Bourke Shire

This article is about the local government area. For the regional town, see Bourke, New South Wales.

Bourke Shire is a local government area in the Orana region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire is located adjacent to the Darling River, which is known as the Barwon River upstream from Bourke; and located adjacent to the Mitchell Highway. The northern boundary of the Shire is located adjacent to the border between New South Wales and Queensland. The shire is a wool and beef producing area.

Bourke Shire New South Wales
Location in New South Wales
Coordinates	30°06′S 145°56′E
Population	2,834 (2016 census)[1] 2,630 (2018 est.)[2]
• Density	0.067996/km2 (0.17611/sq mi)
Area	41,679 km2 (16,092.4 sq mi)
Mayor	Barry Hollman (Unaligned)
Council seat	Bourke
Region	Orana
State electorate(s)	Barwon
Federal division(s)	Parkes
Website	Bourke Shire
LGAs around Bourke Shire: Bulloo (Qld) Paroo (Qld) Balonne (Qld) Unincorporated Far West Bourke Shire Brewarrina Unincorporated Far West Cobar Bogan

The mayor of Bourke Shire Council is Cr. Barry Hollman, an unaligned politician.

History

The Bourke LGA (local government area) was traditionally home to around fifteen Aboriginal groups. The people of the region were traditionally hunter-gatherers as well as seed harvesters, who managed the environment. These traditional landowners have been identified as belonging to five main groups, the Ngiyampaa, Barranbinya, Paruntji, Naualko, and Muruwari peoples. Aboriginal people consulted for a 2019 Aboriginal heritage study identified the Bourke LGA as the traditional country of the Barkindji people, Bardaji people, Murrawari (Muruwari) people, Nyemba (Ngiyampaa) people, and Nyirrpa people, who each occupied different areas. The boundaries of the land they occupied were defined largely by rivers, landforms, and areas of access to seasonal environmental resources.^[3]

Main towns and villages

Bourke Shire Council sign, bordering with Brewarrina (2021).

Bourke Shire includes Bourke and the very small outback towns of Byrock, Enngonia, Fords Bridge, Wanaaring and Louth.

Demographics

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics during 2003–04 there:^[4]

• were 1,062 wage and salary earners (ranked 141st in New South Wales and 457th 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 $36 million (ranked 137th in New South Wales and 449th 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 $33,611 (ranked 88th in New South Wales and 298th in Australia, 81% of New South Wales's $41,407 and 87% of Australia's $38,820)
• was an estimated median income per wage and salary earner of $32,426 (ranked 71st in New South Wales and 235th in Australia, 91% of New South Wales's $35,479 and 95% of Australia's $34,149).

Selected historical census data for Bourke Shire local government area
Census year			2011[5]	2016[1]
Population		Estimated residents on census night	2,868	2,634
		LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales	122nd	125th
		% of New South Wales population	0.04%	0.04%
		% of Australian population	0.01%	0.01%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses		Australian	38.3%	39.4%
		English	23.8%	22.1%
		Irish	7.8%	7.1%
		Australian Aboriginal	4.0%	4.7%
		Scottish	5.1%	4.2%
Language, top responses (other than English)		Nepali	n/c	0.7%
		Tok Pisin (Neomelanesian)	n/c	0.3%
		Spanish	n/c	0.2%
		Arabic	n/c	0.2%
		Urdu	0.1%	0.2%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses		Catholic	41.5%	36.5%
		Not stated	n/c	20.1%
		Anglican	21.1%	17.7%
		No religion	8.6%	12.7%
		Presbyterian and Reformed	4.5%	3.6%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income		Median weekly personal income	A$600	A$719
		% of Australian median income	104.0%	108.6%
Family income		Median weekly family income	A$1238	A$1562
		% of Australian median income	83.6%	90.1%
Household income		Median weekly household income	A$1085	A$1243
		% of Australian median income	87.9%	86.4%

Council

Bourke Shire Council chambers, Mitchell Street, Bourke (2021).

Current composition and election method

Bourke Shire Council is composed of ten councillors elected proportionally as 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 10 September 2016, and the makeup of the council is as follows:^[6]

Party		Councillors
	Independents and Unaligned	10
	Total	10

The current Council, elected in 2021, in order of election, is:^[6]

Councillor		Party	Notes
	Victor Bartley	Independent
	Sarah Barton	Independent
	Sally Davis	Unaligned
	Cec Dorrington	Unaligned
	Lachlan Ford	Independent	Deputy Mayor[7]
	Barry Hollman	Unaligned	Mayor[7]
	Samuel Rice	Independent
	Grace Ridge	Unaligned
	Nathan Ryan	Independent
	Bob Stutsel	Independent

Election results

2024

2024 New South Wales local elections: Bourke

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Patricia Bates-Canty (elected)	133	11.8
	Independent	Scott McAdam (elected)	120	10.7
	Independent	Maxime Nina (elected)	105	9.3
	Independent	Sarah Barton (elected)	98	8.7
	Independent	Samuel Rice (elected)	94	8.4
	Independent	Lachlan Ford (elected)	92	8.2
	Independent	Sally Davis (elected)	88	7.8
	Independent	Francis Kerr (elected)	87	7.7
	Independent	Kylie Baty (elected)	75	6.7
	Independent	Bob Stutsel (elected)	73	6.5
	Independent	Nathan Ryan	61	5.4
	Independent	Victor Bartley	53	4.7
	Independent	Cecil Dorrington	27	2.4
	Independent	Grace Ridge	20	1.8
Total formal votes			1,126	96.7
Informal votes			38	3.3
Turnout			1,164	67.2

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

2021

2021 New South Wales local elections: Bourke^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Victor Bartley (elected)	unopposed
	Independent	Sarah Barton (elected)	unopposed
	Independent	Sally Davis (elected)	unopposed
	Independent	Cec Dorrington (elected)	unopposed
	Independent	Lachlan Ford (elected)	unopposed
	Independent	Barry Hollman (elected)	unopposed
	Independent	Samuel Rice (elected)	unopposed
	Independent	Grace Ridge (elected)	unopposed
	Independent	Nathan Ryan (elected)	unopposed
	Independent	Bob Stutsel (elected)	unopposed
Registered electors			1,775

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

Notable persons

In 1884, Sid 'Combo' Ross set a record by shearing nine lambs in nine minutes.^[9]

Scottish-Australian poet balladeer Will. H. Ogilvie (1869–1963) worked on Belalie Station on the Warrego River, composed many of his poems in the 1890s. Belalie is between the township of Enngonia (formerly Eringunia) and the Queensland border.