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Mackay Region

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.

Mackay Region
Queensland
Location within Queensland
Coordinates21°08′28″S 149°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)
MayorGreg Williamson[2]
Council seatMackay
RegionNorth Queensland
State electorate(s)
Federal division(s)
WebsiteMackay Region
LGAs around Mackay Region:
Whitsunday Whitsunday Coral Sea
Whitsunday Mackay Region Coral Sea
Isaac Isaac Isaac

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

In the 2021 census, the Mackay Region had a population of 121,691 people.[1]

History

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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

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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

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  • 2000–present: Gregory Roy Williamson[7]

Council

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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

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The current council, elected in 2024, is:

Position Councillor Party
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

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2020−present

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Year Councillor Councillor Councillor Councillor Councillor Councillor Councillor Councillor Councillor Councillor
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

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2024

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This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2024 Queensland local elections § Mackay.[edit]
2024 Queensland local elections: Mackay[10][11][12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Labor Belinda Hassan (elected) 26,376 4.16
Mackay First George Christensen (elected) 25,556 4.03
Mackay First Namarca Corowa (elected) 25,440 4.01
Independent Martin Bella (elected) 25,364 4.00
Independent Peter Sheedy (elected) 25,118 3.96
Team Greg Williamson Ash-Lee Johnson (elected) 24,404 3.85
Independent Alison Jones (elected) 24,399 3.84
Mackay First Nathenea MacRae (elected) 24,149 3.80
Mackay First Heath Paton (elected) 24,084 3.79
Team Greg Williamson Karen May (elected) 24,000 3.78
Team Greg Williamson Michelle Green 23,941 3.77
Independent Pauline Townsend 23,601 3.72
Mackay First Melissa Fowler 23,486 3.70
Independent Labor Fran Mann 23,118 3.64
Mackay First Keith Hicks 22,705 3.58
Mackay First Jeff Keioskie 22,390 3.53
Mackay First Kylee Stanton 22,274 3.51
Mackay First Ian Christensen 21,831 3.44
Team Greg Williamson Neil Wallace 21,730 3.42
Mackay First Lindsay Temple 21,222 3.34
Independent Justin Englert 19,432 3.06
Independent Greg Fisher 19,076 3.01
Team Greg Williamson Peter Freeleagus 18,902 2.98
Independent Russell Seymour 18,063 2.85
Independent Kimberly Doyle 17,805 2.81
Team Greg Williamson Stephen Cutting 17,792 2.80
Independent Les Scott 17,462 2.75
Team Greg Williamson Joshua Thornton 17,370 2.74
Independent LNP Ian Rowan 13,580 2.14
Turnout 73,008 82.16
Party total votes
Mackay First 233,137 36.73 +36.73
Independent 190,320 29.98
Team Greg Williamson 148,139 23.34
Independent Labor 49,494 7.80
Independent LNP 13,580 2.14
Party total seats Seats ±
Mackay First 4   4
Independent 3   1
Team Greg Williamson 2   4
Independent Labor 1   1

Settlements

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Further information: List of Mackay suburbs

The Mackay Region includes the following settlements:

Demographics

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

Year Total Region Mackay Pioneer Mirani Sarina
1933 28,124 10,665 9,926 4,412 3,121
1947 32,947 13,486 11,606 4,587 3,268
1954 37,924 14,762 14,316 5,056 3,790
1961 41,196 16,809 15,741 4,760 3,886
1966 48,580 18,640 19,900 5,379 4,611
1971 51,903 19,148 22,561 4,772 5,422
1976 57,903 20,224 26,938 4,889 5,852
1981 66,057 20,664 33,732 4,739 6,922
1986 70,674 22,199 36,084 4,854 7,537
1991 76,372 23,052 40,614 4,625 8,081
1996 86,376 71,894 5,088 9,394
2001 89,877 75,020 5,220 9,637
2006 101,525 85,450 5,406 10,720

The estimated population figures (official census population figures are in bold) for the amalgamated Mackay Region from 2008.

Year Total Region Population Change Since Previous Year % Change Since Previous Year
2008 108,644 +2,618 +2.47%
2009 111,455 +2,811 +2.59%
2010 113,699 +2,244 +2.01%
2011 112,798 -901 -0.79% [13]
2012 117,603 +4,805 +4.26%
2013 119,076 +1,473 +1.25%
2014 119,272 +196 +0.16%
2015 118,771 -501 -0.42%
2016 114,969 -3,802 -3.20% [14]
2017 116,601 +1,632 +1.42%
2018 116,514 -87 -0.07% [15]
2019 116,761 +247 +0.21%
2020 117,902 +1,141 +0.98%
2021 121,691 +3,789 +3.21% [1]

Services

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The Mackay Regional Council operates libraries in Mackay, Mount Pleasant, Walkerston, Sarina and Mirani.[16] 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.[17]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Mackay Region (LGA)". 2021 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 28 February 2023.  
  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. ^   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. Local government Reform Commission. 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. ^ a b "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. ^ 2011 Census QuickStats: Mackay (R) Australian Bureau of Statistics 28th March 2013
  14. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Mackay Region (LGA)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 20 October 2018.  
  15. ^ Mackay Economic Profile 2018 Mackay Regional Council 2018
  16. ^ "Libraries: Contact/Opening Hours". Mackay Regional Council. Archived from the original on 1 March 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
  17. ^ "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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