Whitsunday Region Queensland | |||||||||||||||
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Population | 35,050 (2018) [1] | ||||||||||||||
• Density | 1.47151/km2 (3.8112/sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
Established | 2008 | ||||||||||||||
Area | 23,819 km2 (9,196.6 sq mi) [1] | ||||||||||||||
Mayor | Julie Hall (One Nation) [2] | ||||||||||||||
Council seat | Proserpine | ||||||||||||||
Region | North Queensland | ||||||||||||||
State electorate(s) | |||||||||||||||
Federal division(s) | |||||||||||||||
Website | Whitsunday Region | ||||||||||||||
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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.
It has an estimated operating budget of A$48.8m.
Prior to 2008, the new Whitsunday Region was an entire area of two previous and distinct local government areas:
The Bowen Municipality was constituted on 7 August 1863 under the Municipalities Act 1858 (a piece of New South Wales legislation inherited by Queensland at its separation four years earlier). On 11 November 1879, the Wangaratta Division was created as one of 74 divisions around Queensland under the Divisional Boards Act 1879. With the passage of the Local Authorities Act 1902, Wangaratta became a shire and Bowen became a town on 31 March 1903.
On 19 January 1910, the Shire of Proserpine was excised from Wangaratta. It was renamed on 18 February 1989.
On 2 April 1960, the Town of Bowen was abolished, and merged into the Shire of Wangaratta, which was renamed Bowen. [3]
In July 2007, the Local Government Reform Commission released its report and recommended that the two areas amalgamate. [4] Both councils and residents across the board opposed amalgamation, although amalgamation with each other was the preferred option of each if forced to choose. On 15 March 2008, the Shires formally ceased to exist, and elections were held on the same day to elect councillors and a mayor to the Regional Council.
In 2012, a petition signed by over 1600 people requested that the Whitsunday Region be de-amalgamated. Although the number of signatories was sufficiently large, the Queensland Government refused the request for a de-amalgamation vote arguing that the financial modelling did not show that deamalgamation would be financially viable. [5]
In March 2017, many areas of the Whitsunday Region were damaged by Cyclone Debbie. The Proserpine Council Chambers was extensively damaged. [6]
A new $6 million council administration building will be constructed in Proserpine during late 2018/2019, after this facility is completed workers that are temporarily being housed in Cannonvale will re-locate back to Proserpine. This will be a major new building that will also include a new disaster hub and resilience center. [7]
The council is split into six divisions, each returning one councillor, plus a mayor.
The Whitsunday Region includes the following settlements:
Bowen area: | Whitsunday area: |
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The Whitsunday Regional Council operate public libraries at Bowen, Cannonvale, Collinsville, and Proserpine. [8]
Year | Population (Total) | Population (Bowen) | Population (Whitsunday) |
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1933 | 11,477 | 7,543 | 3,934 |
1947 | 11,700 | 8,083 | 3,617 |
1954 | 13,094 | 8,518 | 4,576 |
1961 | 14,604 | 9,491 | 5,113 |
1966 | 15,616 | 9,342 | 6,274 |
1971 | 16,651 | 10,231 | 6,420 |
1976 | 19,038 | 11,292 | 7,746 |
1981 | 24,478 | 13,645 | 10,833 |
1986 | 25,945 | 14,364 | 11,581 |
1991 | 29,388 | 14,161 | 15,227 |
1996 | 31,202 | 14,411 | 16,791 |
2001 | 32,021 | 13,698 | 18,323 |
2006 | 36,158 | 14,625 | 21,533 |
2016 | 33,778 | ||
2021 | 37,152 |
# | Name | Party | Years in office | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mike Brunker [9] | Labor | 2008–2012 | |
2 | Jennifer Whitney [10] | Independent | 2012–2016 | |
3 | Andrew Willcox [11] [12] | Liberal National | 2016–2022 | |
4 | Julie Hall [13] | One Nation | 2022–present |
Airlie Beach is a coastal locality and resort town in the Whitsunday Region of Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Airlie Beach had a population of 1,208 people.
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Proserpine is a rural town and locality in the Whitsunday Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, the locality of Proserpine had a population of 3,614 people.
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The Shire of Whitsunday was a local government area located in the North Queensland region of Queensland, Australia. The shire, administered from the town of Proserpine, covered an area of 2,678.3 square kilometres (1,034.1 sq mi), and existed as a local government entity from 1910 until 2008, when it amalgamated with the Shire of Bowen to form the Whitsunday Region.
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Michael Raymond "Mike" Brunker is an Australian politician currently serving as Whitsunday Regional Councillor for Division 6, a position he has held since 2016. He previously served as the first mayor of Whitsunday Region from 2008 to 2012, and mayor of the Shire of Bowen for 11 years from 1997 until its amalgamation with Whitsunday Shire in 2008. He was first elected to local government as a Bowen Shire councillor in 1994.