Cobar Shire is a local government area in the Orana region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire is located in an outback area that is centred around the mining town of Cobar. The Shire is traversed by the Barrier Highway and the Kidman Way. With a total area of , about two-thirds the size of Tasmania, Cobar Shire is larger than Denmark and 99 other countries and self-governing territories, but its population is under 5,000.
Lilliane Brady was the mayor of Cobar Shire for more than 20 years, before her death in 2021. At the time of her death, she was the longest-serving female mayor in New South Wales' history.
The current mayor of Cobar Shire Council is Peter Abbott, an independent politician.
Villages and localities
The shire also includes several small outback towns and localities; the twin villages of Euabalong and Euabalong West in the far south east of the shire, Canbelego, Mount Hope, Murrin Bridge, Nymagee and Irymple.
Demographics
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics during 2003–04 there: were 1,898 wage and salary earners (ranked 116th in New South Wales and 376th in Australia, less than 0.1% of both New South Wales's 2,558,415 and Australia's 7,831,856) was a total income of $79 million (ranked 108th in New South Wales and 359th in Australia, less than 0.1% of both New South Wales's $107 billion and Australia's $304 billion) was an estimated average income per wage and salary earner of $41,386 (ranked 27th in New South Wales and 85th in Australia, 100% of New South Wales's $41,407 and 107% of Australia's $38,820) was an estimated median income per wage and salary earner of $36,856 (ranked 27th in New South Wales and 81st in Australia, 104% of New South Wales's $35,479 and 108% of Australia's $34,149).
Selected historical census data for Cobar Shire local government areaCensus year 2011 2016Population Estimated residents on census night LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales % of New South Wales population % of Australian population Cultural and language diversity Ancestry,top responses English Australian Italian Chinese Irish Language,top responses(other than English) ItalianMandarinCantoneseKoreanGreekReligious affiliation Religious affiliation,top responses CatholicNo religionAnglicanEastern OrthodoxBuddhismMedian weekly incomes Personal income Median weekly personal income% of Australian median income Family income Median weekly family income % of Australian median income Household income Median weekly household income % of Australian median income
Council
Current composition and election method Cobar Shire Council is composed of 12 councillors elected proportionally to 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. Only eleven candidates nominated for election, and with there being no additional candidates, the election was uncontested. A by-election was held on 26 February 2022 for the remaining seat. The makeup of the council is as follows:
PartyCouncillors Independents and Unaligned 12 Total 12
The current Council, elected in 2021, in order of election, is:
CouncillorPartyNotes Peter Abbott Independent Mayor Tony Chaplain Independent Janine Lea-Barrett Independent Jarrod Marsden Independent Deputy Mayor Peter Maxwell Independent Kain Neale Independent Julie Payne Independent Lillian Simpson Unaligned Bob Sinclair Unaligned Harley Toomey Independent Kate Winders Independent Michael Prince Independent Elected at the 26 February 2022 by-election
Election results 2024
2022 by-election
2021
References