Shire of Aurukun

The Shire of Aurukun is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia. The shire covers part of western Cape York Peninsula, the most northerly section of the Australian mainland.

It covers an area of 7,375.0 square kilometres (2,847.5 sq mi), and has existed as a local government entity since 1978.

History

The territory of the Shire of Aurukun was previously an Aboriginal reserve administered under the Queensland Aborigines Act by the Presbyterian Church. The Aurukun Mission was established in 1904 and Aboriginal people from all over Cape York were relocated there.

In 1978, the land was taken over by the Queensland Government, who enacted the Local Government (Aboriginal Lands) Act 1978, proclaimed the Shire of Aurukun and granted to it Aboriginal Land Lease No.1. An elected Aboriginal council lasted just one month and an administrator was appointed. The State's media at the time generally was of the opinion that bauxite revenues were a major factor in the Government's decision making on the issue.^[2]

In the 1990s, an elected council once again took charge.

Towns and localities

Aurukun

Population

The population of the Shire of Aurukun, along with Cook, Torres and Mornington, have been singled out by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), who conduct the quinquennial census, as particularly difficult to measure accurately. Reasons for this include cultural and language barriers, transport and geographical spread of the population, who are mostly located in isolated communities. As such, all figures are likely to be lower than the actual population on the census date.

Year	Population
1981	791
1986	937
1991	784
1996	781
2001	1,032
2006	1,043

References

↑ Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 March 2011). "Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2009–10". Retrieved 11 June 2011.
↑ Cribb, Margaret (December 1978). "Australian Political Chronicle: January-June 1978". Australian Journal of Politics and History 24 (3): 371–372. ISSN 0004-9522.

v t e Local government areas of Queensland

South East	Brisbane Gold Coast Ipswich Lockyer Valley Logan Moreton Bay Noosa Redland Scenic Rim Somerset Sunshine Coast

Wide Bay-Burnett	Bundaberg Cherbourg Fraser Coast Gympie North Burnett South Burnett

Darling Downs	Goondiwindi Southern Downs Toowoomba Western Downs

Central	Banana Central Highlands Gladstone Isaac Livingstone Rockhampton Whitsunday Woorabinda

North	Burdekin Charters Towers Douglas Hinchinbrook Mackay Mareeba Palm Island Townsville

Far North	Aurukun Cairns Cassowary Coast Cook Hopevale Kowanyama Lockhart River Mapoon Napranum Northern Peninsula Area Pormpuraaw Tablelands Torres Torres Strait Island Weipa Wujal Wujal Yarrabah

North West	Burke Carpentaria Cloncurry Croydon Doomadgee Etheridge Flinders McKinlay Mornington Mount Isa Richmond

Central West	Barcaldine Barcoo Blackall-Tambo Boulia Diamantina Longreach Winton

South West	Balonne Bulloo Maranoa Murweh Paroo Quilpie

Coordinates: 30°49′S 117°29′E / 30.817°S 117.483°E / -30.817; 117.483

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.