Inverell Shire is a local government area in the North West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia adjacent to the Macintyre River and the Gwydir Highway.
| Inverell Shire New South Wales | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Location in New South Wales | |||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 29°46′S 151°07′E / 29.767°S 151.117°E | ||||||||||||||
| Population |
| ||||||||||||||
| • Density | 2.07448/km2 (5.3729/sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Established | 1 July 1979 | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 8,606 km2 (3,322.8 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Mayor | Paul Harmon (Unaligned) | ||||||||||||||
| Council seat | Inverell[3] | ||||||||||||||
| Region | North West Slopes | ||||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Northern Tablelands | ||||||||||||||
| Federal division(s) | New England | ||||||||||||||
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| Website | Inverell Shire | ||||||||||||||
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The mayor of Inverell Shire Council is Cr. Kate Dight, who is unaligned with any political party.
History
editInverell Shire was created on 1 July 1979 from the amalgamation of the Municipality of Inverell with Ashford Shire and Macintyre Shire.[4]
Formerly part of the Armidale Region, on 1 July 2019, Tingha was transferred to the Inverell Shire.[5][6]
Main towns and villages
editThe shire includes the town of Inverell and small towns and villages including Gilgai, Stannifer, Elsmore, Bukkulla, Ashford, Bonshaw, Yetman, Wallangra, Graman, Oakwood, Delungra, Mount Russell and Tingha. The locality of Myall Creek is split being Inverell Shire and Gwydir Shire.
Demographics
editAt the 2011 census, there were 16,075 people in the Inverell local government area, of these 49.1 per cent were male, and 50.9 per cent were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 6.5 per cent of the population which is approximately two-and-a-half times above both the national and state averages of 2.5 per cent. The median age of people in the Inverell Shire was 41 years; slightly higher than the national median of 37 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 21.3 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 19.2 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 51.3 per cent were married and 11.8 per cent were either divorced or separated.[7]
Between the 2001 census and the 2011 census, the Inverell Shire experienced nominal population growth in both absolute and real terms. When compared with the total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78 per cent and 8.32 per cent respectively, population growth in the Inverell local government area was significantly lower than the national average.[8] The median weekly income for residents within the Inverell Shire was significantly below the national average.[7][9]
At the 2011 census, the proportion of residents in the Inverell local government area who stated their ancestry as Australian or Anglo-Saxon exceeded 88 per cent of all residents (the national average was 65.2 per cent). In excess of 68 per cent of all residents in the Inverell Shire nominated a religious affiliation with Christianity at the 2011 census, which was higher than the national average of 50.2 per cent. Meanwhile, as at the census date, compared to the national average, households in the Inverell local government area had a significantly lower than average proportion (3.2 per cent) where two or more languages are spoken (the national average was 20.4 per cent); and a significantly higher proportion (94.5 per cent) where English only was spoken at home (national average was 76.8 per cent).[7]
Selected historical census data
edit| Selected historical census data for Inverell Shire local government area | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Census year | 2001[8] | 2006[9] | 2011[7] | ||
| Population | Estimated residents on Census night | 15,020 |  15,510 |
16,075
| |
| LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales | 82nd | 74th
| |||
| % of New South Wales population | 0.23% | ||||
| % of Australian population | 0.08% |  0.08% |
 0.07%
| ||
| Cultural and language diversity | |||||
| Ancestry, top responses |
Australian | 36.8% | |||
| English | 31.7% | ||||
| Irish | 8.2% | ||||
| Scottish | 7.4% | ||||
| German | 3.9% | ||||
| Language, top responses (other than English) |
Italian | 0.4% | 0.4% |
0.3%
| |
| Portuguese | n/c | n/c | 0.3%
| ||
| Tagalog | n/c | n/c | 0.2%
| ||
| German | 0.1% | 0.2% |
0.1%
| ||
| Filipino | n/c | n/c | 0.1%
| ||
| Religious affiliation | |||||
| Religious affiliation, top responses |
Anglican | 37.0% | 34.0% |
32.8%
| |
| Catholic | 23.7% | 23.8% |
22.8%
| ||
| No Religion | 7.1% | 10.7% |
13.7%
| ||
| Presbyterian and Reformed | 9.0% | 8.2% |
7.5%
| ||
| Uniting Church | 4.7% | 6.1% |
5.8%
| ||
| Median weekly incomes | |||||
| Personal income | Median weekly personal income | A$352 | A$430 | ||
| % of Australian median personal income | 75.5% | 74.5%
| |||
| Family income | Median weekly family income | A$840 | A$963 | ||
| % of Australian median family income | 71.7% | 65.0%
| |||
| Household income | Median weekly household income | A$642 | A$792 | ||
| % of Australian median household income | 62.5% | 64.2%
| |||
Council
edit
Current composition and election method
editInverell Shire Council is composed of nine councillors elected proportionally as a single ward. All councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The mayor is elected by the councillors at the first meeting of the council. The most recent election was held on 4 December 2021, and the makeup of the council is as follows:
| Party | Councillors | |
|---|---|---|
| Independents and unaligned | 9 | |
| Total | 9 | |
Election results
edit2024
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | 1. Kate Dight (elected) 2. Ian Hooker (elected) |
2,551 | 25.66 | ||
| Independent | 1. Paul Harmon (Ind. Nat) (elected) 2. John (Jacko) Ross (elected) |
2,372 | 23.86 | ||
| Independent | Greg Kachel (elected) | 1,723 | 17.33 | ||
| Independent | 1. Jo Williams (elected) 2. Fiona Brown (elected) |
1,350 | 13.58 | ||
| Independent | 1. Paul King (elected) 2. Wendy Wilks (Ind. Nat) (elected) |
1,280 | 12.88 | ||
| Independent | Kelvin Brown | 396 | 3.98 | ||
| Independent National | Graem Murray | 268 | 2.70 | ||
| Total formal votes | 9,940 | 90.69 | |||
| Informal votes | 1,021 | 9.31 | |||
| Turnout | 10,961 | 82.99 | |||
2021
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | 1. Paul Harmon (elected) 2. Kate Dight (elected) |
3,271 | 33.1 | ||
| Di Baker & Jo Williams | 1. Di Baker (elected) 2. Jo Williams (elected) |
2,947 | 29.8 | ||
| Independent | 1. Paul King (elected) 2. Wendy Wilks (elected) |
1,264 | 12.8 | ||
| Independent | Nicky Lavender (elected) | 665 | 6.7 | ||
| Independent | Stewart Berryman (elected) | 592 | 6.0 | ||
| Independent | John (Jacko) Ross (elected) | 481 | 4.9 | ||
| Independent | Phil Girle | 347 | 3.5 | ||
| Independent | Jacki Watts | 320 | 3.2 | ||
| Total formal votes | 9,887 | 93.3 | |||
| Informal votes | 705 | 6.7 | |||
| Turnout | 10,592 | 82.3 | |||
References
edit- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Inverell (A)". 2021 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
- ^ "3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2017–18". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2019. Estimated resident population (ERP) at 30 June 2018.
- ^ "Inverell Shire Council". Division of Local Government. Retrieved 3 December 2006.
- ^ "Local Government Act 1919. Proclamation (39)". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. 16 March 1979. p. 1171. Retrieved 8 January 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "It's official Tingha is on the move to Inverell". Armidale Regional Council. Armidale Regional Council. 8 February 2018. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- ^ "Tingha community joins Inverell Shire". Inverell Shire Council. 1 July 2019. Archived from the original on 13 August 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
- ^ a b c d Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Inverell (A)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- ^ a b Australian Bureau of Statistics (9 March 2006). "Inverell (A)". 2001 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- ^ a b Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Inverell (A)". 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- ^ "Inverell - First Preference Group and Candidate Votes by Aggregated Vote Type". New South Wales Electoral Commission. 30 September 2024. Archived from the original on 8 October 2024. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
- ^ "WENDY WILKS". New South Wales Electoral Commission. 16 August 2024. Archived from the original on 8 October 2024. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
- ^ "PAUL HARMON". New South Wales Electoral Commission. 16 August 2024. Archived from the original on 8 October 2024. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
- ^ "GRAEM MURRAY". New South Wales Electoral Commission. 16 August 2024. Archived from the original on 8 October 2024. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
- ^ "Inverell". ABC News.
