The Shire of Westonia 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 eastern Wheatbelt 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 east 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 ...

, the state capital. Its seat of government is the small town of Westonia. Although the Shire of Westonia is located in the Wheatbelt region, it is at the eastern limit of land suitable for

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 ...

growing. The most important industries of Westonia today are wheat and

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

, but historically it was a

gold mining Gold mining is the extraction of gold resources by mining. Historically, mining gold from alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning. However, with the expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface ...

area.

History

The Westonia Road District was established on 30 June 1916. On 1 July 1961, it became the Shire of Westonia under the ''Local Government Act 1960'', which reformed all remaining road districts into shires.

Wards

The Shire initially had a ward system with two elected members representing the north, south, west and town wards (for a total of eight members). However, following the 2009 local government elections the Shire of Westonia's ward system was abolished and the number of elected members was dropped to six.

Towns

* Westonia * Boodarockin * Carrabin * Walgoolan * Warrachuppin * Warralakin

Population

Heritage-listed places

As of 2021, 69 places are heritage-listed in the Shire of Westonia, of which one is 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 ...

, the Edna May Tavern in Westonia.

References

External links

* {{Coord, -31.303, 118.699, type:adm2nd_region:AU-WA, format=dms, display=title Westonia