Cobar Shire
Local government area in New South Wales, Australia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 44,065 square kilometres (17,014 sq mi), 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.
Cobar Shire | |||||||||||||
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Location in New South Wales | |||||||||||||
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| Coordinates: 31°29′54″S 145°40′04″E | |||||||||||||
| Country | Australia | ||||||||||||
| State | New South Wales | ||||||||||||
| Region | Orana | ||||||||||||
| Established | 18 March 1884[1] | ||||||||||||
| Council seat | Cobar | ||||||||||||
| Government | |||||||||||||
| • Mayor | Peter Abbott (Independent) | ||||||||||||
| • State electorate | |||||||||||||
| • Federal division | |||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||
• Total | 44,065 km2 (17,014 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||
| • Totals | 4,059 (2021 census)[2] 4,015 (2024 est.)[3] | ||||||||||||
| • Density | 0.092114/km2 (0.23857/sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Website | Cobar Shire | ||||||||||||
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Lilliane Brady OAM was the mayor of Cobar Shire for more than 20 years, before her death in 2021.[4] 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 Cr. 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.[5]
Demographics
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics during 2003–04 there:[6]
- 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 $34,149).
| Selected historical census data for Cobar Shire local government area | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Census year | 2011[7] | 2016[2] | ||||
| Population | Estimated residents on census night | 4,710 |  4,647 | |||
| LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales | 114th |  113th | ||||
| % of New South Wales population | ||||||
| % of Australian population | ||||||
| Cultural and language diversity | ||||||
| Ancestry, top responses | English | |||||
| Australian | ||||||
| Italian | ||||||
| Chinese | ||||||
| Irish | ||||||
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Italian | |||||
| Mandarin | ||||||
| Cantonese | ||||||
| Korean | ||||||
| Greek | ||||||
| Religious affiliation | ||||||
| Religious affiliation, top responses | Catholic | |||||
| No religion | ||||||
| Anglican | ||||||
| Eastern Orthodox | ||||||
| Buddhism | ||||||
| Median weekly incomes | ||||||
| Personal income | Median weekly personal income | A$ | ||||
| % 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
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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:[8]
| Party | Councillors | |
|---|---|---|
| Independents and Unaligned | 12 | |
| Total | 12 | |
The current Council, elected in 2021, in order of election, is:[8]
| Councillor | Party | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peter Abbott | Independent | Mayor[9] | |
| Tony Chaplain | Independent | ||
| Janine Lea-Barrett | Independent | ||
| Jarrod Marsden | Independent | Deputy Mayor[9] | |
| 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[10] | |
Election results
2024
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Jarrod Marsden (elected) | unopposed | |||
| Independent | Miranda Fry (elected) | unopposed | |||
| Independent | Bob Sinclair (elected) | unopposed | |||
| Independent | Lillian Simpson (elected) | unopposed | |||
| Independent | Peter Florance (elected) | unopposed | |||
| Independent | Michael Prince (elected) | unopposed | |||
| Independent | Harley Toomey (elected) | unopposed | |||
| Independent | Michael Haines (elected) | unopposed | |||
| Independent | Kate Winders (elected) | unopposed | |||
| Independent | Chris Deighton (elected) | unopposed | |||
| Independent | Nigel Vagg (elected) | unopposed | |||
| Independent Liberal | Wayne Phillips (elected) | unopposed | |||
| Registered electors | |||||
2022 by-election
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Michael Prince (elected) | 1,537 | 77.28 | +77.28 | |
| Independent | Jesse Cochrane Adolfson | 452 | 22.72 | +22.72 | |
| Total formal votes | 1,989 | 98.42 | |||
| Informal votes | 32 | 1.58 | |||
| Turnout | 2,021 | 80.0 | |||
| Independent hold | Swing | ||||
- By-election held to fill the remaining 12th seat, which was not filled at the 2021 election
2021
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Peter Abbott (elected) | unopposed | |||
| Independent | Tony Chaplain (elected) | unopposed | |||
| Independent | Janine Lea-Barrett (elected) | unopposed | |||
| Independent | Jarrod Marsden (elected) | unopposed | |||
| Independent | Peter Maxwell (elected) | unopposed | |||
| Independent | Kain Neale (elected) | unopposed | |||
| Independent | Julie Payne (elected) | unopposed | |||
| Independent | Lillian Simpson (elected) | unopposed | |||
| Independent | Bob Sinclair (elected) | unopposed | |||
| Independent | Harley Toomey (elected) | unopposed | |||
| Independent | Kate Winders (elected) | unopposed | |||
| Registered electors | 2,829 | ||||
