Bunbury

▪ Western Australia, Australia

      town and seaport, southwestern Western Australia, south of Perth and Fremantle. It lies on the southern shore of Koombana Bay just below Leschenault Inlet, fed by the Collie and Preston rivers. Founded in 1843 and named for Lieutenant Henry William St. Pierre Bunbury, who explored the area, it was by 1976 the largest urban centre in the state apart from metropolitan Perth. Bunbury is an outlet for the export of timber, wheat, wool, dairy products, and fruit of the southern farmlands; for coal from nearby Collie Field; for alumina; and for ilmenite and other heavy minerals that are extracted from beach sands. There are superphosphate and construction works. Wine production developed as a regional industry in the 1970s, and aluminum refineries were built to process bauxite from Mount Saddleback (to the northeast). Port expansion followed, and a new inner harbour opened in 1976. A refinery for edible oils was opened at Bunbury in 1979.

      Surfing and boating facilities have made Bunbury a popular seaside resort. St. Boniface Cathedral was the first to be consecrated (1962) in Australia in the 20th century. Pop. (2001) urban centre, 45,299.

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