City of Townsville
Queensland
Townsville Skyline
Townsville Skyline
Location within Queensland
Population194,072 (2018)[1] (28th)
 • Density52.016/km2 (134.721/sq mi)
Established1865
Area3,731 km2 (1,440.5 sq mi)[1]
MayorJenny Hill
Council seatTownsville City
RegionNorth Queensland
State electorate(s)
Federal division(s)
WebsiteCity of Townsville
LGAs around City of Townsville:
Hinchinbrook Coral Sea Coral Sea
Charters Towers City of Townsville Burdekin
Charters Towers Charters Towers Burdekin

The City of Townsville is a local government area (LGA) located in North Queensland, Australia. It encompasses the city of Townsville, together with the surrounding rural areas, to the south are the communities of Alligator Creek, Woodstock and Reid River, and to the north are Northern Beaches and Paluma, and also included is Magnetic Island. In June 2018 the area had a population of 194,072,[1] and is the 28th-largest LGA in Australia. Townsville is considered to be the unofficial capital of North Queensland.

History

Townsville's Town Hall 1895 with, from left to right, Aldermen T. Enright, E.J. Forrest, D.F. Treehy (Townclerk), P. Lillis (Rate Receiver), J. N. Parkes, B.P. McDougall (Accountant)

Prior to 2008, the new City of Townsville was an entire area of two previous and distinct local government areas:

The City of Townsville was first established as the Borough of Townsville under the Municipal Institutions Act 1864 on 15 February 1866. The surrounding rural area, which was given the name Thuringowa Division, was established on 11 November 1879 as one of 74 divisions around Queensland under the Divisional Boards Act 1879. On 31 March 1903, Thuringowa Division became the Shire of Thuringowa and Townsville was granted city status under the Local Authorities Act 1902, the ancestor of the current Local Government Act 1993.

The borders of the Townsville municipality were expanded to keep pace with urban growth in 1882, 1918, 1936, 1958 and 1964 – the purpose of expanding the borders was to keep urban and rural administrations separate.[2] This state government convention changed under the Bjelke-Petersen government and the borders between the two local governments became static. By 1986 the Shire of Thuringowa had grown to a population of 27,000 and was declared a city.[2]

The City of Townsville was notable in Australia in the 1890s and early 1900s for its support for municipal socialism. The anarchist and socialist Alderman Ned Lowry advocated for the City of Townsville to control various industries.[3]

In 1939, Fred Paterson stood successfully as an alderman for the Townsville City Council, becoming the first member of the Communist Party to win such an office in Australia. He was then re-elected in 1943. The same year, he stood for the federal seat of Herbert, but was narrowly defeated. He then contested and won the Bowen seat in the Queensland Parliament, holding it from 1944 until 1950.

From 1942 to 1949, the council was held by a majority of members of the pro-soviet Labor party split, the North Queensland Labor Party.[4]

A succession of endorsed Labor Party mayors and majority councillors held a continuous civic government from 1976–2008, this was the longest continuous Labor administration in the country until Tony Mooney was defeated in 2008.

Following local government reform undertaken by the State Government of Queensland, the City of Townsville and the City of Thuringowa were amalgamated in 2008.[5] The process of amalgamation was completed on the election of a new combined council on 15 March 2008.

Mayors

Other notable aldermen include:

Townsville City Council

Townsville City Council
Type
Type
Leadership
Mayor
Deputy Mayor
Mark Molachino, Labor
Structure
Seats11 elected representatives, including a Mayor and 10 councillors
Political groups
  • Team Jenny Hill:
  •   Labor (5)
  •   Independents (2)
Elections
Last election
28 March 2020
Next election
16 March 2024

Townsville City Council is the Local Government Authority that services the Local Government Area of Townsville. The council is represented by 10 councillors and the mayor, who have been elected by the whole city. The current mayor is Cr Jenny Hill,[14] who was formerly the deputy mayor of the pre-amalgamation City of Townsville in 2007 and early 2008.

The council provides many services to residents of the city of Townsville, including infrastructure, water, garbage, public works, and entertainment and leisure i.e. parks, theatres, events etc.

Civic cabinet

The current civic cabinet consists of one mayor, elected at large, and 10 councillors, elected from 10 individual divisions.

At the Queensland Local Government election, held on 19 March 2016, Jenny Hill from the centre-left Team Jenny Hill was elected mayor of Townsville, along with 10 other councillors from the same team.[17] No councillors were elected from the rival centre-right Jayne Arlett's team, nor were any independents, effectively creating an undivided council.

In April 2020, Cr Mark Molachino was unanimously appointed deputy mayor.

CouncillorElection GroupTermConstituency Notes
Cr. Jenny HillTeam Jenny Hill2012–presentMayor [15][17]
Cr. Margie RyderTeam Jenny Hill2016–presentDivision 1 [15][17]
Cr. Sue BlomIndependent2020–presentDivision 2 [15][17]
Cr. Ann-Maree GreaneyTeam Jenny Hill2016–presentDivision 3 [15][17]
Cr. Mark MolachinoTeam Jenny Hill2016–presentDivision 4 [15][17]
Cr. Russ CookTeam Jenny Hill2016–presentDivision 5 [15][17]
Cr. Suzy BatkovicTeam Jenny Hill2020–presentDivision 6 [15][17]
Cr. Kurt RehbeinTeam Jenny Hill2016–presentDivision 7 [15][17]
Cr. Maurie SoarsTeam Jenny Hill2016–presentDivision 8 [15][17]
Cr. Liam MooneyTeam Jenny Hill2020–presentDivision 9 [15][17]
Cr. Fran O'CallaghanIndependent2021–presentDivision 10 elected in a 2021 by-election[18]

Towns and localities

Population

The populations given relate to the component entities prior to 2008. The 2011 census was the first for the new City.

Year Population
(City total)		 Population
(Townsville)		 Population
(Thuringowa)
191115,73110,6365,095
192123,69021,3532,337
193329,30025,8763,424
194736,43634,1092,327
195443,09840,4712,627
196153,71551,1432,572
196665,30362,4032,900
197172,02368,5913,432
197691,27980,36510,914
198198,90081,17217,728
1986112,91782,80930,108
1991125,01087,28837,722
1996131,37187,05244,319
2001143,84192,70151,140
2006158,64799,48359,164
2011174,462
2016186,757
2021192,768

Amenities

The Townsville City Council operates libraries at Aitkenvale, Townsville City and Thuringowa Central.[19] It also operates a mobile library service, serving the following suburbs on a regular schedule:[20]

Sister cities

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2017-18: Population Estimates by Local Government Area (ASGS 2018), 2017 to 2018". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 27 March 2019. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2019. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018.
  2. 1 2 Townsville City Council Submission to the Local Government Reform Commission (PDF). Townsville: Townsville City Council. May 2007. p. 2. Archived from the original (Submission) on 28 August 2007. Retrieved 25 May 2007.
  3. ↑ Burgmann, Verity (1985). In our time : socialism and the rise of labor, 1885-1905. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 0868615374.
  4. ↑ Fitzgerald, Ross (1997). The people's champion, Fred Paterson : Australia's only Communist Party member of parliament. University of Queensland Press. ISBN 0702229598.
  5. ↑ A Message from the Chairman, Cr Tony Mooney Archived 31 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 "Mayors of Townsville" (PDF). Townsville City Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 May 2014. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  7. ↑ "Chronological history of Townsville, 1770 to 1900". Townsville City Council. Archived from the original on 28 May 2014. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 Mathew, John (2008), Highways and byways : the origin of Townsville street names (PDF) (Rev. ed.), Townsville Library Service, ISBN 0-9578987-54, archived from the original (PDF) on 28 May 2014
  9. ↑ "Local Government Elections". The Western Star and Roma Advertiser. Toowoomba, Qld.: National Library of Australia. 15 February 1888. p. 3. Archived from the original on 11 January 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  10. ↑ Manion, Jim. Hodel, Joseph (1850–1943). National Centre for Biography, Australian National University. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2013. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  11. ↑ Consolidated Index to Queensland Government Gazette 1859–1919. Queensland Family History Society. 2004. ISBN 1-876613-79-3.
  12. ↑ "2008 Townsville City Council – Mayoral Election – Election Summary". Electoral Commission Queensland. Archived from the original on 15 May 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  13. ↑ "2012 Townsville City Council – Mayoral Election – Election Summary". Electoral Commission Queensland. Archived from the original on 27 February 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  14. 1 2 "2016 Townsville City Council - Mayoral Election - Election Summary". Electoral Commission of Queensland. 20 April 2016. Archived from the original on 14 June 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "2020 Local Government Elections: Saturday, 28 March 2020". Electoral Commission of Queensland. 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  16. ↑ "Aikens, Mr Thomas (Tom)". Re-Member Database. Queensland Parliament. Archived from the original on 5 May 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "2016 Townsville City Council - Councillor Election - Election Summary". Electoral Commission of Queensland. 20 April 2016. Archived from the original on 7 June 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  18. ↑ "Candidate Information". Electoral Commission of Queensland. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  19. ↑ "Using your libraries: locations and opening hours". Townsville City Council. Archived from the original on 29 January 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  20. ↑ "Mobile Library Service" (PDF). Townsville City Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 January 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  21. ↑ "Townsville City Council – Townsville's Sister Cities". Archived from the original on 3 January 2007. Retrieved 12 June 2007.

19°15′27.50″S 146°49′04.45″E / 19.2576389°S 146.8179028°E / -19.2576389; 146.8179028

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