The Federation Council 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 the

Riverina The Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation ...

region of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

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 ...

. This area was formed in 2016 from the merger of the

Corowa Shire Corowa Shire was a local government area in the Riverina region in southern New South Wales, Australia. The area was located adjacent to the Murray River and the Riverina Highway. The Shire included the towns of Corowa, Howlong, Balldale, Cor ...

with its neighbouring Urana Shire. The council comprises an area of and covers the urban areas of

Corowa Corowa is a town in the state of New South Wales in Australia. It is on the bank of the Murray River, the border between New South Wales and Victoria, opposite the Victorian town of Wahgunyah. It is the largest town in the Federation Council ...

and

Mulwala Mulwala (locally , elsewhere also ) is a town in the Federation Council local government area in the Riverina district of New South Wales, Australia. The town is situated on Lake Mulwala, an artificial lake formed by the damming of the Murray ...

and the surrounding cropping and pastoral region to the north. It is bounded to the south by the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest r ...

and the state of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. At the time of its establishment the council had an estimated population of . The inaugural mayor of Federation Council is Patrick Bourke from

Urana Urana is a small town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The town is in the Federation Council local government area. Urana is located between Lockhart and Jerilderie, about southwest of the state capital, Sydney. To the wes ...

, elected by his fellow councillors on 26 September 2017.

Main towns and villages

In addition to the main urban centres of

and

, localities in the area include

Balldale Balldale is a village in the mid-southern part of the Riverina in New South Wales, Australia. It is about north-east of Corowa and about west of Brocklesby. Balldale was established when the large farm holding of the Quat Quatta Estate was s ...

Boree Creek Boree Creek is a town in the Riverina district of New South Wales, Australia. The town is located south west of the state capital, Sydney and west of the regional centre, Wagga Wagga. Boree Creek is situated in the Federation Council local ...

Buraja Buraja ( ) is a town community in the central south part of the Riverina. It is about east of Berrigan on the Riverina Highway. The Aboriginal name Buraja means ‘a swamp with young trees growing.’ When people settled in the Buraja distric ...

, Coreen,

Daysdale Daysdale is a locality in the central south part of the Riverina region of the Australian state of New South Wales. The locality is about south west of the state capital Sydney and north of Melbourne. At the 2021 census, Daysdale had a popula ...

, Hopefield, Howlong, Lowesdale,

Morundah Morundah is a small town in the Murray region of New South Wales, Australia. The town is located on the Newell Highway and in the Federation Council, New South Wales, Federation Council Local government in Australia, local government area. The ...

, Oaklands,

Rand The RAND Corporation (from the phrase "research and development") is an American nonprofit global policy think tank created in 1948 by Douglas Aircraft Company to offer research and analysis to the United States Armed Forces. It is financed ...

, Rennie and Savernake.

Heritage listings

The Federation Council has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: *

Corowa Courthouse The Corowa Courthouse is a heritage-listed courthouse located at 8 Church Street, Corowa, in the Federation Council local government area, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by James Barnet, the Colonial Architect, and built from 18 ...

Corowa railway station The Corowa railway station is a heritage-listed railway station located on the Culcairn-Corowa line at Corowa, in the Federation Council local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It is also known as Corowa Railway Station and yard ...

Corowa Flour Mill The Corowa Flour Mill is a heritage-listed former flour mill and now tourist attraction at Steel Street, Corowa, Federation Council, New South Wales, Australia. It is also known as the Corowa Flour Mill and site. It was added to the New South ...

* Savernake Station * Urana Soldiers' Memorial Hall

Demographics

Council

Federation Council comprise nine

Councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

s elected proportionally as a single

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

. All Councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The interim Administrator of the Federation Council was solicitor and former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer Mike Eden, until elections were held on 9 September 2017 The most recent election was held on 9 September 2017, and the makeup of the council is as follows:

History

The Federation Council was created by the

Government of New South Wales The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales. It is currently held by a coalition of the Liberal Party and the National Party. The Governmen ...

as a result of an amalgamation of some local government bodies through a reform program between 2013 and 2016. As part of the review, all New South Wales local government authorities were assessed by the NSW Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal on their historical and projected demographic data, financial sustainability, and other measures including their impact on the State's resources. Those council deemed "unfit" were asked to nominate their preferred merger partner in order to achieve

economies of scale In microeconomics, economies of scale are the cost advantages that enterprises obtain due to their scale of operation, and are typically measured by the amount of output produced per unit of time. A decrease in cost per unit of output enables ...

. Corowa and Urana shires both nominated to merge with each other. In addition

Lockhart Shire Lockhart Shire is a local government area in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire was created in 1906 and is an agricultural and pastoral area. The main towns and villages in the Shire include Lockhart (950 people), ...

nominated Urana Shire as a preferred merger partner. In December 2015, the Minister for Local Government

Paul Toole Paul Lawrence Toole (born 2 August 1970), an Australian politician, is the Deputy Premier and leader of the New South Wales Nationals since October 2021. Toole is the Minister for Regional New South Wales in the second Berejiklian and Perrot ...

proposed the amalgamation of all three Councils. All three Councils opposed the proposal and a group of residents in the town of

in Corowa Shire threatened to secede and join

Berrigan Shire Berrigan Shire is a local government area in the southern Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire lies on the New South Wales State border with Victoria formed by the Murray River. The Shire is adjacent to the Newell and River ...

if the three-way merger went ahead. Corowa Shire put forward the alternate proposal being a merger of Corowa and Urana shires, despite objections from Urana Shire. The Minister accepted the Corowa and Urana merger proposal and the Federation Council was proclaimed on 12 May 2016.

References

External links

* {{NSW Local Government amalgamations 2016, state=collapsed Local government areas of the Riverina 2016 establishments in Australia