Muswellbrook Shire

At the 2011 census, there were 15,791 people in the Muswellbrook Shire local government area, of these 51.7 per cent were male and 48.3 per cent were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 5.4 per cent of the population, which was significantly higher than the national and state averages of 2.5 per cent. The median age of people in the Muswellbrook Shire was 34 years, which was lower than the national median of 37 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 22.8 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 10.6 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 47.0 per cent were married and 11.8 per cent were either divorced or separated.^[1]

Population growth in the Muswellbrook Shire between the 2001 census and the 2006 census was 3.25 per cent; and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 census, population growth was 3.64 per cent. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78 per cent and 8.32 per cent respectively, population growth in the Muswellbrook Shire local government area was approximately half the national average.^[8]^[9] The median weekly income for residents within the Muswellbrook Shire was marginally higher than the national average.^[1]

At the 2011 census, the proportion of residents in the Muswellbrook Shire local government area who stated their ancestry as Australian or Anglo-Saxon exceeded 81 per cent of all residents (national average was 65.2 per cent). In excess of 68% of all residents in the Muswellbrook Shire nominated a religious affiliation with Christianity at the 2011 census, which was slightly higher than the national average of 50.2 per cent. Meanwhile, as at the census date, compared to the national average, households in the Muswellbrook Shire local government area had a significantly lower than average proportion (4.3 per cent) where two or more languages are spoken (national average was 20.4 per cent); and a significantly higher proportion (89.7 per cent) where English only was spoken at home (national average was 76.8 per cent).^[1]

Selected historical census data for the Muswellbrook Shire local government area
Census year		2001^[8]	2006^[9]	2011^[1]
Population	Estimated residents on Census night	14,756	15,236	15,791
	LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales
	% of New South Wales population			0.23%
	% of Australian population	0.08%	0.08%	0.07%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses	Australian			36.2%
	English			30.4%
	Irish			8.1%
	Scottish			6.6%
	German			2.9%
Language, top responses (other than English)	Shona	n/c	n/c	0.2%
	Cantonese	0.1%	0.1%	0.2%
	Italian	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%
	Thai	n/c	0.1%	0.1%
	Mandarin	n/c	0.1%	0.1%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses	Anglican	40.3%	37.5%	35.6%
	Catholic	28.0%	27.7%	26.1%
	No Religion	7.6%	11.0%	13.9%
	Uniting Church	5.2%	4.4%	3.9%
	Presbyterian and Reformed	3.8%	3.2%	3.1%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income	Median weekly personal income		A$453	A$619
Personal income	% of Australian median income		97.2%	107.3%
Family income	Median weekly family income		A$1,213	A$1,697
Family income	% of Australian median income		103.6%	114.6%
Household income	Median weekly household income		A$1,060	A$1,399
Household income	% of Australian median income		103.2%	113.4%

Council

Current composition and election method

Muswellbrook Shire Council is composed of twelve Councillors elected proportionally as a single ward. All Councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The Mayor is elected by the Councillors at the first meeting of the Council. The most recent election was held on 8 September 2012 and the makeup of the Council is as follows:^[10]

Party		Councillors
	Independents and Unaligned	12
	Total	12

The current Council, elected in 2012, in order of election, is:^[10]

	Party	Notes
Martin Rush	Unaligned	Mayor^[2]
Graeme McNeill	Independent
Stephen Ward	Unaligned
Gary Serhan	Independent
Rod Scholes	Independent
Brett Woodruff	Independent
Ray Butchard	Unaligned
Karen Portolan	Unaligned
Jennifer Lecky	Independent
Christine Phelps	Independent
Malcolm Ogg	Unaligned	Deputy Mayor^[2]
Janelle Risby	Independent

Mayors

The following is a list of mayors since the Shire of Denman amalgamated with the Municipality of Muswellbrook to form Muswellbrook Shire Council on 1 July 1979.^[11]

	Party	Term of office
J.H. Jobling	Unaligned	1979–1986
E.I. Wolfgang	Unaligned	1986–1989
I.E. Seymour	Unaligned	1989–1999
J.E. Colvin	Unaligned	1999–2008
Martin Rush	Unaligned	2008–present

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Muswellbrook (Local Government Area)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
1 2 3 4 Post, Stacey (21 September 2012). "Rush retains job and gains new deputy". Muswellbrook Chronicle. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
↑ "Muswellbrook Shire Council". New South Wales Division of Local Government. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
↑ "Suburb Search – Local Council Boundaries – Hunter (HT) – Muswellbrook Shire Council". New South Wales Division of Local Government. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
↑ "Upper Hunter". New South Wales Electoral Commission. 24 September 2012. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
↑ "Hunter". Australian Electoral Commission. 26 July 2012. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
↑ "About Muswellbrook Shire". Muswellbrook Shire Council. Retrieved 28 August 2009.
1 2 Australian Bureau of Statistics (9 March 2006). "Muswellbrook (A)". 2001 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
1 2 Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Muswellbrook (A)". 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
1 2 "Muswellbrook Shire Council: Summary of First Preference and Group Votes for each Candidate". Local Government Elections 2012. Electoral Commission of New South Wales. 13 September 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
↑ Bill Spicer (18 June 2004). "Mayors, Alderman, Shire Presidents, Councillors and Staff" (PDF). Muswellbrook Shire Council. Retrieved 16 August 2009.

Towns, suburbs and localities of Muswellbrook Shire, Hunter Region, New South Wales

Towns, suburbs and localities	Alcheringa Allan Cunningham Antiene Arrowfield Baerami Baerami Creek Baerami South Bengalla Bureen Castle Rock Coxs Gap Dalswinton Dangar Dartmouth Denman Dunbars Creek Edderton Edinglassie Esdai Giants Creek Glen Gallic Grass Tree Grasstree Hollydeen Horseshoe Horton Park Jerrys Plains Kayuga Kerrabee Koolbury Liddell Mangoola Manobalai Marketown Martindale McCullys Gap Mount Dangar Mount Rest Muscle Creek Muswellbrook Muswellbrook North Muswellbrook South Myambat Oakleigh Stud Old Yarrawa Pickering Piercefield Richmond Grove Rosemount Roxburgh Sandy Hollow The Horseshoe Widden Widden Valley Wybong Yarrawa

Rivers	Baerami Goulburn Hunter Pages

Other places and points of interest	Bayswater Power Station Bylong Valley Way Lake Liddell Liddell Power Station

Local government areas of New South Wales

Metropolitan Sydney

Inner Sydney	Ashfield Botany Bay Hunter's Hill Lane Cove Leichhardt Manly Marrickville Mosman North Sydney Randwick Rockdale Sydney Waverley Willoughby Woollahra

Outer Sydney	Auburn Bankstown Blacktown Burwood Camden Campbelltown Canada Bay Canterbury Fairfield The Hills Holroyd Hornsby Hurstville Kogarah Ku-ring-gai Liverpool Parramatta Penrith Pittwater Ryde Strathfield Sutherland Warringah

Sydney Surrounds	Blue Mountains Gosford Hawkesbury Wollondilly Wyong

Mid North Coast

Murray

Murrumbidgee

Hunter

Illawarra

Richmond Tweed

Southeastern

Northern

Central West

North Western

Far West

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