| Type: | lga |
| Wagga Wagga | |
| State: | nsw |
| Region: | Riverina |
| Area: | 4825.9 |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Pop2: | 70339 |
| Pop2 Year: | 2022 est. |
| Pop2 Footnotes: | [2] |
| Seat: | Wagga Wagga[3] |
| Est: | 15 March 1870 (Borough)[4] 17 April 1946 (City)[5] |
| Coordinates: | -35.1333°N 169°W |
| Pop: | 62,385 |
| Pop Year: | 2016 |
| Logo Upright: | 1.2 |
| Url: | http://www.wagga.nsw.gov.au |
| Mayor: | Dallas Tout[6] |
| Fedgov: | Riverina |
| Stategov: | Wagga Wagga |
| Near-Nw: | Coolamon |
| Near-W: | Narrandera |
| Near-Sw: | Lockhart |
| Near-S: | Greater Hume |
| Near-Se: | Snowy Valleys |
| Near-E: | Snowy Valleys |
| Near-Ne: | Cootamundra-Gundagai |
| Near-N: | Junee |
City of Wagga Wagga is a local government area in the Riverina region of southern New South Wales, Australia.
The mayor of the City of Wagga Wagga is Cr. Dallas Tout, an independent politician.[6]
The City of Wagga Wagga includes the suburbs of
Wagga Wagga was first incorporated as the Borough of Wagga Wagga on 15 March 1870.[7] It received city status and became the City of Wagga Wagga on 17 April 1946. The municipality enlarged substantially on 1 January 1981 when the adjoining Shire of Kyeamba and Shire of Mitchell were amalgamated into the City.[8]
The City of Wagga Wagga has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
At the, there were people in the City of Wagga Wagga local government area, of these 48.9 per cent were male and 51.1 per cent were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 5.6 per cent of the population, which was twice the national average of 2.9 per cent. The median age of people in the City of Wagga Wagga was 35 years, which was lower than the national median of 38 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 20.3 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 15.2 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 46.6 per cent were married and 11.4 per cent were either divorced or separated.
Population growth in the Tamworth Regional Council between the 2011 census and the 2016 census was 4.92 per cent. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same period, being 8.8 per cent, population growth in the City of Wagga Wagga local government area was around half of the national average. The median weekly income of $1,354 within the City of Wagga Wagga local government area was slightly lower than the national average of $1,438.
At the, the proportion of residents in the Tamworth Regional local government area who stated their ancestry as Australian or Anglo-Saxon exceeded 80 per cent of all residents (national average was around 60 per cent). Approximately two-thirds (67%) of all residents in the City of Wagga Wagga nominated a religious affiliation with Christianity at the 2016 census, which was higher than the national average of approximately 60 per cent. Meanwhile, as at the census date, compared to the national average, households in the City of Wagga Wagga local government area had a significantly lower than average proportion (7.6 per cent) where two or more languages are spoken (national average was 26.4 per cent); and a significantly higher proportion (87.8 per cent) where English only was spoken at home (national average was 68.5 per cent).
| Selected historical census data for the City of Wagga Wagga local government area | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Census year | 2001 | 2006 | 2011 | 2016 | ||
| Population | Estimated residents on Census night | |||||
| 39th | ||||||
| % of New South Wales population | 0.87% | 0.87% | 0.86% | 0.83% | ||
| % of Australian population | 0.29% | 0.29% | 0.28% | 0.27% | ||
| Cultural and language diversity | ||||||
| Ancestry, top responses | Australian | 34.3% | 31.7% | |||
| English | 29.2% | 29.2% | ||||
| Irish | 10.4% | 10.5% | ||||
| Scottish | 7.6% | 7.9% | ||||
| German | 4.1% | 3.9% | ||||
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Malayalam | 0.6% | ||||
| Arabic | 0.5% | 0.5% | ||||
| Mandarin | 0.4% | 0.5% | ||||
| Filipino | 0.3% | |||||
| Tagalog | 0.3% | |||||
| Religious affiliation | ||||||
| Religious affiliation, top responses | Catholic | 33.2% | 30.6% | |||
| No Religion | 15.0% | 22.2% | ||||
| Anglican | 23.9% | 19.5% | ||||
| Presbyterian and Reformed | 6.2% | 4.9% | ||||
| Uniting Church | 6.3% | 5.5% | ||||
| Median weekly incomes | ||||||
| Personal income | Median weekly personal income | A$586 | A$696 | |||
| % of Australian median income | ||||||
| Family income | Median weekly family income | |||||
| % of Australian median income | ||||||
| Median weekly household income | ||||||
| % of Australian median income | ||||||
Wagga Wagga City Council (WWCC) is composed of nine 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 4 December 2021, and the makeup of the council is as follows:[13]
| Party | Councillors | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independents | align=right | 5 | ||
| Labor Party | align=right | 2 | ||
| Getting It Done | align=right | 1 | ||
| The Greens | align=right | 1 | ||
| Total | align=right | 9 | ||
The current Council, elected in 2021, is:[13]
| Councillor | Party | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dallas Tout | Independent | Mayor[14] | ||
| Jenny McKinnon | The Greens | Deputy Mayor | ||
| Dan Hayes | Labor | |||
| Amelia Parkins | Labor | |||
| Richard Foley | Independent | |||
| Tim Koschel | Independent | |||
| Michael Henderson | Independent | |||
| Rod Kendall | Independent | |||
| Georgie Davis | Getting It Done | |||
A referendum was held on 8 September 2012 and an absolute majority of voters resolved in favour to reduce the number of councillors from eleven to nine.[15] The change came into effect at the September 2016 elections.
In December 2009, Wagga Wagga City Council announced that it had appointed Phil Pinyon as the general manager of the Wagga Wagga City Council replacing Lyn Russell, who suddenly announced her resignation in October 2009, after completing 18 months of her five-year contract.[16] [17] [18]
In April 2020, The Wagga council voted to cut ties with China's Kunming city; a week later they would vote again joining Kunming as a sister city.[19] [20] [21]
Crows are considered a symbol of the city of Wagga Wagga, appearing in the council's logo, coat of arms, and throughout local business logos and public artworks. This is due to the debated interpretation of 'Wagga Wagga' being derived from a Wiradjuri term meaning 'place of many crows'. The floral emblem for the city is the Silver Banksia.[22]
| the City of Wagga Wagga | |
| Notes: | Granted by the Kings of Arms. |
| Year Adopted: | 15 November 1965 |
| Crest: | Out of a Mural Crown in front of a Caduceus Or, winged Sable, eight leaves of the River Red Gum Tree (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) conjoined and in the form of two letters W proper. |
| Helm: | A closed helmet. |
| Escutcheon: | Vert, on a Fess between in chief eight stalks of Wheat, each four in the form of the letter W, and in base a Merino Ram's head caboshed, all Or, a Bar wavy Azure. |
| Supporters: | On either side a Crow wings addorsed proper, gorged with a Collar dancetty Or, and perched on a forked twig. |
| Compartment: | A compartment of grass divided by Water Barry wavy Argent and Azure. |
| Motto: | Forward in Faith |
| Other Elements: | Mantling Vert doubled Or. |
| Symbolism: | The colours of green and gold, and the gold band on green in the escutcheon are taken from the arms of Captain Charles Sturt, the first European explorer of the area. The wavy blue line represents the Murrumbidgee River. The wheat (arranged as two "W" letters for the city name), and the Merino Ram head are for the principal industries of the city. The eight River Red Gum leaves in the crest are also arranged as two "W" letters and are placed in front of the Caduceus, the symbol of Mercury, the Roman god of commerce. The crow supporters with "W" collars are taken from the former Council seal and allude to the meaning of Wagga Wagga ("the place of many crows"). The compartment of grass divided by water represents the building of the city on both sides of the river.[23] |