The Shire of Hinchinbrook is a local government area in North Queensland, Queensland, Australia. The shire, administered from the town of Ingham, covers an area of , and has existed since its creation on 11 November 1879 as one of 74 divisions around Queensland under the Divisional Boards Act 1879.
The council consists of a mayor plus six councillors, each of whom represents the entire Shire. Prior to 2008, the council consisted of a mayor plus eight councillors.
In the , the Shire of Hinchinbrook had a population of 10,920 people.
History
The Hinchinbrook Division was created on 11 November 1879 as one of 74 divisions around Queensland under the Divisional Boards Act 1879 with a population of 326. It originally covered a much larger area, extending well into the Tablelands Region.
On 3 September 1881, the Tinaroo Division was created on 3 September 1881 under the Divisional Boards Act 1879 out of parts of the Cairns, Hinchinbrook and Woothakata Divisions.
On 28 October 1881, part of Hinchinbrook Division was separated to create the Johnstone Division.
On 18 January 1884 part of Hinchinbrook Division was separated to create the Cardwell Division.
With the passage of the Local Authorities Act 1902, Hinchinbrook Division became Shire of Hinchinbrook on 31 March 1903.
Hinchinbrook was one of the few shires outside of remote areas in Queensland not to be affected by amalgamations in 2007–2008. It was considered for amalgamation into the Cassowary Coast Region with Cardwell and Johnstone, but the Local Government Commissioners accepted arguments by the council that there was no significant community of interest between the three, that amalgamation would not improve financial sustainability and that the resulting council would have a large north-south distance which would impact upon economies of scale.
Shire hall
The first shire hall was constructed in 1883, but was destroyed by fire in May 1916. A new double-storey building was built at a different site in 1919. The present shire hall opened in 1963.
Libraries
Hinchinbrook Shire Council operates public libraries at Ingham and Halifax.
Towns and localities The Shire of Hinchinbrook includes the following settlements:
Abergowrie Bambaroo Bemerside Blackrock Braemeadows Cordelia Forrest Beach Gairloch Garrawalt Halifax Hawkins Creek Helens Hill Hinchinbrook
Ingham Lannercost Extension Long Pocket Lucinda Macknade Mount Fox Stone River Taylors Beach Toobanna Trebonne Victoria Plantation Yuruga
Demographics Year Population Notes 1933 10,179 1947 9,212 1954 11,381 1961 11,890 1966 13,644 1971 13,373 1976 13,864 1981 13,683 1986 13,476 1991 13,496 1996 13,450 14,529 11,558 11,568 10,885 10,920 In the 2021 census, the Hinchinbrook Shire had a population of 10,920 people. 34.4% described their ancestry as English. This is followed by 33.9% who described their ancestry as Australian, then Italian (27.6%), Irish (10.1%) and Scottish at 8.0%. 86.9% spoke only English at home followed by the next most common languages: 3.0% Italian, 0.2% Filipino, 0.2% Tagalog, 0.1% German and 0.1% Cantonese. Indigenous Australians were listed as making up 6.9% of the Hinchinbrook population.
Chairmen and mayors Chairmen of the Hinchinbrook Divisional Board 1880–1882: Frank Neame 1883–1886: Alfred Sandlings Cowley 1887: Henry Stone 1888: A. J. Traill (resigned) 1888–1892: W. T. White 1893: Arthur Gedge 1894: W. T. White (again) 1895–1899: Henry Stone (again) 1900: P. J. Cochrane 1901–1902: Arthur Gedge (again) Chairmen of the Hinchinbrook Shire Council 1903: Frank Fraser 1904–1905: R.G. Johnson (resigned) 1905–1909: Francis Andrew O'Connor Cassady 1910–1913: Martin Flynn (resigned) 1913–1915: Francis Andrew O'Connor Cassady (again) 1916–1920: J. W. Cartwright 1921–1936: Francis Andrew O'Connor Cassady (again, died 23 March 1936) 1936: F. J. Heard (temporary) 1936–1942: James Lawrence Kelly 1943–1945: F. N. Alston 1946–1954: James Lawrence Kelly (again) 1955–1977: W. O. Garbutt (died) May 1977 – 1981 : S. Cavallaro 1982–1984: A. J. Andrews 1985–1987: J. J. Williams 1988–1993 : R. S. Brown Mayors of Hinchinbrook Shire 1994–1999 : Giuseppantonio (Pino) Giandomenico 2000–2003 : Keith Thomas Phillips 2004–2011: Giuseppantonio (Pino) Giandomenico 2012–2016 : Mansell (Rodger) Bow 2016–present: Ramon Jayo
Council
Below is the current council, elected in 2024:
Names Party Notes Deputy Mayor Andrew Carr Mayor Patrick Lynch Mark Spina
References
External links
Hinchinbrook Shire Council