The Shire of Aurukun 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 ...

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 Co ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. The shire covers part of western

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 ...

, the most northerly section of the Australian mainland. It covers an area of , and has existed as a local government area since 1978.

History

According to the earliest records,

Cape Keerweer A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. T ...

, located on the

Gulf of Carpentaria The Gulf of Carpentaria (, ) is a large, shallow sea enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the eastern Arafura Sea (the body of water that lies between Australia and New Guinea). The northern boundary i ...

coast, was the first site where Europeans wished to settle in Australia. A Dutch ship with Captain

Willem Janszoon Willem Janszoon (; ), sometimes abbreviated to Willem Jansz., was a Dutch navigator and colonial governor. Janszoon served in the Dutch East Indies in the periods 16031611 and 16121616, including as governor of Fort Henricus on the island of S ...

was the first recorded Dutch landing at Cape Keerweer. Captain Janszoon wanted to build a city at the site but the exploitative action of his crew led to a fight between the local Aboriginal people and the sailors. It resulted in the killing of various crew members and the ship had to leave. The territory of the Shire of Aurukun was previously an

Aboriginal reserve An Aboriginal reserve, also called simply reserve, was a government-sanctioned settlement for Aboriginal Australians, created under various state and federal legislation. Along with missions and other institutions, they were used from the 19th c ...

administered under the Queensland ''

Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897 The ''Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897'', long name ''A Bill to make Provision for the better Protection and Care of the Aboriginal and Half-caste Inhabitants of the Colony, and to make more effectual Provision ...

'' by the

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

. The Aurukun Mission was established in 1904 and Aboriginal people from all over Cape York were relocated there. In 1978, the land was taken over by the

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended f ...

, who enacted the Local Government (Aboriginal Lands) Act 1978, proclaimed the Shire of Aurukun and granted to it Aboriginal Land Lease No.1. An elected Aboriginal council lasted just one month and an administrator was appointed. The State's media at the time generally was of the opinion that bauxite revenues were a major factor in the Government's decision making on the issue. In the 1990s, an elected council once again took charge.

Towns and localities

The Shire of Aurukun includes the following settlement: *

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 ...

Libraries

The Aurukun Shire Council operate the Wik Mungkan Indigenous Knowledge Centre in Aurukun.

Population

The population of the Shire of Aurukun, along with Cook, Torres 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 mostly located in isolated communities. As such, all figures are likely to be lower than the actual population on the census date.

Chairmen and Mayors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aurukun Shire Local government areas of Queensland 1878 establishments in Australia