Walgett Shire
Local government area
Location inNew South Wales
Coordinates:30°01′S148°07′E / 30.017°S 148.117°E /-30.017; 148.117
Country	Australia
State	New South Wales
Region	Orana
Established	7 March 1906 (1906-03-07)
Council seat	Walgett
Government
• Mayor	Jasen Ramien (Unaligned)
• State electorate	Barwon
• Federal division	Parkes
Area
• Total	22,336 km2 (8,624 sq mi)
Population
• Totals	6,107 (2016 census)[1] 6,051 (2018 est.)[2]
• Density	0.273415/km2 (0.70814/sq mi)
Website	Walgett Shire
LGAs around Walgett Shire Balonne (Qld) Balonne (Qld) Balonne (Qld) Brewarrina Walgett Shire Moree Plains Warren Coonamble Narrabri

Walgett Shire is alocal government area in theOrana region ofNew South Wales,Australia. The northern boundary of the Shire is located adjacent to the border between New South Wales andQueensland. The town ofWalgett is located on theNamoi River, nearby to its junction with theBarwon River and at the junction of theKamilaroi Highway and theCastlereagh Highway.

The Shire is divided between the agricultural areas (producing wool, cattle, wheat and cotton), which are near the Barwon and Namoi rivers or south-east of the Barwon River, and theoutback country north-west of the Barwon River, including theblack opal mining andfossicking town ofLightning Ridge. Prior to 1957, when Lightning Ridge was established as a significant settlement, the outback country was part of theWestern Division.

Themayor of Walgett Shire Council is Jasen Ramien who isunaligned with any political party.^[3]

Walgett Shire includesWalgett,Lightning Ridge,Collarenebri,Pokataroo,Rowena,Burren Junction,Cryon,Cumborah, Glengarry andCarinda.Come By Chance was established in 1840, before all of the above towns and villages.

Walgett Shire has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

• Collarenebri, Gundabloui Road:Collarenebri Aboriginal Cemetery^[4]

This sectionneeds expansion with:2016 census data. You can help byadding missing information.(July 2017)

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

• were 1,726 wage and salary earners (ranked 123rd in New South Wales and 393rd 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 $55 million (ranked 121st in New South Wales and 391st 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 $31,980 (ranked 112th in New South Wales and 376th in Australia, 77% of New South Wales's $41,407 and 82% of Australia's $38,820)
• was an estimated median income per wage and salary earner of $29,155 (ranked 119th in New South Wales and 406th in Australia, 82% of New South Wales's $35,479 and 85% of Australia's $34,149).

Selected historical census data for Walgett Shire local government area
Census year			2011[6]	2016[1]
Population		Estimated residents oncensus night	6,454	6,107
		LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales	106th	107th
		% of New South Wales population
		% of Australian population
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses		English
		Australian
		Italian
		Chinese
		Irish
Language, top responses (other thanEnglish)		Italian
		Mandarin
		Cantonese
		Korean
		Greek
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses		Catholic
		No religion
		Anglican
		Eastern Orthodox
		Buddhism
Median weekly incomes
Personalincome		Median weekly personal income	A$
		% of Australian median income
Family income		Median weekly family income
		% of Australian median income
Household income		Median weekly household income
		% of Australian median income

Between 2004 and 2008, the council was controlled by anAdministrator, Vic Smith,^[7] appointed by the New South Wales Minister for Local Government. The previous Walgett Shire Council was split between factions representing Lightning Ridge and the rest of the Shire and apparently became unworkable as a result. In 2004, a public inquiry investigated the dispute, among other things, under theLocal Government Act, 1993 (NSW). Other matters investigated included poor administration, failure to properly inform councillors in relation to some matters, apparently illegal walkouts by some Councilors to frustrate votes and, in particular, events surrounding a failed project to build a community centre in Lightning Ridge.^[8]

Walgett Shire Council is composed of ninecouncillors 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 22 December 2021, and the makeup of the council is as follows:^[9]

The current Council, elected in 2024, in order of election, is:^[9]

Media related toWalgett Shire at Wikimedia Commons

• Walgett Shire Council official website

• Walgett Shire
• Local government areas of New South Wales
• 1906 establishments in Australia
• Populated places established in 1906

• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• Australian Statistical Geography Standard 2016 ID same as Wikidata
• Australian Statistical Geography Standard 2011 ID same as Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from May 2021
• Use Australian English from October 2012
• All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Coordinates on Wikidata
• Pages using infobox settlement with no map
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