Phillip Island

Phillip Island (Boonwurrung: Corriong, Worne or Millowl) is an Australian island about 125 km (78 mi) south-southeast of Melbourne, Victoria. The island is named after Governor Arthur Phillip, the first Governor of New South Wales, by explorer and seaman George Bass, who sailed in a whaleboat, arriving from Sydney on 5 January 1798.

Phillip Island forms a natural breakwater for the shallow waters of the Western Port. It is 26 km (16 mi) long and 9 km (5.6 mi) wide, with an area of about 101 km² (40 sq mi). It has 97 km (60 mi) of coastline and is part of the Bass Coast Shire.

A 640 m (2,100 ft) concrete bridge (originally a wooden bridge) connects the mainland town San Remo with the island town Newhaven. In the 2021 census, the island's permanent population was 13,799, compared to 7,071 in 2001. During the summer, the population swells to 40,000. 60% of the island is farmland devoted to grazing of sheep and cattle.

Phillip Island is formally recognised by UNESCO as part of the Mornington Peninsula and Western Port Biosphere Reserve. The designation as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve highlights areas of exceptional natural significance where communities collaborate to promote sustainable living practices and sits within a global network of 759 Biosphere Reserves spanning 136 countries.

The earliest inhabitants of the area were the Yalloc Bulluk clan of the Bunurong people, of the Kulin nation. In the Bunwurrung language the island is known as corriong or millowl. Their coastal territory with its sheltered bays meant that the Yalloc Bulluk, along with other Bunurong clans, were among the first Aboriginal people in Victoria to have contact with European mariners.

Following reports of the 1798 exploration by George Bass and Matthew Flinders, the area was frequented by sealers from Van Diemen's Land, whose interaction with the Bunurong people was not without conflict. In 1801, navigator James Grant visited the adjoining Churchill Island (which he named) and planted a crop of corn and wheat. In 1826, the scientific voyage of Dumont d'Urville, in command of the corvette Astrolabe, led to British concerns of an attempt by the French to establish a colony in Western Port. This saw the dispatch from Sydney of HMS Fly, under the command of Captain Wetherall, and the brigs Dragon and Amity, by Governor Darling.

While the French colonisation did not eventuate, Wetherall reported on finding a sealer's camp and also two acres of wheat and corn. A fort was constructed near Rhyll, and named Dumaresq after the Governor's private secretary. The "abundance" of wood, quality soil and the discovery of coal at Cape Woolamai, were mentioned in newspaper accounts. Wetherall also erected a flag staff on "the flat-top'd rock off Point Grant" (commonly known today as The Nobbies) on the Island's western extremity as a marker for the harbour entrance.

Of his encounters with the Bunurong people, Wetherall told Darling: