The Shire of Aurukun is a local government area in

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 ...

, Australia. 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, 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 ...

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 ...

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 administered under the Queensland '' Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897'' 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 na ...

. 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

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 (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