| Type: | lga |
| Central Darling Shire | |
| State: | nsw |
| Pop: | 1833 |
| Pop2: | 1,837 |
| Pop2 Year: | 2018 est. |
| Pop2 Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area: | 53511 |
| Est: | [2] [3] |
| Coordinates: | -31.5667°N 165°W |
| Seat: | Wilcannia |
| Mayor: | Raymond Longfellow (Unaligned) |
| Region: | Far West |
| Logo Upright: | 1.2 |
| Url: | http://www.centraldarling.nsw.gov.au |
| Stategov: | Barwon |
| Fedgov: | Parkes[4] |
| Near-Nw: | Unincorporated Far West |
| Near-N: | Unincorporated Far West |
| Near-Ne: | Bourke |
| Near-E: | Cobar |
| Near-W: | Unincorporated Far West |
| Near-Sw: | Wentworth |
| Near-S: | Balranald |
| Near-Se: | Carrathool |
Central Darling Shire is a local government area in the Far West region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire is located adjacent to the Barrier Highway. Central Darling Shire was constituted in 1959 and at, it is the largest incorporated local government area in New South Wales.
The Central Darling Shire Council has been under administration since 2014 with an Administrator taking the place of the mayor and councillors.
The Shire includes the towns of Ivanhoe, Menindee, Wilcannia and White Cliffs.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics during 2003-04 there:[5]
| Selected historical census data for Central Darling Shire local government area | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Census year | 2011 | 2016 | ||||
| Population | ||||||
| % of New South Wales population | 0.03% | |||||
| % of Australian population | 0.01% | |||||
| Cultural and language diversity | ||||||
| Ancestry, top responses | Australian | 32.5% | 27.5% | |||
| English | 20.7% | 19.6% | ||||
| Australian Aboriginal | 19.1% | 20.7% | ||||
| Irish | 5.9% | 4.7% | ||||
| Scottish | 5.3% | 5.4% | ||||
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Paakantyi (Darling language) | 0.9% | ||||
| Italian | 0.3% | |||||
| Tongan | 0.3% | 0.6% | ||||
| German | 0.2% | 0.4% | ||||
| French | 0.2% | |||||
| Religious affiliation | ||||||
| Religious affiliation, top responses | Catholic | 37.9% | 29.5% | |||
| Anglican | 18.8% | 14.1% | ||||
| No religion | 16.8% | 22.3% | ||||
| Uniting Church | 6.2% | 4.5% | ||||
| Presbyterian and Reformed | 3.6% | |||||
| Not Stated | 23.3% | |||||
| Median weekly incomes | ||||||
| Median weekly personal income | A$387 | A$460 | ||||
| % of Australian median income | 67.1% | 69.3% | ||||
| Family income | Median weekly family income | A$889 | A$1075 | |||
| % of Australian median income | 60.0% | 62.0% | ||||
| Household income | Median weekly household income | A$787 | A$901 | |||
| % of Australian median income | 63.8% | 62.7% | ||||
In 2014 the council placed under administration for a period of three months. Following a public inquiry, councillors were removed from office and an administrator originally appointed for three months had his term extended and at September 2018 was still acting in this capacity. The council is expected to be removed from administration in September 2020. Central Darling Shire Council is composed of nine councillors elected proportionally as three separate wards, each electing three 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 8 September 2012, and the makeup of the council at the time of moving to Administration was as follows:
| Party | Councillors | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independents and Unaligned | align=right | 9 | ||
| Total | align=right | 9 | ||
The previous Council, elected in 2012, in order of election by ward, is:
| Ward | Councillor | Party | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Ward[6] | Honor Liversidge | Independent | |||
| Eamon Sammon | Unaligned | ||||
| Peter Sullivan | Unaligned | Deputy Mayor | |||
| B Ward[7] | Dennis Standley | Independent | |||
| Clive Linnett OAM AFSM | Unaligned | ||||
| Ray Longfellow | Unaligned | Mayor | |||
| C Ward[8] | Lorraine Looney | Unaligned | |||
| Garry Astill | Unaligned | ||||
| Ron Page | Unaligned | ||||
The principal economic activities within the Shire include pastoral, horticultural, agricultural, mining and tourism. Rural grazing properties represent the largest land use within the Shire, accounting for 97% of the entire area. Major horticultural and agricultural production is centred on Menindee. The relative ease of access to water from the Darling River and Menindee Lakes Storage Scheme enables producers to grow a large variety of crops and fruits.
Opal mining has been the predominant mining industry within the Shire. Opal was discovered in White Cliffs in 1884 and the first commercial opal field commenced operation in 1890, reaching its peak in 1899.[9]