The Shire of Duaringa was 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 Capricornia region of

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Duaringa Shire covered an area of 18,201 square kilometres and had a population of 6,744 according to the . On 15 March 2008 the shires of Duaringa,

Emerald Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr. and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991) ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York, p ...

Bauhinia ''Bauhinia'' () is a large genus of flowering plants in the subfamily Cercidoideae and tribe Bauhinieae, in the large flowering plant family Fabaceae, with a pantropical distribution. The genus was named after the Bauhin brothers Gaspard and J ...

and Peak Downs were amalgamated to form the Central Highlands Region.

History

Banana Division was created on 11 November 1879 as one of 74 divisions around Queensland under the ''Divisional Boards Act 1879''. On 20 April 1881 part of Banana Division was separated to create

Duaringa Division #REDIRECT Shire of Duaringa The Shire of Duaringa was a Local government in Australia, local government area in the Capricornia, Queensland, Capricornia region of Queensland, Australia. Duaringa Shire covered an area of 18,201 square kilometres ...

. On 4 January 1884, there was an adjustment of boundaries between

Bauhinia Division #REDIRECT Shire of Bauhinia The Shire of Bauhinia was a local government area in Central Queensland, Queensland, Australia. The Shire, administered from the town of Springsure, covered an area of , and existed as a local government entity from 1 ...

's subdivisions Nos. 2 and 3 and the Duaringa Division. Soon after, on 20 March 1884, there was a further adjustment of boundaries between Bauhinia Division's subdivisions Nos. 1 and 3 and Duaringa Division. On 3 March 1892, part of subdivision 2 of the Broadsound Division was transferred to subdivision 3 of the

Gogango Division #REDIRECT Shire of Livingstone Gogango Division #REDIRECT Shire of Livingstone The Shire of Livingstone is a local government area located in the Capricornia region of Central Queensland, Queensland, Australia, to the immediate north and east ...

, while another part of subdivision 2 of the Broadsound Division was transferred to the Duaringa Division. With the passage of the ''Local Authorities Act 1902'', Banana Division became Shire on Banana on 31 March 1903. On 15 March 2008 the Shires of Duaringa,

and Peak Downs were amalgamated to form the Central Highlands Region.

Towns and localities

The Shire of Duaringa included the following settlements: Towns: *

Duaringa Duaringa is a town in the Central Highlands Region and a locality split between the Central Highlands Region and the Aboriginal Shire of Woorabinda in Central Queensland, Australia. In the , Duaringa had a population of 262 people. Geography ...

Dingo The dingo (''Canis familiaris'', ''Canis familiaris dingo'', ''Canis dingo'', or ''Canis lupus dingo'') is an ancient (Basal (phylogenetics), basal) lineage of dog found in Australia (continent), Australia. Its taxonomic classification is de ...

* Blackwater *

Bluff Bluff or The Bluff may refer to: Places Australia * Bluff, Queensland, Australia, a town * The Bluff, Queensland (Ipswich), a rural locality in the city of Ipswich * The Bluff, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a rural locality * Bluff River (New ...

Township: *

Others

The

Aboriginal Shire of Woorabinda The Aboriginal Shire of Woorabinda is a local government area in Central Queensland, Australia. Geography Most local government areas are a single contiguous area (possibly including islands). However, Aboriginal Shires are often defined as a ...

is located in five separate locations inside the former Shire of Duaringa - three of them wholly surrounded by Duaringa, and two on the border with

Fitzroy Shire The Shire of Fitzroy was a local government area located in the Capricornia region of Central Queensland, Queensland, Australia, to the immediate west and south of the regional city of Rockhampton. The shire, administered from the town of Grace ...

Economy

Duaringa is a local centre for the region's farmers, who cultivate

sorghum ''Sorghum'' () is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for animals. One species is grown for grain, while many othe ...

and

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

, and graze

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantity ...

cattle.

Mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

is another major industry within the Shire, due to the vast

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

deposits around Blackwater.

Chairmen

* Archibald Francis Dutton (1881) (brother of Charles Boydell Dutton)Turner, Denise , Duaringa Shire : 100 years of local government, 1881-1981 , published in 1981 , published by Duaringa Shire Council , * Albert Andrew Wright (1882, 1883, 1884) (father of Phillip Wright) * John Hay Ross (1885, 1886, 1887, 1888) * Arthur Herbert MacDonald (1889, 1890, 1891, 1892, 1893) * William Irving Bell (after whom

Bell Park Bell Park is a residential suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. It is located 3 km north-west of the Geelong city centre and is bordered to the north by Cowies Creek, to the east by Thompson Road, to the south by the Midland Highway an ...

Emu Park Emu Park is a coastal town and locality on the Capricorn Coast located south of Yeppoon in Queensland, Australia. It is within the local government area of Shire of Livingstone (between 2008 and 2013, it was within the Rockhampton Region). In ...

is named) (1892, 1895, 1898, 1907) *Edmund Dempsey (1894, 1896, 1897, 1901) *Somerled William MacDonald (1899, 1900) *Charles Ashmall Barnard (1902, 1903, 1912, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1921-1924, 1924-1927) *William Officer (1904, 1905, 1906, 1907) *Henry Greensill Barnard (1908, 1909) *Peter Diamond (1910, 1911, 1912, 1919) *Richard Stewart Walsh (1913, 1914, 1915) *Henry Richard Bauman (1920) *James Thomas Dunne (1927-1930) *Lorne Alexander MacKenzie (1930-1933) *Edward Adams (1933-1936,1936-1939, 1939-1943, 1943-1946) *Harold Park (1946-1949, 1949-1952, 1952-1955, 1955-1958) *William Graeme (Tom) Graham (1958-1961, 1961-1964) *Harold Joseph George Bauman (1964-1967, 1967-1970, 1970-1973) *William Kerrod Park OBE (1973-1976, 1976-1979, 1979-1982, 1982-1985, 1985-1988, 1988-1991, 1991-1994) *Tom Hall (1994-1997, 1997-2000, 2000–2004) *Gary Howard (2004-2008)Duaringa mayor sworn in today
''ABC News'', 7 April 2004. Retrieved 18 December 2016.

References

External links

University of Queensland: Queensland Places: Duaringa and Duaringa Shire
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Duaringa Shire Former local government areas of Queensland 2008 disestablishments in Australia Populated places disestablished in 2008 Central Highlands Region