PORT MACQUARIE

town and seaside resort of northeastern New South Wales, Australia, at the coastal mouth of the Hastings River. The location of what is now the port was sighted by the explorer John Oxley and named by him after the colonial governor Lachlan Macquarie. A penal colony was established there in 1821, and, after it was abandoned in 1830, Port Macquarie received free settlers and developed an export trade in wheat, corn (maize), and cedarwood. The completion in 1840 of a road from the New England district stimulated the town's growth as a shipping point, and it was proclaimed a municipality in 1887. Just off the Pacific Highway, Port Macquarie has air and rail links to Sydney (198 mi southwest) and serves an area of fruit and dairy farming, and lumbering. Its fishing fleet lands bream, and oysters are cultivated. Remains of the penal settlement include a church designed by the convict architect Francis H. Greenway. The Easter time carnival of the pines is an annual local event. Pop. (1981) 19,581.