City of Townsville

This article is about the local government area. For the metropolitan area, see Townsville, Queensland. For the Townsville CBD suburb, see Townsville City, Queensland. For other uses, see Townsville (disambiguation).

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, and also included is Magnetic Island. In June 2018 the area had a population of 194,072,^[2] and is the 28th-largest LGA in Australia. Townsville is considered to be the unofficial capital of North Queensland.^{[citation needed]}

City of Townsville Queensland
Townsville Skyline
Location within Queensland
Population	192,768 (2021 census)[1] (28th)
• Density	51.667/km2 (133.816/sq mi)
Established	1865
Area	3,731 km2 (1,440.5 sq mi)[2]
Mayor	Troy Thompson
Council seat	Townsville City
Region	North Queensland
State electorate(s)	Townsville Thuringowa Mundingburra Burdekin Hinchinbrook
Federal division(s)	Herbert Dawson Kennedy
Website	City of Townsville
LGAs around City of Townsville: Hinchinbrook Coral Sea Coral Sea Charters Towers City of Townsville Burdekin Charters Towers Charters Towers Burdekin

In the 2021 census, the City of Townsville had a population of 192,768 people.^[1]

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.^[3] 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.^[3]

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.^[4]

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.^[5]

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.^[6] 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^[7]

Council

Townsville City Council
Leadership
Mayor	Troy Thompson, Independent
Structure
Seats	11 elected representatives, including a Mayor and 10 councillors
Political groups	Independents (4)   Team Jenny Hill (4)   TownsvilleCHANGE (2)   Independent LNP (1)
Elections
Last election	16 March 2024

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 Jenny Hill, who was formerly the deputy mayor of the pre-amalgamation City of Townsville in 2007 and early 2008.

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

Recent history (2008−present)

See also: Townsville City Council elections and Mayors of Townsville

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.^[8]

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.^[9]

At the 2016 election, Team Jenny Hill defeated defeated Jayne Arlett's Team in a landslide victory, picking up every single ward, along with retaining the mayoralty.^[10]

Current composition

The current council, elected in 2024, is:

Ward	Councillor		Party	Notes
Mayor		Troy Thompson	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	[11]

Past councillors

2008−2012 (unsubdivided)

Year	Councillor		Councillor		Councillor		Councillor		Councillor		Councillor		Councillor		Councillor		Councillor		Councillor		Councillor		Councillor
2008		David Crisafulli (Team Tyrell)		Jenny Lane (Team Tyrell/TF)		Dale Last (Team Tyrell/TF)		Rob McCahill (Team Tyrell)		Ray Gartrell (Team Tyrell/TF)		Deanne Bell (Team Tyrell)		Sue Blom (Team Tyrell/TF)		Brian Hewett (Team Tyrell)		Vern Veitch (Team Tyrell/TF)		Jenny Hill (Labor/TJH)		Tony Parsons (Team Tyrell/TF)		Natalie Marr (Team Tyrell/TF)
2008								Trevor Roberts (Ind./TF)
2012		Vacant

2012−present (10 wards)

Year	Division 1		Division 2		Division 3		Division 4		Division 5		Division 6		Division 7		Division 8		Division 9		Division 10
	Councillor		Councillor		Councillor		Councillor		Councillor		Councillor		Councillor		Councillor		Councillor		Councillor
2012		Sue Blom (TF/JAT)		Tony Parsons (TF/JAT)		Vern Veitch (TF/Ind.)		Jenny Lane (TF)		Pat Ernst (Ind.)		Trevor Roberts (TF/JAT)		Gary Eddiehausen (TF/JAT)		Ray Gartrell (TF/JAT)		Colleen Doyle (TJH)		Les Walker (TJH)
2015
2016		Margie Ryder (TJH)		Paul Jacob (TJH/Ind.)		Ann-Maree Greaney (TJH)		Mark Molachino (TJH)		Russ Cook (TJH)		Verena Coombe (TJH)		Kurt Rehbein (TJH)		Maurie Soars (TJH)
2019
2020				Sue Blom (Ind.)								Suzy Batkovic (TJH)						Liam Mooney (TJH)
2021																				Fran O'Callaghan (NQSA)
2024		Paul Jacob (Change)		Brodie Phillips (Ind.)				Kristian Price (Ind.)		Vera Dirou (Change)						Andrew Robinson (Ind.)				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	[12]
2021	192,768	[1]

Amenities

The Townsville City Council operates libraries at Aitkenvale, Townsville City and Thuringowa Central.^[13] It also operates a mobile library service, serving the following suburbs on a regular schedule:^[14]

• 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

• Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea since 1983
• Shunan, Japan since 1990
• Iwaki City, Japan since August 1991
• Changshu, People's Republic of China since 1995
• Suwon, South Korea since 1996
• Foshan, People's Republic of China since 2006^[15]

See also

• List of tautological place names

References

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "City of Townsville (LGA)". 2021 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
2. "3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2017-18: Population Estimates by Local Government Area (ASGS 2018), 2017 to 2018". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 27 March 2019. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2019. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018.
3. Townsville City Council Submission to the Local Government Reform Commission (PDF). Townsville: Townsville City Council. May 2007. p. 2. Archived from the original (Submission) on 28 August 2007. Retrieved 25 May 2007.
4. Burgmann, Verity (1985). In our time : socialism and the rise of labor, 1885-1905. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 0868615374.
5. Fitzgerald, Ross (1997). The people's champion, Fred Paterson : Australia's only Communist Party member of parliament. University of Queensland Press. ISBN 0702229598.
6. A Message from the Chairman, Cr Tony Mooney Archived 31 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine
7. "Aikens, Mr Thomas (Tom)". Re-Member Database. Queensland Parliament. Archived from the original on 5 May 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
8. "How it happened: a defining moment in politics". Townsville Bulletin. 15 March 2018.
9. "Uphill battle for King Les's man". The Courier Mail.
10. "2016 Townsville City Council - Councillor Election - Election Summary". Electoral Commission of Queensland. 20 April 2016. Archived from the original on 7 June 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
11. "BRADY JOHN ELLIS". Electoral Commission of Queensland. 16 March 2024.
12. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "City of Townsville (LGA)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
13. "Using your libraries: locations and opening hours". Townsville City Council. Archived from the original on 29 January 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
14. "Mobile Library Service" (PDF). Townsville City Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 January 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
15. "Townsville City Council – Townsville's Sister Cities". Archived from the original on 3 January 2007. Retrieved 12 June 2007.

External links

• Official website
• Townsville community profile (2020)
• Population stats of LGA
• Townsville Region Social Atlas (2001 Census)

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