Fraser Coast Region

Fraser Coast Region
Queensland
Fraser Coast Region; Queensland
	Location within Queensland
Population	111,032 (2021 census)
• Density	15.6273/km2 (40.4745/sq mi)
Established	2008
Area	7,105 km2 (2,743.3 sq mi)
Mayor	George Seymour
Council seat	Hervey Bay
Region	Wide Bay–Burnett
State electorate(s)	Maryborough; Hervey Bay;
Federal division(s)	Hinkler; Wide Bay;
Website	Fraser Coast Region
	LGAs around Fraser Coast Region:

The Fraser Coast Region is a local government area in the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, about 250 kilometres (160 mi) north of Brisbane, the state capital. It is centred on the twin cities of Hervey Bay and Maryborough and also contains K'gari. It was created in 2008 from a merger of the Cities of Maryborough and Hervey Bay and the Shires of Woocoo and most of Tiaro. The resident population at the 2021 census was 111,032 and the estimated population in 2023 was 117,940.^[3]

The 2021-2022 budget of the Fraser Coast Regional Council is $387 million.^[4]

In the 2021 census, the Fraser Coast Region had a population of 111,032 people.^[1]

History

Butchulla (also known as Batjala, Badtjala, Badjela and Badjala) is the language of the Fraser Coast region, including K'gari. Butchulla language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the Fraser Coast Regional Council, particularly the towns of Maryborough and Hervey Bay extending south towards Noosa and northwest to Howard.^[5]

Prior to the 2008 amalgamation, the Fraser Coast Region existed as four distinct local government areas:^{[citation needed]}

the City of Hervey Bay;
the City of Maryborough;
the Shire of Woocoo;
and Divisions 1 & 2 of the Shire of Tiaro.

On 10 March 1861, the Municipal Borough of Maryborough, governed under the Municipalities Act 1858 which had been inherited from New South Wales upon the separation of Queensland in 1859, was proclaimed, becoming the sixth municipal government in Queensland. Henry Palmer was appointed as its first Mayor.^{[citation needed]}

On 11 November 1879, when the Divisional Boards Act 1879 came into effect, the Antigua and Burrum Divisions were created around what is now Hervey Bay, and on 15 September 1883, the Granville Division was established to serve the district surrounding Maryborough. A later division, Howard, was split away from the Division of Isis in 1900.

With the passage of the Local Authorities Act 1902, all four divisions became Shires on 31 March 1903, and Maryborough became a Town. On 7 January 1905 Maryborough achieved City status, and a Town Hall was built on the corner of Kent and Adelaide Streets and became the administrative centre of the City.

At around this time, the Shire of Degilbo, later renamed Biggenden, split away on 3 June 1905. On 23 December 1905, Burrum was renamed Pialba.^{[citation needed]}

On 17 February 1917, the Granville, Antigua and Pialba shires were dissolved, and split between a new Shire of Burrum and the Shire of Woocoo, which had been gazetted three years earlier. By the 1920s the Hervey Bay area was rapidly expanding due to continuing growth in the primary industries such as sugar cane, citrus, pineapples, beef cattle and fishing, as well as investment in transport infrastructure. In the 1950s and 1960s, population and development increased, and the coastal towns slowly merged into a single urban area.

On 20 December 1975, but effective from 27 March 1976 local government elections, the Shire of Burrum was renamed the Shire of Hervey Bay. With the new focus on the coastal region, 1,086.4 km² (419.5 sq mi) of its area, with an estimated population of 1,119, was annexed by the City of Maryborough, while 1,269.0 km² (490.0 sq mi) with an estimated population of 2,629 was annexed by the Shire of Woocoo.

In September 1977, the Shire of Hervey Bay received Town status, and on 18 February 1984 it became a City.

The Local Government (Maryborough and Woocoo) Regulation 1993, which took effect on 31 March 1994, effected the City's annexation of about 700 km² (270 sq mi) of the Shire of Woocoo. At this time, Maryborough was resubdivided into eight divisions each with one councillor, plus an elected mayor.

On 15 March 2008, under the Local Government (Reform Implementation) Act 2007 passed by the Parliament of Queensland on 10 August 2007, the City of Hervey Bay merged with the City of Maryborough, Shire of Woocoo and part of Tiaro to form the Fraser Coast Region.^[6]

Urangan Seawall, Pier in the background, Urangan

Wards

The council consists of ten councillors and a mayor, elected for a four-year term. Each of the councillors represent one of the ten divisions.

Towns and localities

The Fraser Coast Region includes the following settlements:

Urban Hervey Bay:

Rural Hervey Bay:

Maryborough area:

Maryborough
- Granville
- Island Plantation
- Maryborough West
Aldershot
Beaver Rock
Bidwill
Boonooroo
Boonooroo Plains
Duckinwilla^[7]
Eurong (Fraser Island)
Ferney
Glenorchy
Great Sandy Strait
Maaroom
Poona
Poona National Park
St Helens
Teddington
The Dimonds
Tinana
Tuan
Tuan Forest
Walkers Point

Woocoo area:

North Tiaro - Division 1 area:

North Tiaro - Division 2 area:

¹ - split with Gympie Region

Libraries

The Fraser Coast Regional Council operates public libraries at Burrum Heads, Pialba (Hervey Bay), Howard, Maryborough (John Anderson), Maryborough (Toys and Special Needs), and Tiaro (Tom Gee Memorial).^[8]

Demographics

The populations given relate to the component entities prior to 2008. The 2011 census was the first for the new Region.

Year	Population (Region total)	Population (Maryborough)	Population (Hervey Bay)	Population (Woocoo)	Population (Tiaro)
1933	22,170	11,415	6,835	777	3,143
1947	26,453	14,395	8,642	750	2,666
1954	29,587	17,952	8,408	660	2,567
1961	30,962	19,126	8,991	640	2,205
1966	31,607	19,659	9,271	567	2,110
1971	32,347	19,257	10,737	491	1,862
1976	37,118	21,527	10,304	3,412	1,875
1981	44,454	21,530	16,402	4,456	2,066
1986	48,308	22,430	20,660	2,700	2,518
1991	60,560	22,977	30,867	3,429	3,287
1996	74,210	24,681	42,391	2,902	4,236
2001	77,837	24,465	45,959	2,964	4,449
2006	90,806	25,705	56,427	3,351	5,323
2011	95,312
2016	101,504	^[9]
2021	111,032	^[1]

Current Councillors/Mayor

The current mayor of the Fraser Coast Regional Council is George Seymour elected in a by-election held in May 2018 and re-elected in 2020 and 2024.^[10]^[11] The by-election followed the dismissal of Chris Loft as Mayor on 16 February 2018 by the Minister for Local Government, Stirling Hinchliffe who alleged Mr Loft made "serial breaches of the Local Government principles outlined in the Local Government Act."^[12]^[13]

As at 2024, the councillors are