The Hay Shire is a local government area in the Riverina area of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Shire comprises and is located adjacent to the Sturt, Mid-western and Cobb Highways. The area includes the towns of Hay, Booligal and Maude.
Hay Shire was established in 1965 by the amalgamation of the Municipality of Hay with the surrounding Waradgery Shire.
The mayor of Hay Shire is Carol Oataway, an unaligned politician who had previously held the position of Principal of Hay Public School.Ian Beissel (2019), Hay Public School: 150 Years of History 1869-2019, Hay Historical Society, page 175.
Demographics Selected historical census data for Hay Shire local government areaCensus year 2001 2006 2011 2016 2021Population Estimated residents on census night Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islanders (%) 3.5% 4.2% 5.6% 6.0% 8.3% LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales % of New South Wales population 0.06% 0.05% 0.04% 0.04% 0.04%% of Australian population 0.02% 0.02% 0.01% 0.01% 0.01%Cultural and linguistic diversity 2001 2006 2011 2016 2021Country of birth(top responses) Australia90.4% 90.5% 88.2% 80.3% 80.0% India 0.7% 0.5% 1.3%New Zealand0.8% 1.1% 0.8% 1.3% 1.1% England1.0% 0.8% 1.0% 0.9% 0.9%Fiji 0.4% 0.6%Scotland0.3% 0.4% 0.4% 0.4% 0.5%Language(top responses,other than English) Italian1.1% 0.8% 1.2% 0.8% 0.7%Punjabi 0.3% 0.6%Fijian0.2% 0.5% 0.4%Afrikaans 0.4%Malayalam 0.3%Religious affiliation 2001 2006 2011 2016 2021Religious affiliation(top responses)Catholic36.4% 36.1% 35.8% 31.9% 27.6%No Religion7.1% 10.4% 10.9% 16.3% 24.3%Anglican31.8% 31.1% 31.1% 24.7% 21.7%Not statedn/c n/c n/c 12.8% 12.3%Presbyterian and Reformed 9.2% 7.9% 7.9% 5.8% 4.8%Median weekly incomes 2001 2006 2011 2016 2021Personal income Median weekly personal income A$404 A$441 A$587 % of Australian median income 86.7% 76.4% 88.7% 86.9%Family income Median weekly family income % of Australian median income 83.9% 66.2% 77.5% 76.5% Household income Median weekly household income % of Australian median income 72.2% 65.2% 74.8% 70.8%
Council
Current composition and election method
Hay Shire Council is composed of eight 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 14 September 2024, and the makeup of the council is as follows:
PartyCouncillors Unaligned 7 Independent 1 Total 8
The current Council was elected in September 2024 . The councillors, in order of election, are: CouncillorPartyNotes Carol Oataway Unaligned MayorCouncillors, Hay Shire Council website; accessed 22 October 2024. Will Miller Unaligned Lionel Garner Unaligned Martyn Quinn Unaligned Deputy Mayor Darren Tapper Unaligned Geoff Chapman Unaligned Paul Porter Independent John Perry Unaligned
Election results 2024
2021
Literary reference Banjo Paterson (1864–1941) wrote a poem called Hay and Hell and Booligal about the district.
References