The Shire of Murchison is a 49,500

km² The square kilometre (square kilometer in American spelling; symbol: km2) is a multiple of the square metre, the SI unit of area or surface area. In the SI unit of area (m2), 1 km2 is equal to 1M(m2). 1 km2 is equal to: * 1,000,000 squar ...

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 federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

(LGA), within the Murchison sub-region, in the

Mid West The Mid West region is one of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is a sparsely populated region extending from the west coast of Western Australia, about north and south of its administrative centre of Geraldton and inland to east of W ...

region of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. Encompassing most of the Murchison and East Murchison goldfields, the shire is named after the Murchison River. It is Australia's least-populated LGA and the only one without an official town. Five sparsely populated rural localities, with a collective population of 101 (as of 2021), comprise the entire shire. The shire offices, located northeast of

Geraldton Geraldton (Wajarri language, Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu language, Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West (Western Australia), Mid West region of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. As of the , Geraldt ...

, are the focal point of Murchison Settlement, a small part of the Murchison locality.

Description

The Shire of Murchison incorporates 29 pastoral stations and a population of 114. Most properties are operated by family units with their main income from cattle, meat sheep and wool, with some goats. A small tourism industry is developing in the region with some stations involved in station stays and with the Murchison Oasis Caravan Park and motel units located at the settlement providing facilities for tourists.

History

The Shire of Murchison takes its name from the Murchison River, which was named in 1839 by explorer

George Grey Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Gov ...

after Sir Roderick Impey Murchison, President of the Royal Geographical Society of London. The Shire’s logo is based on the coat of arms of his family, Murchison of Tarradale ( lion rampant between two

pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a Tropical vegetation, tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been culti ...

s with a

scallop Scallop () is a common name that encompasses various species of marine bivalve molluscs in the taxonomic family Pectinidae, the scallops. However, the common name "scallop" is also sometimes applied to species in other closely related famili ...

shell at the base). The Murchison Road District was gazetted on 3 August 1875. It absorbed the Upper Murchison Road District on 18 March 1912. On 1 July 1961 it became the Shire of Murchison following changes to the Local Government Act, which reformed all remaining road districts into shires. In 2004 the shire was expanded in area when the northern part of the Shire of Mullewa and an eastern section of the Shire of Northampton were incorporated into Murchison.

Murchison Settlement

In 1966, a new shire office, including a residence for the shire clerk was built, approximately 200 km north of Mullewa on the Carnarvon to Mullewa Road. In 1985, a roadhouse was built nearby and additional shire buildings, including a museum. The area surrounding the shire complex was gazetted as Murchison Settlement in 1988. It has come to include a few other houses and an Australia Post Community Postal Agent (CPA). Murchison Shire Airport (

ICAO airport code The ICAO airport code or location indicator is a four-letter code designating aerodromes around the world. These codes, as defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization and published quarterly in ICAO Document 7910: ''Location Indic ...

: ''YMSS''), which adjoins the townsite, has a 1,448 metre all-weather runway.

Wards

The shire is represented by 7 councillors, and has been divided into two wards. The shire president is elected from among the councillors. * Darlot Ward (4 councillors) * Ballinyoo Ward (3 councillors) Prior to 2005, there were 4 wards – Boolardy, Byro, Mileura and Yallalong.

Localities

The localities of the Shire of Murchison with population and size figures based on the most recent

Australian census The Census in Australia, officially the Census of Population and Housing, is the national census in Australia that occurs every five years. The census collects key demographic, social and economic data from all people in Australia on census nig ...

Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory

The Shire is the site of the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory, which lies 70 km east-northeast of Murchison Settlement. A sparse population – and its consequent radio "quietness" – is a factor behind the Shire being selected as one of the two sites for the

Square Kilometre Array The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is an intergovernmental organisation, intergovernmental international radio telescope project being built in Australia (low-frequency) and South Africa (mid-frequency). The combining infrastructure, the Square ...

– a proposed array of radio telescope receivers with a total collecting area of one square kilometre. It is already home to two other major radio telescope facilities: the

Murchison Widefield Array The Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) is a joint project between an international consortium of organisations to construct and operate a low-frequency radio array. 'Widefield' refers to its very large field of view (on the order of 30 degrees ac ...

and the

Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder The ASKAP radio telescope is a radio telescope array located at Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in the Mid West region of Western Australia. The facility began as a technology demonstrator for the ...

. The Square Kilometre Array, or SKA, is a global radio telescope project involving institutions in more than 20 countries. The SKA will be the largest and most capable radio telescope ever constructed—50 times more sensitive than any other radio instrument. Australia and southern Africa will each host different components of the SKA. Management of the facilities at the SKA is coordinated by the CSIRO from the offices and laboratories at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Support Facility in Geraldton.

Heritage-listed places

As of 2023, 35 places are heritage-listed in the Shire of Murchison, of which four are on the

State Register of Heritage Places The State Register of Heritage Places is the heritage register of historic sites in Western Australia deemed significant at the state level by the Heritage Council of Western Australia. History In the 1970s, following its establishment of the N ...

, among them the Boolardy Homestead. The homestead, dating back to 1875, was added to the state register on 29 May 2001.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 26, 53.61, S, 115, 57.39, E, region:AU-WA_type:adm2nd_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Murchison