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City of Townsville (LGA)
Encyclopedia
The City of Townsville is an Australia
n Local Government Area (LGA) located in North Queensland
, Australia. The LGA encompasses the city of Townsville
, together with the surrounding rural areas, to the south are the communities of Alligator Creek, Woodstock
and Reid River, and to the North are areas like the Northern Beaches
and Paluma, and also included is Magnetic Island
. It currently has a population of 175,542 residents, and is the 18th largest LGA in Australia.
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The City of Townsville was first established as a Municipality under the Municipal Institutions Act 1864 on 15 February 1866. The surrounding rural area, which was given the name Thuringowa, was established on 11 November 1879 as one of 74 divisions around Queensland under the Divisional Boards Act 1879. On 31 March 1903, Thuringowa became a shire and Townsville was granted City status under the Local Authorities Act 1902, the ancestor of the current Local Government Act 1993.
The borders of the Townsville municipality were expanded to keep pace with urban growth in 1882, 1918, 1936, 1958 and 1964 — the purpose of expanding the borders was to keep urban and rural administrations separate. This state government
convention changed under the Bjelke-Peterson
government and the borders between the two local governments became static. By 1986 the Shire of Thuringowa had grown to a population of 27 000 and was declared a city.
In 1939, Fred Paterson
stood successfully as an alderman for the Townsville City Council, becoming the first member of the Communist Party
to win such an office in Australia. He was then re-elected in 1943. The same year, he stood for the federal seat of Herbert
, but was narrowly defeated. He then contested and won the Bowen
seat in the Queensland Parliament, holding it from 1944 until 1950.
A succession of endorsed Australian Labor Party
mayors and majority councillors held a continuous civic government from 1976–2008, this was the longest continuous Labor administration in the country until Tony Mooney
was defeated in 2008.
Following local government reform undertaken by the State Government of Queensland
, the City of Townsville and the City of Thuringowa were amalgamated in 2008. The process of amalgamation was completed on the election
of a new combined council
on 15 March 2008.
that services the Local Government Area of Townsville. The council is represented by 12 councillors and the Mayor, who have been elected by the whole city. The current mayor is Cr Les Tyrell
, who was formerly the mayor of the City of Thuringowa until the 2008 elections. The former Mayor of Townsville was Tony Mooney
who had held the position since 1989 when he succeeded Mike Reynolds
.
The council provides many services to residents of the city of Townsville, including infrastructure, water, garbage, public works, and entertainment and leisure i.e parks, theatres, events etc.
Currently the council has total operating expenditure of $201.3M and a capital works budget of $103.3M
Councillors (undivided council without divisions):
, Papua New Guinea
since 1983 Shunan, Japan
since 1990 Iwaki City, Japan
since August, 1991 Changshu
, People's Republic of China
since 1995 Suwon
, South Korea
since 1996 Foshan
, People's Republic of China
since 2006
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n Local Government Area (LGA) located in North Queensland
North Queensland
North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the state of Queensland in Australia. Queensland is a massive state, larger than most countries, and the tropical northern part of it has been historically remote and undeveloped, resulting in a distinctive regional character and...
, Australia. The LGA encompasses the city of Townsville
Townsville, Queensland
Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Australia, in the state of Queensland. Adjacent to the central section of the Great Barrier Reef, it is in the dry tropics region of Queensland. Townsville is Australia's largest urban centre north of the Sunshine Coast, with a 2006 census...
, together with the surrounding rural areas, to the south are the communities of Alligator Creek, Woodstock
Woodstock, Queensland
Woodstock is a small rural community and suburb 40 km west in the rural area of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. The Woodstock General Store is the local shop, cafe, news agent, service station, bank and post office...
and Reid River, and to the North are areas like the Northern Beaches
Bushland Beach, Queensland
Bushland Beach is part of the Northern Beaches area of City of Townsville, Queensland, alongside the Bruce Highway. This beachside suburb is one of the fastest-growing suburbs in Townsville....
and Paluma, and also included is Magnetic Island
Magnetic Island
Magnetic Island is an island offshore from the city of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. This mountainous island in Cleveland Bay has effectively become a suburb of Townsville, with 2,107 permanent residents. The island is accessible from Townsville Breakwater to Nelly Bay Harbour by ferry...
. It currently has a population of 175,542 residents, and is the 18th largest LGA in Australia.
History
The borders of the Townsville municipality were expanded to keep pace with urban growth in 1882, 1918, 1936, 1958 and 1964 — the purpose of expanding the borders was to keep urban and rural administrations separate. This state government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
convention changed under the Bjelke-Peterson
Joh Bjelke-Petersen
Sir Johannes "Joh" Bjelke-Petersen, KCMG , was an Australian politician. He was the longest-serving and longest-lived Premier of Queensland, holding office from 1968 to 1987, a period that saw considerable economic development in the state...
government and the borders between the two local governments became static. By 1986 the Shire of Thuringowa had grown to a population of 27 000 and was declared a city.
In 1939, Fred Paterson
Fred Paterson
Frederick Woolnough Paterson was an Australian politician, activist, unionist and lawyer. He was the only member of a Communist Party ever to be elected to a parliament anywhere in the Commonwealth of Australia....
stood successfully as an alderman for the Townsville City Council, becoming the first member of the Communist Party
Communist party
A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...
to win such an office in Australia. He was then re-elected in 1943. The same year, he stood for the federal seat of Herbert
Division of Herbert
The Division of Herbert is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. Eligible voters within the Division elect a single representative, known as the member for Herbert, to the Australian House of Representatives. The division was first contested at the 1901 election...
, but was narrowly defeated. He then contested and won the Bowen
Electoral district of Bowen
Bowen was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Queensland from 1873 to 1950 and at various times until 1992....
seat in the Queensland Parliament, holding it from 1944 until 1950.
A succession of endorsed Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
mayors and majority councillors held a continuous civic government from 1976–2008, this was the longest continuous Labor administration in the country until Tony Mooney
Tony Mooney
Anthony John "Tony" Mooney AM is an Australian politician and was a City Councillor of the City of Townsville, Queensland from 1977 to 2008, and the Mayor from 1989 to 2008.-Overview:...
was defeated in 2008.
Following local government reform undertaken by the State Government of Queensland
Government of Queensland
The Government of Queensland is commonly known as the "Queensland Government".The form of the Government of Queensland is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1859, although it has been amended many times since then...
, the City of Townsville and the City of Thuringowa were amalgamated in 2008. The process of amalgamation was completed on the election
Election
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
of a new combined council
Local government in Queensland
Local government in the Australian state of Queensland describes the institutions and processes by which towns and districts can manage their own affairs to the extent permitted by the Local Government Act 1993-2007. Queensland is divided into 73 local government areas which may be called Cities,...
on 15 March 2008.
Townsville City Council
Townsville City Council is the Local Government AuthorityLocal government in Australia
Local government in Australia is the third tier of government, administered by the states and territories which in turn are beneath the Commonwealth or federal tier. Unlike New Zealand, the US or the UK, there is only one level of local government in all states, with no distinction such as...
that services the Local Government Area of Townsville. The council is represented by 12 councillors and the Mayor, who have been elected by the whole city. The current mayor is Cr Les Tyrell
Les Tyrell
Les Tyrell is an Australian local government politician. He has been the Mayor of the City of Townsville since March 2008. He previously served as Mayor of the City of Thuringowa from 1991 until it became part of the City of Townsville in March 2008...
, who was formerly the mayor of the City of Thuringowa until the 2008 elections. The former Mayor of Townsville was Tony Mooney
Tony Mooney
Anthony John "Tony" Mooney AM is an Australian politician and was a City Councillor of the City of Townsville, Queensland from 1977 to 2008, and the Mayor from 1989 to 2008.-Overview:...
who had held the position since 1989 when he succeeded Mike Reynolds
Mike Reynolds (politician)
Michael Reynolds is an Australian politician. He was a Labor member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly from 1998 to 2009, representing the district of Townsville. He served as Speaker of the Queensland Legislative Assembly from 2006 to 2009.- Biography :Reynolds has first elected to...
.
The council provides many services to residents of the city of Townsville, including infrastructure, water, garbage, public works, and entertainment and leisure i.e parks, theatres, events etc.
Currently the council has total operating expenditure of $201.3M and a capital works budget of $103.3M
Population
The populations given relate to the component entities prior to 2008. The next census, due in 2011, will be the first for the new City.| Year | Population (City total) |
Population (Townsville) |
Population (Thuringowa) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1911 | 15,731 | 10,636 | 5,095 |
| 1921 | 23,690 | 21,353 | 2,337 |
| 1933 | 29,300 | 25,876 | 3,424 |
| 1947 | 36,436 | 34,109 | 2,327 |
| 1954 | 43,098 | 40,471 | 2,627 |
| 1961 | 53,715 | 51,143 | 2,572 |
| 1966 | 65,303 | 62,403 | 2,900 |
| 1971 | 72,023 | 68,591 | 3,432 |
| 1976 | 91,279 | 80,365 | 10,914 |
| 1981 | 98,900 | 81,172 | 17,728 |
| 1986 | 112,917 | 82,809 | 30,108 |
| 1991 | 125,010 | 87,288 | 37,722 |
| 1996 | 131,371 | 87,052 | 44,319 |
| 2001 | 143,841 | 92,701 | 51,140 |
| 2006 | 158,647 | 99,483 | 59,164 |
Civic Cabinet
The current Civic Cabinet consists of one mayor and 12 councillors.- Mayor: Les TyrellLes TyrellLes Tyrell is an Australian local government politician. He has been the Mayor of the City of Townsville since March 2008. He previously served as Mayor of the City of Thuringowa from 1991 until it became part of the City of Townsville in March 2008...
(IndependentIndependent (politician)In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
) - Chief Executive Officer: Ray Burton
Councillors (undivided council without divisions):
- Deanne Bell
- Sue Blom
- David Crisafulli (Deputy Mayor)(LNP QldLiberal National PartyThe Liberal National Party is a political party in Queensland, Australia. It was formed on 26 July 2008 by the merger of the Queensland divisions of the Liberal and National parties.-History:...
) - Brian Hewett
- Ray Gartrell
- Jenny Hill
- Jenny Lane
- Dale Last
- Natalie Marr
- Vern Veitch
- Tony Parsons
- Trevor Roberts
Sister cities
Port MoresbyPort Moresby
Port Moresby , or Pot Mosbi in Tok Pisin, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea . It is located on the shores of the Gulf of Papua, on the southeastern coast of the island of New Guinea, which made it a prime objective for conquest by the Imperial Japanese forces during 1942–43...
, Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
since 1983 Shunan, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
since 1990 Iwaki City, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
since August, 1991 Changshu
Changshu
Changshu is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Suzhou, and is located in the south-eastern part of eastern-China’s Jiangsu Province as well as the Yangtze River Delta...
, People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
since 1995 Suwon
Suwon
Suwon is the provincial capital of Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. A major city of over a million inhabitants, Suwon lies approximately south of Seoul. It is traditionally known as "The City of Filial Piety"....
, South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
since 1996 Foshan
Foshan
Foshan is a city in central Guangdong province in southern China. The prefectural area under the city's jurisdiction over an area of about 3,840 km² and a population of 5.4 million of which 1.1 million reside in the city proper ....
, People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
since 2006