| Kearsley Shire New South Wales | |
|---|---|
| Established | 7 March 1906 (1906-03-07) |
| Abolished | 1 January 1957 (1957-01-01) |
| Council seat | Cessnock |
| Region | Hunter |
Kearsley Shire was alocal government area in theHunter region ofNew South Wales, Australia.
Kearsley Shire was proclaimed (asCessnock Shire) on 7 March 1906, one of 134 shires created after the passing of theLocal Government (Shires) Act 1905.[1]
The shire's name and boundaries were often changed. TheMunicipality of Cessnock was excised from the Shire on 1 November 1926.[2] The balance of the Shire was renamed Kearsley Shire[citation needed]. The shire absorbed theMunicipality of Greta on 1 January 1934.[3] On 6 June 1944, part of the shire merged withTarro Shire andBolwarra Shire to formLower Hunter Shire, part merged with theMunicipality of East Maitland,Municipality of West Maitland andMunicipality of Morpeth to form theMunicipality of Maitland and the balance reconstituted as Kearsley Shire.[4]
The shire office was inCessnock.[5] Other towns and villages in the shire includedBranxton,Greta andKearsley.[3][5][6]
Kearsley Shire amalgamated with the Municipality of Cessnock to formMunicipality of Greater Cessnock on 1 January 1957.[7]
Kearsley Shire Council was composed of four two-member wards (also known as ridings) − A Riding, B Riding, C Riding and D Riding.
At the1944 election, theCommunist Party of Australia (CPA) won a majority with five out of eight seats. According to the CPA's official newspaper,Tribune, this was the first time a communist party had won a local government majority in theEnglish-speaking world.[8][9]
Ahead of the1947 local elections, the state Labor government introduced compulsory voting for local elections, seen as an attempt to give them an advantage and harm the Communist Party. Ultimately, no CPA members were re-elected in Kearsley (although their actual number of votes rose, their percent of the vote went down).[10]
| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Communist | 4,149 | 52.29 | +52.29 | 5 |  5 | ||
| Independent | 3,084 | 38.86 | 2 | ||||
| Labor | 703 | 8.85 | 1 | ||||
| Formal votes | 7,936 | 100.0 | |||||
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