City of Lake Macquarie

This article is about the local government area. For the lake, see Lake Macquarie (New South Wales).

The City of Lake Macquarie is a local government area (LGA) in the Hunter Region in New South Wales, Australia. It was proclaimed a city on 7 September 1984. It is adjacent to the city of Newcastle and is part of the Greater Newcastle area.^[10] The city is approximately 150 km (93 mi) north of Sydney. One of its major tourist attractions is its lake, also named Lake Macquarie.

City of Lake Macquarie New South Wales
Lake Macquarie, after which the LGA is named
Location in Greater Newcastle
Coordinates	33°02′S 151°38′E
Population	213,845 (2021 census)[1] (23rd)
• Density	315/km2 (820/sq mi)
Established	7 March 1906 (Shire) March 1 1977 (Municipality) 7 September 1984 (City)
Area	648 km2 (250.2 sq mi)[2]
Time zone	AEST (UTC+10)
• Summer (DST)	AEDT (UTC+11)
Mayor	Adam Shultz (Labor)
Council seat	Speers Point
Region	Hunter[3]
State electorate(s)	Lake Macquarie[4] Swansea[5] Charlestown[6] Cessnock[7] Wallsend[8]
Federal division(s)	Shortland[9] Hunter
Website	City of Lake Macquarie
LGAs around City of Lake Macquarie: Maitland Newcastle Newcastle Cessnock City of Lake Macquarie Tasman Sea Central Coast, Cessnock Central Coast Tasman Sea

The mayor of the city is Councillor Adam Shultz, a member of the Labor Party.^[11]

The Royal Australian Navy ship HMAS Tobruk was granted the Right of Freedom of Entry to the city on 9 August 1991.^[12]

History

The Shire of Lake Macquarie was proclaimed on 6 March 1906. It became a municipality on 1 March 1977, and a city on 7 September 1984.^[13][14]

Suburbs, towns and villages

Lake Macquarie is home to several prominent coastal suburbs such as Catherine Hill Bay, Caves Beach, Blacksmiths and Redhead. Retail and commercial centres include Belmont, Cardiff, Charlestown Glendale, Swansea, Toronto and Morisset.

The towns and villages in the city are split into three wards – East, North and West.^[15] These include:

East Ward Belmont Belmont North Belmont South Bennetts Green Blacksmiths Cams Wharf Catherine Hill Bay Caves Beach Charlestown[16] Crangan Bay[n 1] Croudace Bay Eleebana Floraville Gateshead Jewells Little Pelican Marks Point Moonee[n 1] Mount Hutton Murrays Beach Nords Wharf Pelican Pinny Beach Redhead Swansea Swansea Heads Tingira Heights Valentine Warners Bay[17] Windale

North Ward Adamstown Heights[n 2] Boolaroo Cameron Park Cardiff Cardiff Heights Cardiff South Charlestown[18] Dudley Edgeworth Elermore Vale[n 2] Garden Suburb Glendale Highfields Hillsborough Kahibah Kotara South[n 2] Lakelands Macquarie Hills New Lambton Heights[n 2] Rankin Park[n 2] Seahampton Speers Point Warners Bay[19] West Wallsend Whitebridge

West Ward Arcadia Vale Argenton Awaba Balcolyn Balmoral Barnsley Blackalls Park Bolton Point Bonnells Bay Booragul Brightwaters Buttaba Carey Bay Coal Point Cooranbong Dora Creek Eraring Fassifern Fennell Bay Fishing Point Freemans Waterhole Holmesville Kilaben Bay Killingworth Mandalong Marmong Point Martinsville Mirrabooka Morisset Morisset Park Myuna Bay Rathmines Ryhope Silverwater Sunshine Teralba Toronto Wakefield Wangi Wangi Windermere Park Woodrising Wyee Wyee Point Yarrawonga Park

The Australian Bureau of Statistics classifies various towns and suburbs in the LGA as being part of the Greater Newcastle Statistical District. The City of Lake Macquarie has its own independent local government (Lake Macquarie City Council). The largest commercial centre in the area is Charlestown.

Demographics

Lake Macquarie suburbs (2021)
Charlestown	13,601
Cameron Park	9,977
Warners Bay	8,237
Belmont	7,289
Cooranbong	7,077
Eleebana	6,460
Edgeworth	6,401

The area is a set of contiguous towns that surround a coastal saltwater lake. These towns merge with the suburbs of Newcastle to the north. Some suburbs, such as Adamstown Heights are partly in the City of Newcastle and partly within the City of Lake Macquarie. There are 92 identified settlements ranging from small rural style communities through to larger and higher density areas such as Toronto, Warners Bay, Belmont, Charlestown and Morisset.

At the 2011 census, there were 189,006 people in the Lake Macquarie local government area, of these 48.8% were male and 51.2% were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 3.0% of the population, which was higher than the national and state averages. The median age of people in the City of Lake Macquarie was 41 years, which was significantly higher than the national median of 37 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 18.6% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 18.4% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 51.0% were married and 12.2% were either divorced or separated.^[20]

Population growth in the City of Lake Macquarie between the 2001 census and the 2006 census was 3.36%; and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 Census, population growth was 3.20%. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78% and 8.32% respectively, population growth in Lake Macquarie local government area was approximately half the national average.^[21] The median weekly income for residents within the City of Lake Macquarie was marginally below the national average.^[20][22]

At the 2011 census, the proportion of residents in the Lake Macquarie local government area who stated their ancestry as Australian or Anglo-Celtic exceeded 81% of all residents (national average was 65.2%). In excess of 58% of all residents in the City of Lake Macquarie nominated a religious affiliation with Christianity at the 2011 census, which was slightly higher than the national average of 50.2%. Meanwhile, as at the census date, compared to the national average, households in the Lake Macquarie local government area had a significantly lower than average proportion (5.4%) where two or more languages are spoken (national average was 20.4%); and a significantly higher proportion (93.0%) where English only was spoken at home (national average was 76.8%).^[20]

Lake Macquarie at Croudace Bay

Selected historical census data for Lake Macquarie local government area

Census year			2001[21]	2006[22]	2011[20]	2016[23]	2021[1]
Population		Estimated residents on Census night	177,185	183,138	189,006	197,371	213,845
		LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales		4th	4th	13th
		% of New South Wales population			2.73%	2.64%	2.65%
		% of Australian population	0.94%	0.92%	0.88%	0.84%	0.84%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses		Australian			33.7%	32.0%	42.7%
		English			32.2%	31.9%	43.9%
		Scottish			8.2%	8.6%	11.8%
		Irish			7.7%	8.3%	10.9%
		German			3.0%	3.1%
Language, top responses (other than English)		Italian	0.3%	0.3%	0.3%	0.2%
		Macedonian	0.3%	0.3%	0.3%	0.3%	0.2%
		Mandarin				0.3%	0.3%
		Italian				0.3%	0.2%
		German	0.3%	0.3%	0.3%	0.2%	0.2%
		Cantonese	n/c	0.2%	0.2%
		Spanish	n/c	n/c	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses		No Religion	12.5%	15.5%	19.7%	28.9%	42.0%
		Anglican	29.1%	27.6%	26.2%	21.3%	15.7%
		Catholic	23.0%	22.9%	22.8%	20.8%	18.0%
		Uniting Church	10.0%	8.8%	5.8%	5.9%	4.1%
		Presbyterian and Reformed	4.4%	4.0%	3.6%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income		Median weekly personal income		A$394	A$520	A$609	A$759
		% of Australian median income		84.5%	90.1%	92%	94.3%
Family income		Median weekly family income		A$922	A$1,396	A$1,610	A$2,050
		% of Australian median income		89.8%	94.3%	92.8%	96.7%
Household income		Median weekly household income		A$1,102	A$1,177	A$1,313	A$1,623
		% of Australian median income		94.1%	90.5%	91.3%	93.0%

Economics

Lake Macquarie has a significant coal mining industry and smaller agriculture and manufacturing industries. Eraring power station, a 1980s-era coal-fired power station, supplies 25% of New South Wales' power.^[24] Lake Macquarie has a number of Constructed Wetlands with the council placing an emphasis on the environment.

Council

See also: List of mayors of Lake Macquarie

Speers Point, which is shown in relation to Newcastle, is the seat of government for the city of Lake Macquarie.

Current composition and election method

Lake Macquarie City Council is composed of thirteen councillors, including the mayor, for a fixed four-year term of office. The mayor is directly elected while the twelve other Councillors are elected proportionally as three separate wards, each electing four Councillors. The most recent election was held on 14 September 2024, and the makeup of the council, including the mayor, is as follows:

Party		Councillors
	Labor	6
	Liberal	3
	Lake Mac Independents	3
	Independent	1
	Total	13

The current Council, elected in 2024, in order of election by ward, is:

Ward	Councillor		Party	Notes
Mayor		Adam Shultz	Labor
East Ward		Christine Buckley	Labor
		Matt Shultz	Liberal
		Stacey Radcliffe	Labor
		Michael Hannah	Lake Mac Independents
North Ward		Colin Grigg	Lake Mac Independents
		Jack Antcliff	Liberal
		Brian Adamthwaite	Labor
		Keara Conroy	Labor
West Ward		Kate Warner	Lake Mac Independents
		Madeline Bishop	Labor
		Jason Pauling	Liberal
		Anthony Swinsburg	Independent

Election results

2024

2024 New South Wales local elections: Lake Macquarie

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Labor		46,239	35.2	−4.0	5	1
	Liberal		30,363	23.1	−2.6	3
	Lake Mac Independents		28,530	21.7	+2.3	3
	Greens		13,257	10.1	+0.3	0
	Community First Independents		2,942	2.2		0
	Our Local Community		2,819	2.1		0
	Independents		7,221	5.5	+1.9	1	1
Formal votes			131,371	92.8
Informal votes			10,133	7.2
Total			141,504			12
Registered voters / turnout

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2024 New South Wales local elections in Hunter § Lake Macquarie results.[edit]

2021

2021 New South Wales local elections: Lake Macquarie^[25]

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Labor		50,340	39.2		6	1
	Liberal		33,078	25.7		3
	Lake Mac Independents		24,922	19.4		3
	Greens		12,571	9.8		0
	Independent		4,661	3.6		0
	Shooters, Fishers, Farmers		29,80	2.3		0
Formal votes			128,552

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2021 New South Wales local elections in Hunter § Lake Macquarie.[edit]

Shopping

Major shopping centres include:

• Charlestown Square
• Stockland Glendale
• Lake Macquarie Square

Arts and culture

Lake Macquarie has a number of cultural and artistic locations:^[26]

• Dobell House – last residence of William Dobell, Wangi Wangi
• Finite Gallery, Caves Beach Fine Arts and Crafts
• Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, Booragul
• South Sea Islands Museum and Sunnyside Historic Home, Cooranbong
• The Friends of Rathmines Incorporated, Rathmines Park

Sister cities

The City of Lake Macquarie has sister city relations with the following cities:^[27]

• Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Japan
• Tanagura, Fukushima, Japan
• Rotorua, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand
• Round Rock, Texas, United States of America^[28]

Notes

1. Shared with Central Coast Council
2. Shared with City of Newcastle