Forster

Forster, New South Wales, Australia

Forster, town, eastern New South Wales, Australia. It is situated on Cape Hawke south of the entrance to Lake Wallis, a 30-square-mile (80-square-km) coastal lagoon.

Forster was founded in 1862 and named for William Forster, secretary for lands (1868–70), and was proclaimed a town in 1961. It is linked by a 1.25-mile (2-km) bridge (completed in 1959) north across the lake entrance to Tuncurry, with which it is twinned. Both towns draw heavily on the resources of the lake, the waters of which yield fish, prawns, and oysters for Sydney (140 miles [225 km] southwest) as well as game fish for tourists. Pop. (2006) Forster-Tuncurry urban centre, 18,372; (2011) Forster-Tuncurry urban centre, 18,904.