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City of Townsville

Field	Value
name	City of Townsville
state	qld
image	[[File:Townsville Boardwalk and Skyline.jpg	315px	frameless	Townsville Skyline]]
caption	Townsville Skyline
pop	192768
pop_year
pop_footnotes
poprank	28th
area	3731
area_footnotes
mayor	Nick Dametto
est	1865
seat	Townsville City
stategov	Townsville
stategov2	Thuringowa
stategov3	Mundingburra
stategov4	Burdekin
stategov5	Hinchinbrook
region	North Queensland
fedgov	Herbert
fedgov2	Dawson
fedgov3	Kennedy
logo	City of Townsville logo.svg
url	townsville.qld.gov.au
near-nw	Hinchinbrook
near-n	Coral Sea
near-ne	Coral Sea
near-w	Charters Towers
near-e	Burdekin
near-sw	Charters Towers
near-s	Charters Towers
near-se	Burdekin

the local government area

The City of Townsville is a local government area (LGA) located in North Queensland, Australia. It encompasses the city of Townsville, together with the surrounding rural areas. To the south are the communities of Alligator Creek, Woodstock and Reid River, and to the north are Northern Beaches and Paluma. Also included is Magnetic Island. In June 2018 the area had a population of 194,072, and is the 28th-largest LGA in Australia. Townsville is considered to be the unofficial capital of North Queensland.

In the , the City of Townsville had a population of 192,768 people.

History

Townsville's Town Hall 1895 with, from left to right, Aldermen T. Enright, E.J. Forrest, D.F. Treehy (Townclerk), P. Lillis (Rate Receiver), J. N. Parkes, B.P. McDougall (Accountant)

Prior to 2008, the new City of Townsville was an entire area of two previous and distinct local government areas:

the former City of Townsville;
and the City of Thuringowa.

The City of Townsville was first established as the Borough of Townsville under the Municipal Institutions Act 1864 on 15 February 1866. The surrounding rural area, which was given the name Thuringowa Division, was established on 11 November 1879 as one of 74 divisions around Queensland under the Divisional Boards Act 1879. On 31 March 1903, Thuringowa Division became the Shire of Thuringowa and Townsville was granted city status under the Local Authorities Act 1902, the ancestor of the current Local Government Act 1993.

The borders of the Townsville municipality were expanded to keep pace with urban growth in 1882, 1918, 1936, 1958 and 1964 – the purpose of expanding the borders was to keep urban and rural administrations separate. This state government convention changed under the Bjelke-Petersen government and the borders between the two local governments became static. By 1986 the Shire of Thuringowa had grown to a population of 27,000 and was declared a city.

The City of Townsville was notable in Australia in the 1890s and early 1900s for its support for municipal socialism. The anarchist and socialist Alderman Ned Lowry advocated for the City of Townsville to control various industries.

In 1939, Fred Paterson stood successfully as an alderman for the Townsville City Council, becoming the first member of the Communist Party to win such an office in Australia. He was then re-elected in 1943. The same year, he stood for the federal seat of Herbert, but was narrowly defeated. He then contested and won the Bowen seat in the Queensland Parliament, holding it from 1944 until 1950.

From 1942 to 1949, the council was held by a majority of members of the pro-soviet Labor party split, the North Queensland Labor Party.

A succession of endorsed Labor Party mayors and majority councillors held a continuous civic government from 1976–2008. This was the longest continuous Labor administration in the country until Tony Mooney was defeated in 2008.

Following local government reform undertaken by the State Government of Queensland, the City of Townsville and the City of Thuringowa were amalgamated in 2008. The process of amalgamation was completed on the election of a new combined council on 15 March 2008.

Mayors

Main article: List of mayors of Townsville

Other notable aldermen include:

1936–1949 (deputy mayor 1939–1944) Tom Aikens, Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Mundingburra and Townsville South

Council

Townsville City Council services the LGA. The council is represented by 10 councillors and the mayor, who have been elected by the whole city. The current mayor is Nick Dametto.

The council consists of one mayor, elected at large, and 10 councillors, elected from 10 individual divisions.

Recent history (2008−present)

In 2008, the Australian Labor Party, which had controlled the council for 32 years − the longest-serving Labor administration in Australia − was defeated in a landslide by the conservative Team Tyrell, which won all but one of the councillor positions. Incumbent mayor Tony Mooney was among the ALP members defeated.

After one term, mayor Les Tyrell chose to retire from politics and did not recontest his position. At the 2012 election, councillor Dale Last ran for mayor and formed the Townsville First group, which ran candidates − including six Team Tyrell councillors − in all wards. Jenny Hill, the only sitting Labor member on council, formed Team Jenny Hill and successfully ran for mayor.

At the 2016 election, Team Jenny Hill defeated Jayne Arlett's Team in a landslide victory, picking up every single ward, along with retaining the mayoralty.

Current composition

The current council, elected in 2024, is:

Ward	Notes
Mayor	Nick Dametto	Independent
Division 1	Paul Jacob	TownsvilleCHANGE
Division 2	Brodie Phillips	Independent
Division 3	Ann-Maree Greaney	Team Jenny Hill
Division 4	Kristian Price	Independent
Division 5	Vera Dirou	TownsvilleCHANGE
Division 6	Suzy Batkovic	Team Jenny Hill
Division 7	Kurt Rehbein	Team Jenny Hill
Division 8	Andrew Robinson	Independent
Division 9	Liam Mooney	Team Jenny Hill
Division 10	Brady Ellis	Independent LNP

Past councillors

2008−2012 (unsubdivided)

Year	Councillor	Councillor	Councillor	Councillor	Councillor	Councillor	Councillor	Councillor	Councillor
2008	team tyrell}}	David Crisafulli (Team Tyrell)	team tyrell}}	Jenny Lane (Team Tyrell/TF)	team tyrell}}		Dale Last (Team Tyrell/TF)	team tyrell}}	Rob McCahill (Team Tyrell)	team tyrell}}		Ray Gartrell (Team Tyrell/TF)	team tyrell}}	Deanne Bell (Team Tyrell)
2008	independent}}	Trevor Roberts (Ind./TF)
2012	blank}}	Vacant	townsville first}}	townsville first}}		townsville first}}		townsville first}}	townsville first}}		townsville first}}		team jenny hill}}	townsville first}}	townsville first}}

2012−present (10 wards)

Year	Division 1	Division 3	Division 4	Division 5	Division 6	Division 7	Division 9	Division 10	Councillor	Councillor	Councillor	Councillor	Councillor	Councillor	Councillor
2012	townsville first}}	Sue Blom (TF/JAT)	townsville first}}		Tony Parsons (TF/JAT)	townsville first}}	Vern Veitch (TF/Ind.)	townsville first}}		Jenny Lane (TF)	independent}}	Pat Ernst (Ind.)	townsville first}}	Trevor Roberts (TF/JAT)	townsville first}}	Gary Eddiehausen (TF/JAT)	townsville first}}	Ray Gartrell (TF/JAT)	team jenny hill}}	Colleen Doyle (TJH)	team jenny hill}}	Les Walker (TJH)
2015	glenn lazarus team}}	glenn lazarus team}}		independent}}		glenn lazarus team}}	glenn lazarus team}}		glenn lazarus team}}
2016	team jenny hill}}	Margie Ryder (TJH)	team jenny hill}}		Paul Jacob (TJH/Ind.)	team jenny hill}}	Ann-Maree Greaney (TJH)	team jenny hill}}		Mark Molachino (TJH)	team jenny hill}}	Russ Cook (TJH)	team jenny hill}}	Verena Coombe (TJH)	team jenny hill}}	Kurt Rehbein (TJH)	team jenny hill}}	Maurie Soars (TJH)
2019	independent}}
2020	independent}}	Sue Blom (Ind.)	team jenny hill}}		Suzy Batkovic (TJH)	team jenny hill}}	Liam Mooney (TJH)
2021	nq state}}	Fran O'Callaghan (NQSA)
2024	townsvillechange}}	Paul Jacob (Change)	independent}}		Brodie Phillips (Ind.)	independent}}	Kristian Price (Ind.)	townsvillechange}}		Vera Dirou (Change)	independent}}	Andrew Robinson (Ind.)	independent lnp}}	Brady Ellis (Ind. LNP)

Towns and localities

Main article: List of Townsville suburbs

Demographics

The populations given relate to the component entities prior to 2008. The 2011 census was the first for the new City.

Year	Population
(City total)	Population
(Townsville)	Population
(Thuringowa)
1911	15,731	10,636	5,095
1921	23,690	21,353	2,337
1933	29,300	25,876	3,424
1947	36,436	34,109	2,327
1954	43,098	40,471	2,627
1961	53,715	51,143	2,572
1966	65,303	62,403	2,900
1971	72,023	68,591	3,432
1976	91,279	80,365	10,914
1981	98,900	81,172	17,728
1986	112,917	82,809	30,108
1991	125,010	87,288	37,722
1996	131,371	87,052	44,319
2001	143,841	92,701	51,140
2006	158,647	99,483	59,164
2011	174,462
2016	186,757
2021	192,768

Amenities

The Townsville City Council operates libraries at Aitkenvale, Townsville City and Thuringowa Central. It also operates a mobile library service, serving the following suburbs on a regular schedule:

Monday: Deeragun & Bluewater
Tuesday: Nelly Bay (Magnetic Island), opening hours may be affected by tide times
Wednesday: Rollingstone & Saunders Beach, fortnightly alternating with Alligator Creek and Oakvale

Sister cities

Papua New Guinea Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea since 1983
Japan Shunan, Japan since 1990
Japan Iwaki City, Japan since August 1991
China Changshu, People's Republic of China since 1995
South Korea Suwon, South Korea since 1996
China Foshan, People's Republic of China since 2006

References

(27 March 2019). "3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2017-18: Population Estimates by Local Government Area (ASGS 2018), 2017 to 2018". [[Australian Bureau of Statistics]].
(May 2007). "Townsville City Council Submission to the Local Government Reform Commission". [[Townsville City Council]].
(1985). "In our time : socialism and the rise of labor, 1885-1905". Allen & Unwin.
(1997). "The people's champion, Fred Paterson : Australia's only Communist Party member of parliament". University of Queensland Press.
[http://www.ltc.townsville.qld.gov.au/Pages/Welcome.aspx A Message from the Chairman, Cr Tony Mooney] {{webarchive. link. (31 December 2007)
"Aikens, Mr Thomas (Tom)". [[Queensland Parliament]].
(15 March 2018). "How it happened: a defining moment in politics". Townsville Bulletin.
"Uphill battle for King Les's man". The Courier Mail.
(20 April 2016). "2016 Townsville City Council - Councillor Election - Election Summary". [[Electoral Commission of Queensland]].
"2025 Townsville City Council - Mayoral By-election. Saturday, 15 November 2025".
(16 March 2024). "BRADY JOHN ELLIS". Electoral Commission of Queensland.
{{Census 2016 AUS
{{Census 2021 AUS
"Using your libraries: locations and opening hours".
"Mobile Library Service".
"Townsville City Council – Townsville's Sister Cities".

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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