The Shire of Torres 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 ...

located in

Far North Queensland Far North Queensland (FNQ) is the northernmost part of the Australian state of Queensland. Its largest city is Cairns and it is dominated geographically by Cape York Peninsula, which stretches north to the Torres Strait, and west to the Gulf C ...

, Australia, covering large sections of the

Torres Strait Islands The Torres Strait Islands are a group of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait, a waterway separating far northern continental Australia's Cape York Peninsula and the island of New Guinea. They span an area of , but their total land ...

and the northern tip of

Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación ...

north of 11°S latitude. It holds two distinctions—it is the northernmost Local Government Area in Australia, and is the only one to abut an international border – it is at one point just from

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. It is administered from

Thursday Island Thursday Island, colloquially known as TI, or in the Kawrareg dialect, Waiben or Waibene, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands, an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait. TI is located approximately north of Cape ...

History

The Hann Division was created on 11 November 1879 as one of 74 divisions around Queensland under the ''Divisional Boards Act 1879''. On 30 October 1885, the coastal islands of Hann Division were separated to create Torres Division. With the passage of the ''Local Authorities Act 1902'', Balonne Division became Shire of Balonne on 31 March 1903. Most of the islands were unincorporated until the 1970s, but Thursday Island had a town council going back to 1912. In 1939, the ''Torres Strait Islanders Act'' was passed by the Federal Government, allowing for a form of local government on each island. On 27 January 1942, after the fall of Singapore during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the Australian government gave the order to evacuate all civilians from Thursday Island, which now became a military base. In 1946, civilians started returning to the island. In 1952 the Council was dissolved and replaced by administrators. On 9 May 1974, the Shire was established and gazetted by the

Bjelke-Petersen Bjelke-Petersen is the name of an Australian family of Danish descent. The common ancestors of the Australian family are Georg Peter Bjelke-Petersen (born c. 1845), a Danish farmer and master-builder, and his wife Caroline Vilhelmine (maiden name ...

government, in an effort to gain leverage on a boundary dispute between the Australian and

governments. It was created from the following parts: However, elective government was not restored to the Shire until March 1991—along with the Shires of Mornington,

Cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (professional), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * ...

and

Aurukun Aurukun is a town and coastal locality in the Shire of Aurukun and the Shire of Cook in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is an Indigenous community. In the , the locality of Aurukun had a population of 1,269 people. Geography Aurukun is ...

, it was administered by the Local Government Department's Far North regional office. When the ''Community Services (Torres Strait) Act 1984'' was enacted, 15 island councils were created. Each was responsible for local basic utilities and services, and worked with the Queensland Police to provide for community police officers—hence extending well beyond the normal functions of local government. The remaining areas were governed under the ''Local Government Act'' like most other parts of Queensland. In March 1991, elected Council status was restored by the new Goss

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

government, and in 1994 Pedro Stephen became its first and so far only mayor.

Geography and jurisdiction

Since 1984, the Shire of Torres only administers those sections of its area which are not autonomous. It is effectively colocated with the

Northern Peninsula Area Region The Northern Peninsula Area Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia, covering areas on the northwestern coast of Cape York Peninsula. It was created in March 2008 out of three Aboriginal Shires and two autonomous Isl ...

, which covers a number of

Deed of Grant in Trust A Deed of Grant in Trust (DOGIT) is the name for a system of community-level land trust established in Queensland to administer former Aboriginal reserves and missions. They came about through the enactment by the Queensland Government of the '' ...

(DOGIT) areas on the peninsula, and the

Torres Strait Island Region The Torres Strait Island Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia, covering part of the Torres Strait Islands. It was created in March 2008 out of 15 autonomous Island Councils during a period of statewide local gove ...

, which replaced 15 autonomous island councils in March 2008. During statewide local government reform in 2007–08, the Queensland Government considered merging the Shire with the other areas, but felt that having one area subject to three different types of legislation would be inefficient, and the Shire was one of a handful to remain unchanged through the process. The shire covers a land area of , of which it controls and administers under the ''Local Government Act 1993''. Areas under its jurisdiction include included: *

Albany Island Albany Island or Pabaju is an island off the north-eastern coast of Cape York Peninsula in the Adolphus Channel and part of the Manar Group of islands of Queensland, Australia. It is within the locality of Somerset in the Shire of Torres. G ...

and Manar Group * Dayman Island * Entrance Island * Friday Island (Gealug) * Goods Island (Palilug) * Horn Island (Narupai) and its

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

* Little Adolphus Island * Mount Adolphus Island * Packe Island *

Port Lihou Island Port Lihou Island or Yeta (Yœtha ''beard'') is an island in the Torres Strait, in Queensland's north between the Australian mainland and Papua New Guinea. It lies off the south coast of Muralag, separated by a channel that is long but only ...

* Possession Island * Prince of Wales Island (Muralug) *

(Waibene) *

Turtle Head Island Turtle Head Island is an island of the Torres Strait Islands archipelago, located in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, east of Cape York Peninsula, in Queensland, Australia. The island is located in Newcastle Bay at the mouth of Escape Rive ...

* Wednesday Island (Mawai lt spelling Muwai

Population

The population of the Shire of Torres, along with Cook, Aurukun and Mornington, have been singled out by the

Australian Bureau of Statistics The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is the independent statutory agency of the Australian Government responsible for statistical collection and analysis and for giving evidence-based advice to federal, state and territory governments ...

(ABS), who conduct the quinquennial census, as particularly difficult to measure accurately. Reasons for this include cultural and language barriers, transport and geographical spread of the population, who are located in isolated communities and on small islands. As such, all figures are likely to be lower than the actual population on the census date. In addition, until 1 July 2002, the Australian Bureau of Statistics included the Island and DOGIT councils within the Shire of Torres statistical local area. Information for the reduced Shire back to 1996 has been provided on the ABS website through the Time Series Profile.

Mayor and council

Until the 2007–08 reforms, the council consisted of seven councillors, but this was reduced to four. A mayor is elected separately by the entire Shire. Meetings are held on the third Tuesday of each month at the Torres Shire Council offices at Douglas Street,

. On 15 March 2008, Pedro Stephen, an ordained Full Gospel minister first elected in 1994 and the first ever

Torres Strait Islander Torres Strait Islanders () are the Indigenous Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal people of the rest of Australia, they are often groupe ...

to be elected as a mayor of a local government area, was re-elected with almost 50% of the vote.

Mayors

* 2008–2016: Napau Pedro Stephen * 2016–present: Vonda Malone

Library

The Torres Shire Council operates Ngulaig Meta Municipal Library at 121 Douglas Street on Thursday Island.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Torres Shire Local government areas of Queensland Far North Queensland 1885 establishments in Australia Queensland in World War II