Bourke Shire
Local government area
Location inNew South Wales
Coordinates:30°06′S145°56′E / 30.100°S 145.933°E /-30.100; 145.933
Country	Australia
State	New South Wales
Region	Orana
Council seat	Bourke
Government
• Mayor	Barry Hollman (Unaligned)
• State electorate	Barwon
• Federal division	Parkes
Area
• Total	41,679 km2 (16,092 sq mi)
Population
• Totals	2,834 (2016 census)[2] 2,630 (2018 est.)[3]
• Density	0.067996/km2 (0.17611/sq mi)
Website	Bourke Shire
LGAs around Bourke Shire Bulloo (Qld) Paroo (Qld) Balonne (Qld) Unincorporated Far West Bourke Shire Brewarrina Unincorporated Far West Cobar Bogan

Bourke Shire is alocal government area in theOrana region ofNew South Wales,Australia. The Shire is located adjacent to theDarling River, which is known as theBarwon River upstream from Bourke; and located adjacent to theMitchell Highway. The northern boundary of the Shire is located adjacent to the border between New South Wales andQueensland. The shire is a wool and beef producing area.

Themayor of Bourke Shire Council isCr. Barry Hollman, anunaligned politician.

The Bourke LGA (local government area) was traditionally home to around fifteen Aboriginal groups. The people of the region were traditionallyhunter-gatherers as well as seed harvesters, who managed the environment. These traditional landowners have been identified as belonging to five main groups, theNgiyampaa,Barranbinya,Paruntji,Naualko, andMuruwari peoples. Aboriginal people consulted for a 2019 Aboriginal heritage study identified the Bourke LGA as the traditional country of theBarkindji people,Bardaji people, Murrawari (Muruwari) people, Nyemba (Ngiyampaa) people, andNyirrpa 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.^[4]

Bourke Shire includesBourke and the very smalloutback towns ofByrock,Enngonia,Fords Bridge,Wanaaring andLouth.

According to theAustralian Bureau of Statistics during 2003–04 there:^[5]

• 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[6]	2016[2]	2021[7]
Population		Estimated residents oncensus night	2,868	2,634	2,340
		LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales	122nd	125th	125th
		% of New South Wales population	0.04%	0.04%	0.03%
		% of Australian population	0.01%	0.01%	0.01%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses		Australian	38.3%	39.4%	33.6%
		English	23.8%	22.1%	30.0%
		Australian Aboriginal	4.0%	4.7%	25.5%
		Irish	7.8%	7.1%	9.6%
		Scottish	5.1%	4.2%	6.2%
Language, top responses (other than English)		Nepali	n/c	0.7%	0.6%
		Malayalam	n/c	n/c	0.3%
		Telugu	n/c	n/c	0.2%
		Greek	n/c	n/c	0.2%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses		Catholic	41.5%	36.5%	34.1%
		No religion	8.6%	12.7%	20.6%
		Not stated	n/c	20.1%	19.0%
		Anglican	21.1%	17.7%	13.8%
		Presbyterian and Reformed	4.5%	3.6%	2.7%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income		Median weekly personal income	A$600	A$719	A$862
		% of Australian median income	104.0%	108.6%	107.1%
Family income		Median weekly family income	A$1238	A$1562	A$1899
		% of Australian median income	83.6%	90.1%	89.6%
Household income		Median weekly household income	A$1085	A$1243	A$1559
		% of Australian median income	87.9%	86.4%	89.3%

Bourke Shire Council is composed of tencouncillors electedproportionally as a singleward. All councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office. Themayor 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:^[8]

The current Council, elected in 2021, in order of election, is:^[8]

In 1884, Sid 'Combo' Ross set a record by shearing nine lambs in nine minutes.^[11]

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

Edward Dickens, the son of English novelistCharles Dickens, was elected as alderman in the 1880s.

• Bourke Shire
• Local government areas of New South Wales

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