students with 93 teachers (90 full-time equivalent). St Joseph's Parish School is a Roman Catholic co-educational primary school at 2 Boundary Road, Rocky Point (). Opened in 2016, the school only offered enrollment in years P-3 but expected to be able to offer enrollment across all primary  levels (P-6) in 2018. Amenities. Weipa has a visitor's centre, swimming pool, bowling green, golf club, tennis and squash courts. There are netball and basketball courts as well as football fields. Weipa Town Authority operates a public library at Hibberd Drive in Weipa. At Nanum the shopping precinct has a Woolworths supermarket, bakery, coffee shop, travel agent, clothing shop, post office, newsagency / sports shop and butchers. There is also a chemist, camping and fishing store and within walking distance is a gift shop, furniture and whitegoods store, credit union and government social security office. At Evans Landing there are  a hardware store and a number of mechanical workshops. St Joseph's Catholic Church is on Boundary Road at Rocky Point. It is within the Weipa Parish of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns.