| Type: | lga |
| Lockhart Shire | |
| State: | nsw |
| Coordinates: | -35.2167°N 189°W |
| Pop: | 3,119 |
| Pop Year: | 2016 |
| Pop2: | 3295 |
| Pop2 Year: | 2018 est. |
| Pop2 Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area: | 2895.32 |
| Area Footnotes: | [2] |
| Mayor: | Rodger Schirmer |
| Seat: | Lockhart |
| Region: | Riverina |
| Stategov: | Wagga Wagga |
| Url: | www.lockhart.nsw.gov.au |
| Near-N: | Wagga Wagga |
| Near-Ne: | Wagga Wagga |
| Near-E: | Wagga Wagga |
| Near-Se: | Greater Hume |
| Near-S: | Greater Hume |
| Near-Sw: | Federation |
| Near-W: | Federation |
| Near-Nw: | Narrandera |
| Est: | 1906 |
Lockhart Shire is a local government area in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire was created in 1906 and is an agricultural and pastoral area.
The main towns and villages in the Shire include Lockhart (950 people), The Rock (860), Yerong Creek (145), Pleasant Hills (130) and Milbrulong (35). It has 1302 rural residents.
Galore Hill Scenic Reserve is located approximately north of Lockhart.[3]
| Selected historical census data for Lockhart Shire local government area | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Census year | 2001 | 2006 | 2011 | 2016 | ||
| Population | ||||||
| % of New South Wales population | 0.05% | 0.05% | 0.04% | 0.04% | ||
| % of Australian population | 0.02% | 0.02% | 0.01% | 0.01% | ||
| Cultural and language diversity | ||||||
| Ancestry, top responses | Australian | 34.6% | 33.5% | |||
| English | 29.6% | 27.6% | ||||
| Irish | 10.4% | 10.5% | ||||
| Scottish | 9.2% | 8.4% | ||||
| German | 7.1% | 6.1% | ||||
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Cantonese | 0.1% | 0.2% | n/c | 0.3% | |
| Vietnamese | n/c | n/c | n/c | 0.2% | ||
| French | 0.1% | n/c | 0.2% | 0.2% | ||
| Japanese | n/c | n/c | n/c | 0.1% | ||
| German | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.1% | ||
| Religious affiliation | ||||||
| Religious affiliation, top responses | Catholic | 26.6% | 29.9% | 30.4% | 29.3% | |
| No Religion, so described | n/c | 7.3% | 9.5% | 17.3% | ||
| Anglican | 22.9% | 22.0% | 20.6% | 16.8% | ||
| Not stated | n/c | n/c | n/c | 11.2% | ||
| 15.3% | 14.7% | 12.2% | 10.2% | |||
| Median weekly incomes | ||||||
| Personal income | Median weekly personal income | 393 | 456 | 585 | ||
| % of Australian median income | 84.3% | 79.0% | 88.4% | |||
| Family income | Median weekly family income | |||||
| % of Australian median income | 88.3% | 72.2% | 81.2% | |||
| Median weekly household income | ||||||
| % of Australian median income | 75.7% | 70.3% | 77.5% | |||
A 2015 review of local government boundaries by the NSW Government Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal recommended that the Lockhart Shire merge with the Corowa and Urana shires to form a new council with an area of and support a population of approximately 16,000.[4] In May 2016 the Minister for Local Government announced that following an independent review of merger proposals, the Government decided that the Corowa and Urana shire councils merge to form the Federation Council; while the Lockhart Shire would not amalgamate.[5]
Lockhart Shire has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
Lockhart 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 10 September 2016. However, in C Ward there was an equal number of candidates, being those below, that nominated for election. There being no additional candidates, the election for C Ward was uncontested. An election was held for A and B Wards. The makeup of the council is as follows:
| Party | Councillors | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independents and Unaligned | align=right | 9 | ||
| Total | align=right | 9 | ||
The current Council, elected in 2016, in order of election by ward, is:
| Ward | Councillor | Party | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Ward[8] | Rodger Schirmer | Unaligned | Mayor[9] | ||
| Max Day | Unaligned | ||||
| Andrew Rockliff | Unaligned | ||||
| B Ward[10] | Derek Douglas | Unaligned | |||
| Peter Sharp | Unaligned | ||||
| James Walker | Unaligned | ||||
| C Ward[11] | Gail Driscoll | Independent | |||
| Ian Marston | Independent | ||||
| Greg Verdon | Unaligned | Deputy Mayor | |||