Mackay Region

Last updated

Mackay Region
Queensland
Mackay LGA Qld 2008.png
Location within Queensland
Coordinates 21°08′28″S149°11′08″E / 21.14111°S 149.18556°E / -21.14111; 149.18556
Population121,691 (2021 census) [1]
 • Density15.9658/km2 (41.3511/sq mi)
Established2008
Area7,622 km2 (2,942.9 sq mi)
Mayor Greg Williamson [2]
Council seat Mackay
Region North Queensland
State electorate(s)
Federal division(s)
Mackay regional council.svg
Website Mackay Region
LGAs around Mackay Region:
Whitsunday Whitsunday Coral Sea
Whitsunday Mackay Region Coral Sea
Isaac Isaac Isaac

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.

Contents

It has an estimated operating budget of A$118 million.

History

Yuwibara (also known as Yuibera, Yuri, Juipera, Yuwiburra) is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken on Yuwibara country. It is closely related to the Biri languages/dialects. The Yuwibara language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the Mackay Region. [3]

Prior to 2008, the Mackay Region was an entire area of three previous and distinct local government areas:

The city had its beginning in the Mackay Municipality which was proclaimed on 22 September 1869 under the Municipal Institutions Act 1864. [4] Its first mayor was David Dalrymple, and the council first met on 1 December 1869. It achieved a measure of autonomy in 1878 with the enactment of the Local Government Act. With the passage of the Local Authorities Act 1902, Mackay became a Town on 31 March 1903, and was ultimately proclaimed a City on 17 August 1918.

On 11 December 1879, the Pioneer Division came into being as one of Queensland's 74 divisions created under the Divisional Boards Act 1879 on 11 November 1879, chaired by John Ewen Davidson. On 31 March 1903, Pioneer became a Shire. Two areas split away from it over the next decade; the Shire of Sarina on 1 January 1912, and the Shire of Mirani on 4 September 1913. [5]

On 21 November 1991, the Electoral and Administrative Review Commission, created two years earlier, produced its second report, and recommended that local government boundaries in the Mackay area be rationalised. The Local Government (Mackay and Pioneer) Regulation 1993 was gazetted on 17 December 1993, and on 30 March 1994, the two amalgamated into a larger City of Mackay, which first met on 8 April 1994.

Mackay Region

In July 2007, the Local Government Reform Commission released a report making recommendations for statewide reform of local government boundaries, and recommended that the three areas of Mackay, Mirani and Sarina amalgamate, due mainly to Mackay's role as a regional centre and all three shires' involvement in sugar production. The City of Mackay endorsed the suggestion, but the two shires proposed alternative options. In the end, the commission's proposal was unchanged. [6] On 15 March 2008, the City and Shires formally ceased to exist, and elections were held on the same day to elect councillors and a mayor to the Regional Council.

Mayors

Council

Mackay Regional Council
Leadership
Mayor
Deputy Mayor
Seats11 elected representatives, including a mayor and 10 councillors
Elections
Last election
16 March 2024

Mackay Regional Council is unsubdivided, meaning it does not have any wards. The mayor is directly-elected.

The incumbent mayor, Greg Williamson, formed the Greg Williamson Alliance ahead of the 2016 election, with six members of the group re-elected in 2020. [8]

In 2023, four councillors left the group, and in 2024 Team Greg Williamson was formed with the stated aim of "creat[ing] a progressive, modern council". [8] [9]

Current composition

The current council, elected in 2024, is:

PositionCouncillorParty
Mayor  Greg Williamson Team Greg Williamson
Councillor Karen May Team Greg Williamson
 Martin Bella Independent
  George Christensen Mackay First
 Namarca Corowa Mackay First
 Peter Sheedy Independent
 Belinda Hassan Independent Labor
 Allison Jones Independent
 Ash-Lee Johnson Team Greg Williamson
 Nathenea MacRae Mackay First
 Heath Paton Mackay First

Past councillors

2020−present

YearCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillor
2020  Karen May (Williamson Alliance/Team Williamson) Martin Bella (Ind/Ind. LNP/Ind) Laurence Bonaventura (Ind.) Justin Englert (Williamson Alliance/Ind.) Michelle Green (Williamson Alliance/Team Williamson) Belinda Hassan (Williamson Alliance/Ind. Labor) Alison Jones (Ind.) Fran Mann (Williamson Alliance/Ind. Labor) Russell Seymour (Ind.) Pauline Townsend (Williamson Alliance/Ind.)
2021 
2022 
2023    
2024  
2024   George Christensen (Mackay First) Namarca Corowa (Mackay First) Peter Sheedy (Ind.) Ash-Lee Johnson (Team Williamson) Nathenea MacRae (Mackay First) Heath Paton (Mackay First)

Election results

2024

2024 Queensland local elections: Mackay [10] [11] [12]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Independent Labor Belinda Hassan (elected)26,3764.16
Mackay First George Christensen (elected)25,5564.03
Mackay First Namarca Corowa (elected)25,4404.01
Independent Martin Bella (elected)25,3644.00
Independent Peter Sheedy (elected)25,1183.96
Team Greg Williamson Ash-Lee Johnson (elected)24,4043.85
Independent Alison Jones (elected)24,3993.84
Mackay First Nathenea MacRae (elected)24,1493.80
Mackay First Heath Paton (elected)24,0843.79
Team Greg Williamson Karen May (elected)24,0003.78
Team Greg Williamson Michelle Green23,9413.77
Independent Pauline Townsend23,6013.72
Mackay First Melissa Fowler23,4863.70
Independent Labor Fran Mann23,1183.64
Mackay First Keith Hicks22,7053.58
Mackay First Jeff Keioskie22,3903.53
Mackay First Kylee Stanton22,2743.51
Mackay First Ian Christensen 21,8313.44
Team Greg Williamson Neil Wallace21,7303.42
Mackay First Lindsay Temple21,2223.34
Independent Justin Englert19,4323.06
Independent Greg Fisher19,0763.01
Team Greg Williamson Peter Freeleagus18,9022.98
Independent Russell Seymour18,0632.85
Independent Kimberly Doyle17,8052.81
Team Greg Williamson Stephen Cutting17,7922.80
Independent Les Scott17,4622.75
Team Greg Williamson Joshua Thornton17,3702.74
Independent LNP Ian Rowan13,5802.14
Turnout 73,00882.16
Party total votes
Mackay First 233,13736.73+36.73
Independent 190,32029.98
Team Greg Williamson 148,13923.34
Independent Labor 49,4947.80
Independent LNP 13,5802.14
Party total seatsSeats±
Mackay First 4Increase2.svg 4
Independent 3Decrease2.svg 1
Team Greg Williamson 2Decrease2.svg 4
Independent Labor 1Increase2.svg 1

Towns and localities

The Mackay Region includes the following settlements:

Population

The population figures for each of the predecessor local government areas prior to the 2008 amalgamation:

YearTotal RegionMackayPioneerMiraniSarina
193328,12410,6659,9264,4123,121
194732,94713,48611,6064,5873,268
195437,92414,76214,3165,0563,790
196141,19616,80915,7414,7603,886
196648,58018,64019,9005,3794,611
197151,90319,14822,5614,7725,422
197657,90320,22426,9384,8895,852
198166,05720,66433,7324,7396,922
198670,67422,19936,0844,8547,537
199176,37223,05240,6144,6258,081
199686,37671,8945,0889,394
200189,87775,0205,2209,637
2006101,52585,4505,40610,720

The estimated population figures (official census population figures are in bold) for the amalgamated Mackay Region from 2008 [13] [14] [15] [16]

YearTotal Region PopulationChange Since Previous Year % Change Since Previous Year
2008108,644+2,618+2.47%
2009111,455+2,811+2.59%
2010113,699+2,244+2.01%
2011112,798-901-0.79%
2012117,603+4,805+4.26%
2013119,076+1,473+1.25%
2014119,272+196+0.16%
2015118,771-501-0.42%
2016 114,969 -3,802-3.20%
2017116,601+1,632+1.42%
2018116,514-87-0.07%
2019116,761+247+0.21%
2020117,902+1,141+0.98%
2021121,691+3,789+3.21%

Services

The Mackay Regional Council operates libraries in Mackay, Mount Pleasant, Walkerston, Sarina and Mirani. [17] A mobile library service visits the following districts on a fortnightly schedule: Yalboroo, Bloomsbury, Midge Point, Ball Bay, Seaforth, Koumala, Swayneville, Hay Point, St Helens Beach, Calen, Shoal Point, Oakenden, Habana, Blacks Beach, Slade Point, Hampden, Marian, Gargett, Finch Hatton, Homebush, Chelona, McEwens Beach and Bucasia. [18]

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References

  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Mackay". 2021 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 4 December 2023. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  2. "2016 Mackay Regional Council - Mayoral Election - Election Summary". Electoral Commission of Queensland. 20 April 2016. Archived from the original on 31 October 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  3. CC BY icon-80x15.png This Wikipedia article incorporates CC-BY-4.0 licensed text from: "Yuwibara". Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages map. State Library of Queensland . Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  4. 28 Vic No. 21 (Imp)
  5. Mackay Regional Council (2009). "History of council" . Retrieved 10 March 2010.
  6. Queensland Local Government Reform Commission (July 2007). Report of the Local Government Reform Commission (PDF). Vol. 2. pp. 199–203. ISBN   978-1-921057-11-3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 March 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2010.
  7. "2020 Local Government Elections: Saturday, 28 March 2020". Electoral Commission of Queensland. 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2020.[ dead link ]
  8. 1 2 "Mackay councillors to break from Mayor Greg Williamson's alliance in 2024". The Courier Mail.
  9. "FOR OUR REGION Team Greg Williamson Announces Candidates For Local Election". Mackay & Whitsunday Life.
  10. "Steve 'Jacko' Jackson's Mackay First team: Meet the candidates". The Courier Mail.
  11. "Mackay councillors to break from Mayor Greg Williamson's alliance in 2024". The Courier Mail.
  12. "IAN JAMES ROWAN". Electoral Commission of Queensland.
  13. Mackay Economic Profile 2018 Mackay Regional Council 2018
  14. Community Profile - Mackay Regional Council Remplan 30th March 2021
  15. 2011 Census QuickStats: Mackay (R) Australian Bureau of Statistics 28th March 2013
  16. 2016 Census QuickStats: Mackay (R) Australian Bureau of Statistics 23rd October 2017
  17. "Libraries: Contact/Opening Hours". Mackay Regional Council. Archived from the original on 1 March 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
  18. "Mobile Library Timetable 2017" (PDF). Mackay Regional Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 March 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2017.

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