Townsville Harbour Board

The Townsville Harbour Board (also known as the Harbour Board of Townsville) was the authority responsible for managing the Port of Townsville, a seaport in Townsville, Queensland, Australia.

Townsville Harbour Board
Members of the Harbour Board in 1901
Type
Type
Elected board
of the Port of Townsville
History
Established1 January 1896
Disbanded1 January 1987
Succeeded byTownsville Port Authority
Seats11 elected members
Elections
First election
February 1896
Last election
April 1955

Until 1956, the board was directly elected, and had members representing several local government areas (LGAs). The last election was in 1955.[1]

The board was abolished in 1987 and replaced by the Townsville Port Authority (now known as Port of Townsville Limited).[2]

History

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On 10 August 1893, a conference of LGAs met in Charters Towers to discuss the establishment of a Harbour Board for the Port of Townsville. According to the Brisbane Courier, it was agreed that the board should be composed of "two representatives from the Townsville Municipality, one from the Thuringowa Division, two from the Charters Towers Municipality, one from the Dalrymple Division, one from the Ravenswood Division, one from the Hughenden Division, one from the Hughenden Municipality, one to represent shipping interests, and two nominated by the government".[3] However, the final model reduced the amount of LGAs represented to only include Townsville, Thuringowa, Charters Towers and Hughenden.[4]

A bill to formally create the board passed parliament in late December 1895, and it was formally established on 1 January 1896, with the first election in February of that year. Four members were elected, along with two government-appointed members, one member from the Chamber of Commerce and one council-appointed member for each of the four LGAs represented by the board.[4]

The Australian Labor Party endorsed candidates for the elections, as did several local parties.[1]

Elected members

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Year Townsville Charters Towers Hughenden Thuringowa
Member Member Member Member Member Member
1933   Thomas Barry (Labor)   Percy Willmett (Progressive)   J. W. Ward (Ind.)   J. J. Williams (Ind.)   J. V. Suter (Ind.)[5]   C. W. Wordworth (Ind.)[6]

Election results

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1933

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1933 Queensland local elections: Townsville Harbour Board[7][8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labor Thomas Barry (elected) 5,703 25.6
Progressive Percy Willmett (elected) 5,416 24.3
Progressive John Edward Clegg 4,403 19.7
Labor Edward James Copp 3,551 15.9
Independent James Andrew Hackett 3,229 14.5
Total formal votes 22,302

References

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  1. ^ a b "Nomination of Australian Labor Party candidates". Worker. 4 October 1954.
  2. ^ "Townsville Harbour Board". ArchiveSearch. Queensland Government. Archived from the original on 13 March 2024.
  3. ^ "Townsville Harbour Board". Brisbane Courier. 11 August 1893.
  4. ^ a b "Townsville Harbour Board Archive". James Cook University. Archived from the original on 13 March 2024.
  5. ^ "HUGHENDEN NOTES". Townsville Daily Bulletin. 3 April 1933.
  6. ^ "Thuringowa". Brisbane Courier. 25 April 1933.
  7. ^ "WON WITHOUT MAKING CAMPAIGN". Trove. Brisbane Courier.
  8. ^ "Council Elections". Trove. Brisbane Courier.