City of Wagga Wagga is a local government area 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 southern

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. The

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

of the City of Wagga Wagga is Cr. Dallas Tout, an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

politician.

City, town and localities

The City of Wagga Wagga includes the suburbs of

History

Wagga Wagga was first incorporated as the Borough of Wagga Wagga on 15 March 1870. It received city status and became the City of Wagga Wagga on 17 April 1946. The municipality enlarged substantially on 1 January 1981 when the adjoining Shire of Kyeamba and Shire of Mitchell were amalgamated into the City.

Heritage listings

The City of Wagga Wagga has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * , Main Southern railway: Bomen railway station * , Tarcutta Street: Hambledon Homestead * Wagga Wagga, Botanic Gardens Site (BGS), Baden Powell Drive: Mobile Cook's Galley, Museum of the Riverina * Wagga Wagga, Main Southern railway: Wagga Wagga railway station

Demographics

At the , there were people in the City of Wagga Wagga local government area, of these 48.9 per cent were male and 51.1 per cent were female.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation The British Empire was composed of the dominions, coloni ...

made up 5.6 per cent of the population, which was twice the national and average of 2.9 per cent. The median age of people in the City of Wagga Wagga was 35 years, which was lower than the national median of 38 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 20.3 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 15.2 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 46.6 per cent were married and 11.4 per cent were either divorced or separated. Population growth in the Tamworth Regional Council between the 2011 census and the 2016 census was 4.92 per cent. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same period, being 8.8 per cent, population growth in the City of Wagga Wagga local government area was around half of the national average. The median weekly income of $1,354 within the City of Wagga Wagga local government area was slightly lower than the national average of $1,438. At the , the proportion of residents in the Tamworth Regional local government area who stated their

ancestry An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder or a forebear, is a parent or ( recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from wh ...

as Australian or

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

exceeded 80 per cent of all residents (national average was around 60 per cent). Approximately two-thirds (67%) of all residents in the City of Wagga Wagga nominated a

religious Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

affiliation with

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesu ...

at the 2016 census, which was higher than the national average of approximately 60 per cent. Meanwhile, as at the census date, compared to the national average, households in the City of Wagga Wagga local government area had a significantly lower than average proportion (7.6 per cent) where two or more languages are spoken (national average was 26.4 per cent); and a significantly higher proportion (87.8 per cent) where English only was spoken at home (national average was 68.5 per cent).

Council

Current composition and election method

Wagga Wagga City Council (WWCC) is composed of 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. All Councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The

is elected by the Councillors at the first meeting of the Council. The most recent election was held on 25 October 2021, and the makeup of the Council is as follows: The current Council, elected in 2021, is: A

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of ...

was held on 8 September 2012 and an

absolute majority A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority r ...

of voters resolved in favour to reduce the number of Councillors from eleven to nine. The change came into effect at the September 2016 elections.

Administration staff

In December 2009, Wagga Wagga City Council announced that it had appointed Phil Pinyon as the

General Manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all ...

of the Wagga Wagga City Council replacing Lyn Russell, who suddenly announced her resignation in October 2009, after completing 18 months of her five-year contract.

Symbols and emblems

The

floral emblem In a number of countries, plants have been chosen as symbols to represent specific geographic areas. Some countries have a country-wide floral emblem; others in addition have symbols representing subdivisions. Different processes have been used to ...

for the city is the Silver Banksia.

Gallery

File:Wagga Wagga Civic Centre.jpg, Wagga Wagga Civic Centre Wagga Wagga Coat of Arms.jpg, Wagga Wagga Coat of Arms WWCC Mayoral Gong.jpg, City Council Mayoral gong. Stolen 2 January 2009, remains unfound

References

External links

*
Wagga Wagga City Council website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagga Wagga Local government areas of the Riverina Local government areas of New South Wales Wagga Wagga