The City of Stirling is a

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

in the northern

suburbs A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

of the

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

n capital city of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

about north of Perth's central business district. The City covers an area of and has a population of over 223,000, making it the largest local government area by population in Western Australia.

History

Stirling was established on 24 January 1871 as the Perth Road District under the ''District Roads Act 1871''. The district at that time included what are now the Cities of

Wanneroo Wanneroo is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Wanneroo. Geography As it is on the Swan Coastal Plain, the Wanneroo wetlands stretch parallel to the coastline and to the north and south of the suburb. Education W ...

Joondalup Joondalup () is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, approximately north of Perth's central business district. It contains the central business district of the regional City of Joondalup and acts as the primary urban centre of Perth's outer ...

Bayswater Bayswater is an area within the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...

and Belmont. With the passage of the ''Local Government Act 1960'', which reformed all road districts into shires, it became the Shire of Perth on 1 July 1961. The Shire of Perth had a population of 84,000 in 1961. It was declared a city and renamed Stirling on 24 January 1971. At a meeting of electors in May 2021, electors passed a motion that the City of Stirling be renamed, causing it to be considered at the next council meeting. The rationale for the name change is the personal involvement of James Stirling, the first

governor of Western Australia The governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of the monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. As with the other governors of the Australian states, the governor of Western Australia performs constitutional ...

and the namesake of the city, in the Pinjarra Massacre on 28 October 1834. Following the well-conceived ambush and subsequent

massacre A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...

of 15 to 80

Binjareb The Bindjareb, Binjareb, Pindjarup or Pinjareb are an Indigenous Noongar people that occupy part of the South West of Western Australia. Name It is not clear if ''Pindjarup'' is the historically correct ethnonym for the tribe. After their dis ...

Noongar men, women, and children lasting at least one hour that Stirling led personally, Stirling threatened the

Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the so ...

people with

genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...

should they continue to resist colonisation. Historian Chris Owen has argued that James Stirling's involvement in the Pinjarra massacre was on the historical record, and "there's no ambiguity in it any more, Stirling set out to punish the Noongar tribe down there for blocking expansion of the colony. He told everyone what he was going to do, went down there, did it and reported on it." The motion made national news, and sparked a barrage of hateful messages towards the City of Stirling. Among suggestions was for a dual name to be adopted, involving a

name. A report released by the city two weeks later stated that the name change was not a priority, and that there were significant costs associated with any name change. At the council meeting on 8 June 2021, arguments were put forth either way, with one councillor saying "while nobody condoned historical atrocities, a name change would cost 'millions of dollars', would set a dangerous precedent and should be 'nipped in the bud", but no motions regarding changing the name were carried. The meeting was attended by over 100 people, an unusually high number. Shortly afterwards, Western Australian senators called for a broader review of Western Australian "place names, such as

Stirling Range The Stirling Range or Koikyennuruff is a range of mountains and hills in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, south-east of Perth. It is over wide from west to east, stretching from the highway between Mount Barker and Cranb ...

, linked to colonial figures with known

racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

histories ... such as

William Dampier William Dampier (baptised 5 September 1651; died March 1715) was an English explorer, pirate, privateer, navigator, and naturalist who became the first Englishman to explore parts of what is today Australia, and the first person to circumnav ...

John Forrest Sir John Forrest (22 August 1847 – 2 SeptemberSome sources give the date as 3 September 1918 1918) was an Australian explorer and politician. He was the first premier of Western Australia (1890–1901) and a long-serving cabinet minister i ...

and

John Septimus Roe John Septimus Roe (8 May 1797 – 28 May 1878) was the first Surveyor-General of Western Australia. He was a renowned explorer, a member of Western Australia's legislative and executive councils for nearly 40 years, but also a participant in t ...

Wards

The city has been divided into seven wards, each of two councillors. Each councillor serves a four-year term, and half-elections are held every two years. The mayor is elected from among the councillors. * Balga Ward * Coastal Ward * Doubleview Ward * Hamersley Ward * Inglewood Ward * Lawley Ward * Osborne Ward

Suburbs

The suburbs of the City of Stirling with population and size figures based on the most recent

Australian census The Census in Australia, officially the Census of Population and Housing, is the national census in Australia that occurs every five years. The census collects key demographic, social and economic data from all people in Australia on census nig ...

Population

* The 1996 figure includes 9,703 residents living in Maylands, and

Mount Lawley Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

south of the Midland railway line who were transferred to the

City of Bayswater The City of Bayswater is a local government area in the Western Australian capital city of Perth, about northeast of Perth's central business district. The City covers an area of and has a population of 69,283 as at the 2021 Census. The Ci ...

in 1998.

Libraries

The City of Stirling holds 6 libraries. They are the: * Scarborough Library * Karrinyup Library * Dianella Library * Inglewood Library * Mirrabooka Library * Osborne Library

Heritage-listed places

As of 2021, 640 places are heritage-listed in the City of Stirling, of which 19 are on the

State Register of Heritage Places The State Register of Heritage Places is the heritage register of historic sites in Western Australia deemed significant at the state level by the Heritage Council of Western Australia. History In the 1970s, following its establishment of the ...

References

External links

* {{coord, -31.883, 115.810, type:adm2nd_region:AU-WA, format=dms, display=title

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

Naming controversies