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Tweed Shire is a local government area located in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. It is adjacent to the border with Queensland, where that meets the Tasman Sea. Administered from the town of Murwillumbah, Tweed Shire covers an area of 1,321 square kilometres (510 sq mi), and has existed as a local government entity since 1947. It was named for the Tweed River.

Tweed Shire New South Wales
Location within New South Wales
Coordinates	28°20′S 153°23′E
Population	91,371 (2016)[1] 96,108 (2018 est.)[2]
• Density	69.168/km2 (179.14/sq mi)
Established	1947
Area	1,321 km2 (510.0 sq mi)
Mayor	Chris Cherry
Council seat	Murwillumbah
Region	Northern Rivers
State electorate(s)	Tweed Lismore
Federal division(s)	Richmond
Website	Tweed Shire
LGAs around Tweed Shire: Scenic Rim (Qld) Gold Coast (Qld) Coral Sea (Pacific Ocean) Kyogle Tweed Shire Coral Sea (Pacific Ocean) Lismore Byron Coral Sea (Pacific Ocean)

The current mayor of Tweed Shire Council is Cr. Chris Cherry.[3][4]

History

The European history of the Tweed Shire began in 1823 when the Tweed River was explored by John Oxley. After sheltering on Cook Island (4 km from the river's mouth), Oxely travelled 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) up river. In 1828, Captain H. J. Rous explored 50 kilometres (31 mi) up the river. Settlers began to arrive in 1828, the first of which were the cedar getters, who came to harvest Great Red Cedars and send them back to England.[5] During the height of the cedar logging industry, the Tweed Valley was one of the wealthiest districts in Australia.

The Municipality of Murwillumbah was created on 25 May 1902, and held its first meeting on 22 August 1902, at which Peter Street was elected its first mayor. The Shire of Tweed, with its primary centre of population at Tumbulgum on the Tweed River, came into being in the surrounding area on 7 March 1906 with the enactment of the Local Government Act 1906 (NSW). On 1 January 1947, the two amalgamated to form Tweed Shire.[6]

Heritage listings

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

• Murwillumbah, Casino-Murwillumbah railway: Murwillumbah railway station[7]
• High Conservation Value Old Growth forest[8]

Towns and localities

Tweed Heads

Tweed Coast

Murwillumbah

Villages

Other localities

Demographics

At the 2011 census, there were 85,105 people in the Tweed local government area, of these 48.2 per cent were male and 51.8 per cent were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 3.5 per cent of the population, which was significantly higher than the national and state averages of 2.5 per cent. The median age of people in the Tweed Shire area was 45 years, which was significantly higher than the national median of 37 years. Children aged 0 to 14 years made up 17.8 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 22.9 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 47.5 per cent were married and 15.3 per cent were either divorced or separated.[9]

Population growth in the Tweed Shire area between the 2001 census and the 2006 census was 7.45 per cent; and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 census, population growth was 7.29 per cent. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78 per cent and 8.32 per cent, respectively, population growth in the Tweed local government area was marginally higher than the national average.[10][11] The median weekly income for residents within the Tweed Shire area was significantly lower than the national average.[9]

At the 2011 census, the proportion of residents in the Tweed local government area who stated their ancestry as Australian or Anglo-Celtic exceeded 80 per cent of all residents (national average was 65.2 per cent). In excess of 59 per cent of all residents in the Tweed Shire nominated a religious affiliation with Christianity at the 2011 census, which was slightly higher than the national average of 50.2 per cent. Meanwhile, as at the census date, compared to the national average, households in the Tweed local government area had a significantly lower than average proportion (5.5 per cent) where two or more languages are spoken (national average was 20.4 per cent); and a significantly higher proportion (91.6 per cent) where English only was spoken at home (national average was 76.8 per cent).[9]

Selected historical census data for the Tweed Shire local government area
Census year			2001[10]	2006[11]	2011[9]
Population		Estimated residents on Census night	73,821	79,321	85,105
		LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales			26
		% of New South Wales population			1.23%
		% of Australian population	0.39%	0.40%	0.40%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses		English			31.9%
		Australian			30.0%
		Irish			9.8%
		Scottish			8.0%
		German			3.2%
Language, top responses (other than English)		German	0.4%	0.4%	0.4%
		Italian	0.3%	0.3%	0.3%
		French	n/c	0.2%	0.2%
		Japanese	n/c	0.2%	0.2%
		Spanish	n/c	n/c	0.2%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses		Catholic	24.9%	24.7%	24.7%
		Anglican	29.0%	26.1%	24.2%
		No Religion	13.8%	17.6%	21.6%
		Presbyterian and Reformed	5.9%	5.1%	4.9%
		Uniting Church	6.0%	5.2%	4.5%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income		Median weekly personal income		A$364	A$442
		% of Australian median income		78.1%	76.6%
Family income		Median weekly family income		A$904	A$1,045
		% of Australian median income		77.2%	70.6%
Household income		Median weekly household income		A$683	A$845
		% of Australian median income		66.5%	68.5%

Population

Year	Population	References
1911	9,514
1921	15,136
1933	17,099
1947	19,321
1954	21,144
1961	22,491
1966	23,154
1976	27,526
1981	40,050
1986	45,690
1991	55,857
1996	66,519
2001	74,577	[10]
2006	83,089	[11]
2011	85,105	[9]
2016	91,371	[12]

Council

In May 2005, the Governor of New South Wales dismissed the Tweed Shire Council of Mayor Warren Polglase, following a public inquiry which found that the council was improperly influenced by developers involved in a property boom in the area. The inquiry was commissioned by the Minister for Local Government, Tony Kelly, following community concern about the way planning decisions were made. The Minister appointed the director-general of the Department of Local Government, Garry Payne, former Sydney Lord Mayor Lucy Turnbull and former Tweed Shire councillor, Max Boyd as Administrators for the ensuing three years.[13]

Current composition and election method

Tweed Shire Council is composed of seven councillors elected proportionally as one entire ward. The 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 29 October 2016, and the makeup of the council is as follows:[14]

Party		Councillors
	Independents	4
	Greens	1
	Country Labor	1
	Liberal	1
	Total	7

The current Council, elected in 2016, in order of election, is:[14]

Councillor		Party	Notes
	Katie Milne	Greens
	Warren Polglase	Independent
	Pryce Allsop	Independent
	James Owen	Liberal
	Reece Byrnes	Country Labor
	Chris Cherry	Independent
	Ron Cooper	Independent

Shire Presidents and Mayors

This section does not cite any sources. (May 2016)

Councillor	Term of office	Title
C E Cox	1947–1948	Provisional President
A Buckley	1948–1949	President
C E Cox	1949–1957	President
Harold Lundberg	1957–1958	President
Clarrie Hall	1958–1959	President
Harold Lundberg	1959–1961	President
Clarrie Hall	1961–1963	President
Harold Lundberg	1963–1964	President
Clarrie Hall	1964–1973	President
Charles Jarvis	1973–1975	President
Clarrie Hall	1975–1979 died in office	President
Max Boyd	1979–1981	President
Mrs Y A M Rowse	1981–1984	President
Max Boyd	1984–1999	President/Mayor
Lynne Beck	1999–2001	Mayor
Warren Polglase	2001–2005	Mayor
Garry Payne	2005–2006	Administrator
Frank Willan	2006–2008	Administrator
Max Boyd	2005–2008	Administrator
Lucy Turnbull	2005–2007	Administrator
Garry Payne	2007–2008	Administrator
Joan van Lieshout	2008–2009	Mayor
Warren Polglase	2009–2010	Mayor
Kevin Skinner	2010–2011	Mayor
Barry Longland	2011–2014	Mayor
Gary Bagnall	2014–2015	Mayor
Katie Milne	2015–2020	Mayor
Chris Cherry	2020–present	Mayor

References

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