Flinders Council Tasmania | |||||||||||||||
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Coordinates | 40°07′10″S148°05′52″E / 40.1195°S 148.0977°E | ||||||||||||||
Population | 987 (2018) [1] | ||||||||||||||
• Density | 0.5/km2 (1.3/sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
Established | 1 January 1907 [2] | ||||||||||||||
Area | 1,997 km2 (771.0 sq mi) [1] | ||||||||||||||
Mayor | Rachel Summers | ||||||||||||||
Council seat | Whitemark | ||||||||||||||
Region | Furneaux Group and surrounding island groups | ||||||||||||||
State electorate(s) | Bass | ||||||||||||||
Federal division(s) | Bass | ||||||||||||||
Website | Flinders Council | ||||||||||||||
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Flinders Council is a local government body in Tasmania, encompassing the Furneaux Group and nearby islands of Bass Strait, in the north-east of the state. Flinders is classified as a rural local government area and has a population of 987, [1] with Whitemark the main town located on Flinders Island.
The municipality was established on 1 January 1907. [2] Flinders is classified as rural, agricultural and small under the Australian Classification of Local Governments. [3]
Flinders covers more than 60 islands off the north-eastern tip of Tasmania at the eastern end of Bass Strait. Of these 60, 12 have permanent populations. The bigger ones are Clarke Island, Cape Barren Island, and the largest and most populous, Flinders Island. The Flinders Council includes the Furneaux Group together with the groups of islands to the north west including Kent Group, Hogan Island Group, Curtis Group, and the Wilsons Promontory Tasmanian Islands (Rodondo, West Moncoeur and East Moncoeur).
Rodondo Island is the westernmost landmass of the council area. [4]
Name | Position [5] | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
Rachel Summers | Mayor | Independent | |
Vanessa Grace | Deputy Mayor | Independent | |
Garry Blenkhorn | Councillor | Independent | |
Aaron Burke | Councillor | Independent | |
Carol Cox | Councillor | Independent | |
Peter Rhodes | Councillor | Independent | |
Ken Stockton | Councillor | Independent |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Independent | Rachel Summers (elected) | 251 | 35.75 | ||
Independent | Carol Denise Cox (elected) | 100 | 14.25 | ||
Independent | Peter Rhodes (elected) | 94 | 13.39 | ||
Independent | Vanessa Grace (elected) | 79 | 11.25 | ||
Independent | Aaron Burke (elected) | 50 | 7.12 | ||
Independent | Garry Blenkhorn (elected) | 48 | 6.84 | ||
Independent | Ken Stockton (elected) | 41 | 5.84 | ||
Independent | Linda Nicol | 22 | 3.13 | ||
Independent | Chris Rhodes | 17 | 2.42 | ||
Total formal votes | 702 | 99.29 | |||
Informal votes | 5 | 0.71 | |||
Turnout | 707 | 84.77 |
Bass Strait is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland. The strait provides the most direct waterway between the Great Australian Bight and the Tasman Sea, and is also the only maritime route into the economically prominent Port Phillip Bay.
Flinders Island, the largest island in the Furneaux Group, is a 1,367-square-kilometre (528 sq mi) island in the Bass Strait, northeast of the island of Tasmania. Today Flinders Island is part of the state of Tasmania, Australia. It is 54 kilometres (34 mi) from Cape Portland and is located on 40° south, a zone known as the Roaring Forties.
The Furneaux Group is a group of approximately 100 islands located at the eastern end of Bass Strait, between Victoria and Tasmania, Australia. The islands were named after British navigator Tobias Furneaux, who sighted the eastern side of these islands after leaving Adventure Bay in 1773 on his way to New Zealand to rejoin Captain James Cook. Navigator Matthew Flinders was the first European to explore the Furneaux Islands group, in the Francis in 1798, and later that year in the Norfolk.
Cape Barren Island, officially truwana / Cape Barren Island, is a 478-square-kilometre (185 sq mi) island in Bass Strait, off the north-east coast of Tasmania, Australia. It is the second-largest island of the Furneaux Group, with the larger Flinders Island to the north, and the smaller Clarke Island to the south. The highest point on the island is Mount Munro at 715 metres (2,346 ft). Mount Munro is named after James Munro, a former convict turned sealer who, from the 1820s, lived for more than 20 years with various indigenous women on nearby Preservation Island.
The Clarke Island, also known by its Indigenous name of lungtalanana, part of the Furneaux Group, is an 82-square-kilometre (32 sq mi) island in Bass Strait, south of Cape Barren Island, about 24 kilometres (15 mi) off the northeast coast of Tasmania, Australia. Banks Strait separates the island from Cape Portland on the mainland. Clarke Island is the third-largest island in the Furneaux Group, and Tasmania's eighth largest island.
The Goose Island, part of the Badger Group within the Furneaux Group, is a 109-hectare (270-acre) unpopulated elongated granite island, located in Bass Strait, lying west of the Flinders and Cape Barren islands, Tasmania, south of Victoria, in south-eastern Australia.
King Island Council is a local government body in Tasmania, encompassing King Island and the adjacent minor islands within Bass Strait, in the north-west of the state. The King Island local government area is classified as rural and has a population of 1,601, with Currie as the main town and administrative centre.
Cape Portland, officially Luemerrernanner / Cape Portland, is both a geographical feature and a locality near the north-eastern tip of Tasmania, Australia. The cape points west across Ringarooma Bay, where the Ringarooma River empties into the Tasman Sea.
The Passage Island, part of the Passage Group within the Furneaux Group, is a 253-hectare (630-acre) granite and dolerite island, located in Bass Strait south of Cape Barren Island, in Tasmania, in south-eastern Australia.
The Forsyth Island, part of the Passage Group within the Furneaux Group, is a 167-hectare (410-acre) granite island, located in Bass Strait south of Cape Barren Island, in Tasmania, in south-eastern Australia. With the Passage and Gull islands, the Forsyth Island forms part of the Forsyth, Passage and Gull Islands Important Bird Area (IBA), identified as such by BirdLife International because it supports over 1% of the world populations of little penguins and black-faced cormorants.
Badger Island, part of the Badger Group within the Furneaux Group, is a 1,242-hectare (3,070-acre) unpopulated low-lying granite and limestone island, located in Bass Strait, lying west of the Flinders and Cape Barren islands, Tasmania, south of Victoria, in south-eastern Australia.
The Little Badger Island, part of the Badger Group within the Furneaux Group, is a 2.5-hectare (6.2-acre) unpopulated low-lying granite island, located in Bass Strait, lying west of the Flinders and Cape Barren islands, Tasmania, south of Victoria, in south-eastern Australia.
The Mount Chappell Island, part of the Badger Group within the Furneaux Group, is a 323-hectare (800-acre) unpopulated granite island with a distinctive central hill, located in Bass Strait, lying west of the Flinders and Cape Barren islands, Tasmania, south of Victoria, in south-eastern Australia.
The North West Mount Chappell Islet, part of the Badger Group within the Furneaux Group, is a 7,100-square-metre (76,000 sq ft) unpopulated mainly granite islet, in Bass Strait, lying west of the Flinders and Cape Barren islands, Tasmania, south of Victoria, in south-eastern Australia. The island is located within a conservation area and is part of the Chalky, Big Green and Badger Island Groups Important Bird Area.
The Inner Little Goose Island, part of the Badger Group within the Furneaux Group, is a 4.5-hectare (11-acre) unpopulated small, round granite island, located in Bass Strait between Goose and Little Goose islands, lying west of the Flinders and Cape Barren islands, Tasmania, south of Victoria, in south-eastern Australia. The island is contained within a conservation area and is part of the Chalky, Big Green and Badger Island Groups Important Bird Area.
The Little Goose Island, part of the Badger Group within the Furneaux Group, is a 3.6-hectare (8.9-acre) unpopulated flat, round granite island, located in Bass Strait, lying west of the Flinders and Cape Barren islands, Tasmania, south of Victoria, in south-eastern Australia. The island is contained within a nature reserve and is part of the Chalky, Big Green and Badger Island Groups Important Bird Area.
The Beagle Island, part of the Badger Group within the Furneaux Group, is a 1.2-hectare (3.0-acre) unpopulated low, flat granite island, located in Bass Strait, lying west of the Flinders and Cape Barren islands, Tasmania, south of Victoria, in south-eastern Australia. The island is contained within a nature reserve and is part of the Chalky, Big Green and Badger Island Groups Important Bird Area.
The Great Dog Island, also known as Big Dog Island, and part of the Great Dog Group within the Furneaux Group, is a 354-hectare (870-acre) granite island, located in Bass Strait, lying south of the Flinders Island and north of the Cape Barren Island, in Tasmania, in south-eastern Australia.
Whitemark is a rural residential locality on Flinders Island in the local government area (LGA) of Flinders in the North-east LGA region of Tasmania. The 2021 census recorded a population of 308 for the state suburb of Whitemark. It is the main settlement of Flinders Island.