Carrathool Shire

This article is about the local government area. For the regional town, see Carrathool, New South Wales.

Carrathool Shire New South Wales
Location in New South Wales
Coordinates	33°58′S 145°42′E
Population	2,719 (2016 census)
• Density	0.143615/km2 (0.37196/sq mi)
Area	18,932.61 km2 (7,309.9 sq mi)
Council seat	Goolgowi
Region	Riverina and Far West
State electorate(s)	Murray
Federal division(s)	Farrer
Website	Carrathool Shire
LGAs around Carrathool Shire: Central Darling Cobar Lachlan Balranald Carrathool Shire Bland Hay Hay Griffith

The Carrathool Shire is a local government area that borders both the Riverina and Far West regions of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire comprises 18,933 square kilometres (7,310 sq mi) and is located adjacent to the Mid-Western Highway and north of the Sturt Highway.

The largest town in the Shire is Hillston and the council seat is Goolgowi. The Shire also includes the villages of Merriwagga, Rankins Springs, Carrathool.

Where once regular droughts made life almost untenable, the area now has irrigated crops, gardens, greened sporting facilities and village verges. Over 15,000 square kilometres (5,800 sq mi) are now used in rural pursuits, including more than 600 square kilometres (230 sq mi) in wheat, rice, vineyards, cotton, potatoes, vegetables and orchard trees. Most of the change was made possible by the widespread use of river and underground water.

The mayor of the Carrathool Shire Council is yet to be determined following the 2012 local government election.

Demographics

Selected historical census data for Bayside Council local government area
Census year			2011	2016
Population		Estimated residents on census night	2,587	2,719
		LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales	126th	124th
		% of New South Wales population	0.04	0.04
		% of Australian population	0.01	0.01
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses		Australian	35.5%	34.6%
		English	29.8%	27.8%
		Irish	9.6%	9.1%
		Scottish	8.0%	8.5%
		German	3.1%	2.4%
Language, top responses (other than English)		Korean	0.5%	0.6%
		Italian	0.4%	0.5%
		Punjabi	0.4%	0.5%
		Mandarin	N/A	0.5%
		Filipino	0.4%	N/A
		Finnish	0.2%	N/A
		Afrikaans	N/A	0.5%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses		Catholic	31.5%	28.0%
		No religion	13.3%	18.1%
		Anglican	24.6%	22.4%
		Presbyterian and Reformed	5.4%	N/A
		Uniting Church	11.6%	9.6%
		Not stated	N/A	9.9%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income		Median weekly personal income	A$527	A$681
		% of Australian median income	91	103
Family income		Median weekly family income	A$1143	A$1538
		% of Australian median income	77	89
Household income		Median weekly household income	A$942	A$1240
		% of Australian median income	76	86

Council

Current composition and election method

Carrathool Shire Council is composed of ten councillors elected proportionally as two separate wards, each electing five councillors. All 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 10 September 2016. However, in both wards there was an equal number of candidates, being those below, that nominated for election. There being no additional candidates, the election for both wards was uncontested. The makeup of the Council is as follows:

Party		Councillors
	Independents and Unaligned	10
	Total	10

The current Council, elected in 2016, in order of election by ward, is:

Ward	Councillor		Party	Notes
A Ward		David Fensom	Independent
		Darryl Jardine	Independent	Deputy Mayor
		Peter Laird	Unaligned	Mayor
		Brett Lewis	Independent
		Geoff Peters	Unaligned
B Ward		Mick Armstrong	Unaligned
		Russell Campbell	Unaligned
		Bev Furner	Unaligned
		Soctt Groat	Unaligned
		Bill Kite	Unaligned