Barkly Region

Local government area in the Northern Territory, Australia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Barkly Region, formerly Barkly Shire, is a local government area of the Northern Territory of Australia, administered by the Barkly Regional Council. The region's main town is Tennant Creek. The region covers an area of 322,713 square kilometres (124,600 sq mi) and had a population of almost 7,400 as at June 2018.^[1]

CountryAustralia

Established2008

Council seatTennant Creek

WebsiteBarkly Region

Quick facts Country, State ...

Barkly Region

Local government area

Country

Established

2008

Council seat

Tennant Creek

Government

• Mayor

Sid Vashit

• Territory electorate

Barkly

• Federal division

Lingiari

Area

^[1]

• Total

322,713 km² (124,600 sq mi)

Population

• Total

7,392 (2018)^[1]

• Density

0.0229058/km² (0.059326/sq mi)

Website

Barkly Region

LGAs around Barkly Region
Victoria Daly	Roper Gulf	Burke
Victoria Daly	Barkly Region	Mount Isa
Central Desert	Central Desert	Boulia

History

In October 2006 the Northern Territory Government announced the reform of local government areas. The intention of the reform was to improve and expand the delivery of services to towns and communities across the Northern Territory by establishing eleven new shires. The Barkly Shire was created on 1 July 2008, as were the remaining ten shires. On 1 January 2014, it was renamed Barkly Region.^[2]

The Barkly Region is administered by the Barkly Regional Council.

The most recent elections of Councillors were held on 18 November 2024. The current President (Mayor) of the Region is Sid Vashist.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]

[1]
"3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2017-18: Population Estimates by Local Government Area (ASGS 2018), 2017 to 2018". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2019. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018.
[2]
Tollner, David William (18 December 2013). "Local Government Act changes to local government areas and councils" (PDF). Northern Territory Government Gazette. Northern Territory Government. p. 3. Retrieved 26 April 2019. with effect from 1 January 2014:
[3]
"Sid Vashist Makes History as First Indian-Origin Mayor of Australias Barkly Regional Council". NRI ConnectMyIndia. 20 November 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
[4]
"About Mayor | Barkly Regional Council". www.barkly.nt.gov.au. Archived from the original on 23 August 2025. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
[5]
SARWAL, AMIT (19 November 2024). "With popular vote, Sid Vashist elected as first Indian-origin Mayor of a Council in Northern Territory - The Australia Today". Retrieved 14 March 2026.
[6]
"This Indian-Australian is leading one of the largest First Nations regional councils of Australia". SBS Language. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
[7]
"Sid Vashist elected mayor of the Barkly Regional Council | NT Independent". NT Independent. Archived from the original on 18 November 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2026.

In 2019, a proposal was made to build a 15,000 ha (37,000-acre) solar farm in the region, which would become the world's largest solar energy project.^[1]

In 2021, the region had the lowest rate of vaccination against COVID-19 pandemic.^[2]

In June 2024, all members of the council were dismissed after an investigation into its management.^[3] A report by the Northern Territory government found the organisation had unmanaged conflicts of interest, breached the Local Government Act and had "serious deficiencies" in the conduct of council affairs.^[3]

Council

Barkley Regional Council is governed by a Mayor and 12 councillors.

Current composition

The current council, elected in 2024 following an all-of-council dismissal is:^[4]

More information Electorate, Name ...

Electorate	Name
Mayor	Sid Vashit	Independent
Alyawarr Ward	Noel Hayes	Independent
	Andrew Tsavaris	Independent
	Darryl Rex Morton	Independent
	Zacieus Long	Independent
Patta Ward	Greg Marlow	Independent
	Sharen Lake	Independent
	Pennie Cowin	Independent
	Dianne Stokes	NT Greens
	Valda Napurrula Shannon	Independent
Kuwarrangu	Lennie Barton	Independent
Kuwarrangu	Ben Neade	Independent
Alpururrulam Ward	Valerie Campbell	Independent

Wards

The council is divided into 4 wards:

Alyawarr Ward (South) (4)
Patta Ward (West) (5)
Kuwarrangu (until 2016 Yapakurlangu) (Northeast) (2)
Alpururrulam Ward (Southeast) (1)

Localities and communities

Land within the Barkly Region was divided during 2007 into bounded areas for the purpose of creating an address for a property. The bounded areas are called "localities", with those localities associated with Aboriginal communities being called "communities".^[5]^[6]

Localities

Anmatjere (part)
Costello
Creswell
Davenport
Elliott
Newcastle Waters
Nicholson
Pamayu
Ranken
Sandover (part)
Tablelands
Tanami East
Tennant Creek
Warumungu

Communities

Ali Curung
Alpurrurulam
Ampilatwatja
Canteen Creek
Tara
Wutungurra

Sister cities

Uintah County, Utah, United States

References

[1]
Brown, Carmen (17 July 2019). "Oil and gas giant Eni starts work on Northern Territory's largest solar farm in race to 50pc renewables by 2030". Australia: ABC News. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
[2]
Hynes, Nicholas (26 September 2021). "New data shows remote NT vaccination levels will fall short of November target at current rate". Australia: ABC News. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
[3]
Houlbrook-Walk, Myles; Robinson, Lee (20 June 2024). "Barkly Regional Council elected members officially dismissed in wake of damning report". ABC News. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
[4]
"Results Barkly Regional Council". ntec.nt.gov.au. Northern Territory Electoral Commission. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
[5]
"Northern Territory localities and suburbs". Place Names Committee. Northern Territory Government. Archived from the original on 13 March 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
[6]
"Barkly". Place Names Committee. Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 25 April 2019.

External links

"Barkly Local Government Area Wards" (map). 17 September 2019.

19.80367°S 135.5095°E / -19.80367; 135.5095

Current composition

Wards

Localities

Communities

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