| Type: | lga |
| Hay Shire | |
| State: | nsw |
| Pop: | 2884 |
| Area: | 11325.89 |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Est: | 1 January 1965 |
| Coordinates: | -34.5°N 195°W |
| Seat: | Hay |
| Mayor: | Cr. Carol Oataway (Unaligned) |
| Region: | Riverina |
| Url: | www.hay.nsw.gov.au |
| Stategov: | Murray |
| Fedgov: | Farrer |
| Near-Nw: | Balranald |
| Near-N: | Carrathool |
| Near-Ne: | Carrathool |
| Near-E: | Murrumbidgee |
| Near-W: | Balranald |
| Near-Sw: | Murray River |
| Near-S: | Edward River |
| Near-Se: | Edward River |
The Hay Shire is a local government area in the Riverina area of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Shire comprises and is located adjacent to the Sturt, Mid-western and Cobb Highways. The area includes the towns of Hay, Booligal and Maude.
Hay Shire was established in 1965 by the amalgamation of the Municipality of Hay with the surrounding Waradgery Shire.[2]
The mayor of Hay Shire is Cr. Carol Oataway, an unaligned politician who had previously held the position of Principal of Hay Public School.[3]
| Selected historical census data for Hay Shire local government area | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Census year | 2001 | 2006 | 2011 | 2016 | 2021 | ||
| Population | |||||||
| Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islanders (%) | 3.5% | 4.2% | 5.6% | 6.0% | 8.3% | ||
| % of New South Wales population | 0.06% | 0.05% | 0.04% | 0.04% | 0.04% | ||
| % of Australian population | 0.02% | 0.02% | 0.01% | 0.01% | 0.01% | ||
| Cultural and linguistic diversity | 2001 | 2006 | 2011 | 2016 | 2021 | ||
| Country of birth (top responses) | Australia | 90.4% | 90.5% | 88.2% | 80.3% | 80.0% | |
| India | 0.7% | 0.5% | 1.3% | ||||
| New Zealand | 0.8% | 1.1% | 0.8% | 1.3% | 1.1% | ||
| England | 1.0% | 0.8% | 1.0% | 0.9% | 0.9% | ||
| Fiji | 0.4% | 0.6% | |||||
| Scotland | 0.3% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.5% | ||
| Language (top responses, other than English) | Italian | 1.1% | 0.8% | 1.2% | 0.8% | 0.7% | |
| Punjabi | 0.3% | 0.6% | |||||
| Fijian | 0.2% | 0.5% | 0.4% | ||||
| Afrikaans | 0.4% | ||||||
| Malayalam | 0.3% | ||||||
| Religious affiliation | 2001 | 2006 | 2011 | 2016 | 2021 | ||
| Religious affiliation (top responses) | Catholic | 36.4% | 36.1% | 35.8% | 31.9% | 27.6% | |
| No Religion | 7.1% | 10.4% | 10.9% | 16.3% | 24.3% | ||
| Anglican | 31.8% | 31.1% | 31.1% | 24.7% | 21.7% | ||
| Not stated | n/c | n/c | n/c | 12.8% | 12.3% | ||
| 9.2% | 7.9% | 7.9% | 5.8% | 4.8% | |||
| Median weekly incomes | 2001 | 2006 | 2011 | 2016 | 2021 | ||
| Personal income | Median weekly personal income | A$404 | A$441 | A$587 | |||
| % of Australian median income | 86.7% | 76.4% | 88.7% | 86.9% | |||
| Family income | Median weekly family income | ||||||
| % of Australian median income | 83.9% | 66.2% | 77.5% | 76.5% | |||
| Median weekly household income | |||||||
| % of Australian median income | 72.2% | 65.2% | 74.8% | 70.8% | |||
Hay Shire Council is composed of eight councillors elected proportionally as a single ward. 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 20 December 2021, and the makeup of the council is as follows:[4]
| Party | Councillors | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unaligned | align=right | 8 | ||
| Total | align=right | 8 | ||
The current Council was elected in December 2021. The councillors, in order of election, are:[4]
| Councillor | Party | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Martyn Quinn | Unaligned | ||||
| Jenny Dwyer | Independent National (Australia) | ||||
| Peter Handford | Unaligned | ||||
| Peter Dwyer | Unaligned | Resigned in August 2022 | |||
| Carol Oataway | Unaligned | Mayor[5] | |||
| Lionel Garner | Unaligned | Deputy Mayor | |||
| Paul Porter | Unaligned | ||||
| Geoff Chapman | Unaligned | ||||
| Darren Clarke | Unaligned | Elected 26 August 2022 (replacing Peter Dwyer, resigned)[6] | |||
Banjo Paterson (1864–1941) wrote a poem called Hay and Hell and Booligal about the district.[7]