The Shire of Esperance 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 Goldfields-Esperance region of

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 ...

, about south of the town of Kalgoorlie and about east-southeast of the state capital,

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 ...

. The Shire covers an area of , and its seat of government is the town of Esperance, where about three-quarters of the Shire's population resides.

History

The Esperance Road District was established on 13 September 1895. Two weeks later, on 27 September 1895, the township of Esperance separated from the road district as the Municipality of Esperance. The municipality was re-absorbed into the road district on 30 October 1908. On 1 July 1961, it became the Shire of Esperance under the ''Local Government Act 1960'', which reformed all remaining road districts into shires. A railway line from Coolgardie to Esperance that was completed in 1927 led to development of farming in the mallee country to the north of Esperance. On 11 July 1979, the American

Skylab Skylab was the first United States space station, launched by NASA, occupied for about 24 weeks between May 1973 and February 1974. It was operated by three separate three-astronaut crews: Skylab 2, Skylab 3, and Skylab 4. Major operations ...

Space Station re-entered Earth's atmosphere headed for Western Australia and the Indian Ocean. It broke up during reentry and much of it landed in Esperance. In turn, the Shire issued a facetious A$400 fine to

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

for littering. It remained outstanding until April 2009, when radio show host Scott Barley of Highway Radio raised the funds from his morning show listeners, and paid the fine on behalf of NASA. The main industry in the region is farming. The Department of Agriculture established a research station at

Gibson Gibson may refer to: People * Gibson (surname) Businesses * Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based * Gi ...

finding the local soils to be deficient in trace elements and nitrogen. In 1953 there were 130 farms in the area, increasing to 347 in 1961 and over 650 in 1968.

Wards

The shire is divided into two wards. Prior to the 2005 elections, a 13-councillor setup with North, West and East wards each with two councillors was in place. The shire president is elected from amongst the councillors. * Town Ward (six councillors) * Rural Ward (three councillors)

Towns and localities

The Shire of Esperance is divided into 32 localities: * Esperance ** Bandy Creek ** Castletown ** Chadwick ** Nulsen **

Pink Lake A pink lake is a lake that has a red or pink colour. This is often caused by the presence of salt-tolerant algae that produces carotenoids, such as ''Dunaliella salina'', usually in conjunction with specific bacteria, which may vary from lake ...

Sinclair Sinclair may refer to: Places * Lake Sinclair, near Milledgeville, Georgia * Sinclair, Iowa * Sinclair, West Virginia * Sinclair, Wyoming * Sinclair Mills, British Columbia * Sinclair Township, Minnesota * Sinclair, Manitoba People * ...

West Beach West Beach may refer to: ;Australia *West Beach, South Australia West Beach is a seaside suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in both the City of Charles Sturt and the City of West Torrens. History West Beach was first laid out in ...

** Windabout * Beaumont * Boyatup *Buraminya * Cape Arid National Park *

Cape Le Grand National Park Cape Le Grand National Park is a national park in Western Australia, south-east of Perth and east of Esperance. The park covers an area of The area is an ancient landscape which has been above sea level for well over 200 million years and ...

* Cascade *

Condingup Condingup is a town in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, in the Shire of Esperance local government area, southeast of the state capital, Perth. At the 2016 census, it and the surrounding region had a population of 278. ...

* Coomalbidgup * Dalyup * East Munglinup *

* Grass Patch * Howick *

Israelite Bay Israelite Bay is a bay and locality on the south coast of Western Australia. Situated in the Shire of Esperance local government area, it lies east of Esperance and the Cape Arid National Park, within the Nuytsland Nature Reserve and the Grea ...

Lort River Lort River is a river located in the Goldfields-Esperance region and the Eastern Mallee sub-region of Western Australia. Lort River was named in 1848 by John Septimus Roe the Surveyor General of Western Australia while leading a five-man expl ...

* Merivale * Monjingup * Mount Ney * Neridup * North Cascade * Salmon Gums * Scaddan * Wittenoom Hills

Heritage-listed places

As of 2021, 89 places are heritage-listed in the Shire of Esperance, of which twelve are on the State Register of Heritage Places.

References

External links

* {{coord, -33.861, 121.892, type:adm2nd_region:AU-WA, format=dms, display=title Esperance