City of Townsville Queensland | |||||||||||||||
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Population | 192,768 (2021 census) [1] (28th) | ||||||||||||||
• Density | 51.667/km2 (133.816/sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
Established | 1865 | ||||||||||||||
Area | 3,731 km2 (1,440.5 sq mi) [2] | ||||||||||||||
Mayor | Troy Thompson | ||||||||||||||
Council seat | Townsville City | ||||||||||||||
Region | North Queensland | ||||||||||||||
State electorate(s) | |||||||||||||||
Federal division(s) | |||||||||||||||
Website | City of Townsville | ||||||||||||||
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The City of Townsville is a local government area (LGA) located in North Queensland, Australia. It 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 Northern Beaches and Paluma. Also included is Magnetic Island. In June 2018 the area had a population of 194,072, [2] and is the 28th-largest LGA in Australia. Townsville is considered to be the unofficial capital of North Queensland.[ citation needed ]
In the 2021 census, the City of Townsville had a population of 192,768 people. [1]
Prior to 2008, the new City of Townsville was an entire area of two previous and distinct local government areas:
The City of Townsville was first established as the Borough of Townsville under the Municipal Institutions Act 1864 on 15 February 1866. The surrounding rural area, which was given the name Thuringowa Division, was established on 11 November 1879 as one of 74 divisions around Queensland under the Divisional Boards Act 1879. On 31 March 1903, Thuringowa Division became the Shire of Thuringowa 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. [3] This state government convention changed under the Bjelke-Petersen 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. [3]
The City of Townsville was notable in Australia in the 1890s and early 1900s for its support for municipal socialism. The anarchist and socialist Alderman Ned Lowry advocated for the City of Townsville to control various industries. [4]
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.
From 1942 to 1949, the council was held by a majority of members of the pro-soviet Labor party split, the North Queensland Labor Party. [5]
A succession of endorsed 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. [6] The process of amalgamation was completed on the election of a new combined council on 15 March 2008.
Other notable aldermen include:
Townsville City Council | |
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Leadership | |
Structure | |
Seats | 11 elected representatives, including a Mayor and 10 councillors |
Political groups |
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Elections | |
Last election | 16 March 2024 |
Townsville City Council services the LGA. The council is represented by 10 councillors and the mayor, who have been elected by the whole city. The current mayor is Jenny Hill, who was formerly the deputy mayor of the pre-amalgamation City of Townsville in 2007 and early 2008.
The council consists of one mayor, elected at large, and 10 councillors, elected from 10 individual divisions.
In 2008, the Australian Labor Party, which had controlled the council for 32 years − the longest-serving Labor administration in Australia − was defeated in a landslide by the conservative Team Tyrell, which won all but one of the councillor positions. Incumbent mayor Tony Mooney was among the ALP members defeated. [8]
After one term, mayor Les Tyrell chose to retire from politics and did not recontest his position. At the 2012 election, councillor Dale Last ran for mayor and formed the Townsville First group, which ran candidates − including six Team Tyrell councillors − in all wards. Jenny Hill, the only sitting Labor member on council, formed Team Jenny Hill and successfully ran for mayor. [9]
At the 2016 election, Team Jenny Hill defeated defeated Jayne Arlett's Team in a landslide victory, picking up every single ward, along with retaining the mayoralty. [10]
The current council, elected in 2024, is:
Ward | Councillor | Party | Notes | |
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Mayor | Troy Thompson | Independent | ||
Division 1 | Paul Jacob | TownsvilleCHANGE | ||
Division 2 | Brodie Phillips | Independent | ||
Division 3 | Ann-Maree Greaney | Team Jenny Hill | ||
Division 4 | Kristian Price | Independent | ||
Division 5 | Vera Dirou | TownsvilleCHANGE | ||
Division 6 | Suzy Batkovic | Team Jenny Hill | ||
Division 7 | Kurt Rehbein | Team Jenny Hill | ||
Division 8 | Andrew Robinson | Independent | ||
Division 9 | Liam Mooney | Team Jenny Hill | ||
Division 10 | Brady Ellis | Independent LNP | [11] |
Year | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | ||||||||||||
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2008 | David Crisafulli (Team Tyrell) | Jenny Lane (Team Tyrell/TF) | Dale Last (Team Tyrell/TF) | Rob McCahill (Team Tyrell) | Ray Gartrell (Team Tyrell/TF) | Deanne Bell (Team Tyrell) | Sue Blom (Team Tyrell/TF) | Brian Hewett (Team Tyrell) | Vern Veitch (Team Tyrell/TF) | Jenny Hill (Labor/TJH) | Tony Parsons (Team Tyrell/TF) | Natalie Marr (Team Tyrell/TF) | ||||||||||||
2008 | Trevor Roberts (Ind./TF) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
2012 | Vacant |
Year | Division 1 | Division 2 | Division 3 | Division 4 | Division 5 | Division 6 | Division 7 | Division 8 | Division 9 | Division 10 | ||||||||||
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Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | |||||||||||
2012 | Sue Blom (TF/JAT) | Tony Parsons (TF/JAT) | Vern Veitch (TF/Ind.) | Jenny Lane (TF) | Pat Ernst (Ind.) | Trevor Roberts (TF/JAT) | Gary Eddiehausen (TF/JAT) | Ray Gartrell (TF/JAT) | Colleen Doyle (TJH) | Les Walker (TJH) | ||||||||||
2015 | ||||||||||||||||||||
2016 | Margie Ryder (TJH) | Paul Jacob (TJH/Ind.) | Ann-Maree Greaney (TJH) | Mark Molachino (TJH) | Russ Cook (TJH) | Verena Coombe (TJH) | Kurt Rehbein (TJH) | Maurie Soars (TJH) | ||||||||||||
2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||
2020 | Sue Blom (Ind.) | Suzy Batkovic (TJH) | Liam Mooney (TJH) | |||||||||||||||||
2021 | Fran O'Callaghan (NQSA) | |||||||||||||||||||
2024 | Paul Jacob (Change) | Brodie Phillips (Ind.) | Kristian Price (Ind.) | Vera Dirou (Change) | Andrew Robinson (Ind.) | Brady Ellis (Ind. LNP) |
The populations given relate to the component entities prior to 2008. The 2011 census was the first for the new City.
Year | Population (City total) | Population (Townsville) | Population (Thuringowa) |
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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 |
2011 | 174,462 | ||
2016 | 186,757 | [12] | |
2021 | 192,768 | [1] |
The Townsville City Council operates libraries at Aitkenvale, Townsville City and Thuringowa Central. [13] It also operates a mobile library service, serving the following suburbs on a regular schedule: [14]
The Shire of Burdekin is a local government area located in North Queensland, Australia in the Dry Tropics region. The district is located between Townsville and Bowen in the delta of the Burdekin River. The shire covers an area of 5,044 square kilometres (1,947 sq mi). It has existed as a local government entity since 1888. In the 2021 census, the Shire of Burdekin had a population of 16,692 people.
The City of Thuringowa was a city and local government area in North Queensland, Australia covering the northern and western parts of what is now Townsville. The suburb of Thuringowa Central is the main business centre in this area.
The Shire of Mareeba is a local government area at the base of Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, inland from Cairns. The shire, administered from the town of Mareeba, covered an area of 53,491 square kilometres (20,653.0 sq mi), and existed as a local government entity from 1879 until 2008, when it amalgamated with several councils in the Atherton Tableland area to become the Tablelands Region.
Anthony John Mooney AM is a former Australian politician who served as a city councillor of the City of Townsville, Queensland from 1977 to 2008, and the mayor from 1989 to 2008.
The Shire of Douglas is a local government area in Far North Queensland. It is located on the coast north of the city of Cairns. The shire, administered from the town of Mossman, covers an area of 2,428 square kilometres (937.5 sq mi), and existed as a local government entity from 1880 until 2008, when it was amalgamated with the City of Cairns to become the Cairns Region. Following a poll in 2013, the Shire of Douglas was re-established on 1 January 2014.
The Shire of Croydon is a local government area in western Queensland, Australia. The shire, administered from the town of Croydon, covers an area of 29,498 square kilometres (11,389.2 sq mi). The council consists of a mayor plus four councillors, each of whom represents the entire Shire.
Daniel Gleeson OBE, a politician of North Queensland Australia, was the first Mayor of the Former City of Thuringowa.
The Tablelands Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia inland from the city of Cairns. Established in 2008, it was preceded by four previous local government areas which dated back more than a century. On 1 January 2014, one of those local government areas, the Shire of Mareeba, was re-established independent of the Tablelands Region.
The Rockhampton Region is a local government area (LGA) in Central Queensland, Australia, located on the Tropic of Capricorn about 600 kilometres (370 mi) north of Brisbane. Rockhampton is the region's major city; the region also includes the Fitzroy River, Mount Archer National Park and Berserker Range.
The Toowoomba Region is a local government area (LGA) located within the larger Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, the LGA was preceded by several other local government authorities with histories extending back to the early 1900s and beyond.
The Charters Towers Region is a local government area in North Queensland, Australia southwest of, and inland from the city of Townsville, based in Charters Towers. Established in 2008, it was preceded by two previous local government areas which dated back to the 1870s.
The Mackay Region is a local government area located in North Queensland, Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by three previous local government areas with modern histories extending back as far as 1869.
The Whitsunday Region is a local government area located in North Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by two previous local government areas with a history extending back to the establishment of regional local government in Queensland in 1879.
The Cairns Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Queensland, Australia, centred on the regional city of Cairns. It was established in 2008 by the amalgamation of the City of Cairns and the Shires of Douglas and Mulgrave. However, following public protest and a referendum in 2013, on 1 January 2014, the Shire of Douglas was de-amalgamated from the Cairns Region and re-established as a separate local government authority.
Les Tyrell is an Australian local government politician. He was the Mayor of the City of Townsville from 2008 until his retirement in 2012. He previously served as Mayor of the City of Thuringowa from 1991 until it became part of the City of Townsville in March 2008. He became mayor of the new larger City of Townsville after an upset victory over Tony Mooney, who had been Mayor of Townsville for twenty years until the amalgamation.
Local government in Queensland, Australia, includes 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 78 local government areas, which may be called Cities, Towns, Shires, or Regions. Each area has a council that is responsible for providing a range of public services and utilities and derives its income from both rates and charges on resident ratepayers and grants and subsidies from the state and Commonwealth governments.
Jennifer Lorraine Hill AM is an Australian former politician who served as mayor of Townsville from 2012 until 2024. which is the 18th largest local government area in Australia. She was elected to the position during the Queensland Local Government elections held on 28 April 2012. Prior to serving as mayor, Hill was a city councillor and previously held the position of Deputy Mayor under the previous pre-amalgamation Townsville City Council in the Labor administration of Tony Mooney between 2007 and 2008.
The 2008 Townsville City Council election was held on 15 March 2008 to elect a mayor and 12 councillors to the City of Townsville. The election was held as part of the statewide local elections in Queensland, Australia.
The 2012 Townsville City Council election was held on 28 April 2012 to elect a mayor and 10 councillors to the City of Townsville. The election was held as part of the statewide local elections in Queensland, Australia.