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Port Augusta ( Goordnada in the revived indigenous Barngarla language) is a coastal city in South Australia about by road from the state capital, Adelaide. Most of the city is on the eastern shores of Spencer Gulf, immediately south of the gulf's head, Cat. No. 3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2011 Australian Bureau of Statistics. Accessed 10 August 2012. comprising the city's centre and surrounding suburbs, Stirling North, and seaside homes at Commissariat Point, Blanche Harbor and Miranda. The suburb of Port Augusta West is on the western side of the gulf on the Eyre Peninsula. Together, these localities had a population of 13,515 people in the .
Formerly a port, the city supports regional agriculture and services many mines in the South Australian interior to its north. A significant industry was electricity generation until 2019, when its coal-burning power stations were shut down. A solar farm opened in 2020.
It is a natural harbour, which was proclaimed on 24 May 1852 by Alexander Elder (brother of Thomas Elder) and John Grainger, having discovered it while aboard the Government schooner Yatala, captained by Edward Dowsett. The port was named after Augusta Sophia, Lady Young, the wife of the Governor of South Australia, Henry Young. Lady Young was the daughter of Charles Marryat Snr., who had been a slaveholder in the British West Indies. Her brother was the Anglican minister Dean of Adelaide Charles Marryat.
Twice-daily coach services operate between Port Augusta, other country centres and Adelaide.
Between 1913 and 1917, a long, east–west transcontinental railway, the Trans-Australian Railway, was built from Port Augusta to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. It was built to standard gauge as part of a long-term plan to harmonise gauges between the mainland states. The choice created a break-of-gauge at Port Augusta until the standard gauge track was extended to Port Pirie in 1937. The last component of the all-through standard gauge line from Adelaide to Darwin was only completed in 2003.
Port Augusta is a stopping place of two long-distance "experiential" train services: the east-west Indian Pacific transcontinental service and The Ghan service between Adelaide and Darwin.
The not-for-profit Pichi Richi Railway, established in the 1970s on the southernmost section of the Central Australia Railway (CAR) at Quorn, was not connected to Port Augusta after the CAR closed in 1980. An ambitious project to build a line from Stirling North to the centre of Port Augusta was completed in 2001 and now provides half-day and full-day heritage railway journeys on selected dates from March to November.
Electricity was generated at the Playford B (240 MW) and Northern power stations (520 MW) from Lignite mined at Leigh Creek, 250 km to the north. The only coal-fired electricity generating plants in South Australia, in 2009 they produced 33% of the state's electricity, but over 50% of the state's CO2 emissions from electricity generation.The Climate Group Greenhouse Indicator Series: Electricity Generation Report 2009
Playford B has not been operational since 2012. In October 2015, Alinta Energy announced the permanent closure of both Northern and Playford B in early 2016. The Northern Power Station went offline in May 2016. SA's coal era ends, but what's next? InDaily, 9 May 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2016. End of an era: final day of coal-fired power generation in Port Augusta ABC News, 9 May 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
In 2016, a local community group was lobbying for assistance to replace the coal-fired plants with a solar thermal power station. The premier of South Australia, Jay Weatherill announced in August 2017 that construction would begin in 2018 and was expected to be completed in 2020. The Aurora Solar Thermal Power Project is expected to cost to build, including a loan from the Federal Government, and deliver 150MW of electricity. SolarReserve has a contract to supply all of the electricity required by the state government's offices from this power project.
Within Port Augusta is the City of Port Augusta's Wadlata Outback Centre, providing tourists with an introduction to life in the Australian outback. The centre recorded over 500,000 visitors in 2006. North of the town, on the Stuart Highway, is the Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden, a unique and award-winning garden, opened in 1996, which "showcases a diverse collection of arid zone habitats in a picturesque setting of more than 250 hectares". The gardens have a cafe/restaurant with views across the saltbush plains to the escarpment of the Flinders Ranges. The PACC annual report shows more than 100,000 people visited the gardens in 2006.
Southwest of town is the El-Alamein army base.
Television coverage in the city is provided by the ABC, SBS, GTS/BKN (7, 9 and 10) and Foxtel.
The major publication of the town is The Transcontinental, a weekly newspaper that was first issued in October 1914 and continues to be located on Commercial Road. In 1971, a brief experiment, known as the Northern Observer (7 July 1971 – 30 August 1971), occurred when The Transcontinental and The Recorder from Port Pirie were published under a combined title in Port Pirie.
Historically, the town published the Dispatch (1877–1916), which, as was common at the time, evolved through a series of name changes: Port Augusta Dispatch (18 August 1877 – 6 August 1880); Port Augusta Dispatch and Flinders' Advertiser (13 August 1880 – 17 October 1884); Port Augusta Dispatch (20 October 1884 – 16 March 1885); and, Port Augusta Dispatch, Newcastle and Flinders Chronicle (18 March 1885 – 21 April 1916). For a short period, due to the short-lived , a sister publication Teetulpa News and Golden Age (1886–1887) was printed by the Dispatch.
Another publication, the Port Augusta and Stirling Illustrated News (1901), was printed briefly in the town by James Taylor, but was curtailed so he could focus on his printing business.
| Labor | 62.3% | |
| Liberal | 30.7% | |
| Family First | 3.0% | |
| Greens | 2.3% | |
| Democrats | 1.3% | |
| Independent | 0.3% |
| Labor | 53.99% | |
| Liberal | 31.4% | |
| Family First | 4.47% | |
| Greens | 3.86% | |
| National | 3.32% | |
| Independent | 1.69% | |
| Democrats | 1.27% |
| Liberal | 32.23% | |
| Labor | 30.86% | |
| Independent (Habermann) | 11.52% | |
| Greens | 8.59% | |
| One Nation | 6.45% | |
| United Australia Party | 5.66% | |
| Australian Federation Party | 2.34% | |
| Independent (Carmody) | 1.76% | |
| Liberal Democrats | 0.59% |
Since the 2020 redistribution, Port Augusta was split between the state electoral district of Stuart and electoral district of Giles. In federal politics, the city is part of the division of Grey, and has been represented by Liberal MP Rowan Ramsey since 2007. Grey is held with a margin of 8.86% and is considered safe-liberal. The results shown are from the largest polling station in Port Augusta – which is located at Port Augusta TAFE college.
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