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The Shire of Torres is a
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 ...
located in
Far North Queensland Far North Queensland (FNQ) is the northernmost part of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland. Its largest city is Cairns, Queensland, Cairns and it is dominated geographically by Cape York Peninsula, which stret ...
, Australia, covering large sections of the
Torres Strait Islands The Torres Strait Islands are an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait, a waterway separating far northern continental Australia's Cape York Peninsula and the island of New Guinea. They span an area of , but their tot ...
and the northern tip of
Cape York Peninsula The Cape York Peninsula is a peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth's last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación Sierra Madre, ...
north of 11°S latitude. It holds two distinctions—it is the northernmost Local Government Area in Australia, and is the only one to abut an international border – it is at one point just from
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...
. It is administered from
Thursday Island Thursday Island, colloquially known as TI, or in the Kalaw Lagaw Ya, Kawrareg dialect, Waiben or Waibene, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands, an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait. TI is located approximately ...
. In the , the Shire of Torres had a population of 3,421 people.


History

The Hann Division was created on 11 November 1879 as one of 74 divisions around Queensland under the ''Divisional Boards Act 1879''. On 30 October 1885, the coastal islands of Hann Division were separated to create Torres Division. With the passage of the ''Local Authorities Act 1902'', Torres Division became Shire of Torres on 31 March 1903. Most of the islands were unincorporated until the 1970s, but Thursday Island had a town council going back to 1912. In 1939, the ''Torres Strait Islanders Act'' was passed by the Federal Government, allowing for a form of local government on each island. On 27 January 1942, after the fall of Singapore during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the Australian government gave the order to evacuate all civilians from Thursday Island, which now became a military base. In 1946, civilians started returning to the island. In 1952 the Council was dissolved and replaced by administrators. On 9 May 1974, the Shire was established and gazetted by the Bjelke-Petersen government, in an effort to gain leverage on a boundary dispute between the Australian and
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...
governments. It was created from the following parts: However, elective government was not restored to the Shire until March 1991—along with the Shires of Mornington,
Cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (profession), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * C ...
and Aurukun, it was administered by the Local Government Department's Far North regional office. When the ''Community Services (Torres Strait) Act 1984'' was enacted, 15 island councils were created. Each was responsible for local basic utilities and services, and worked with the Queensland Police to provide for community police officers—hence extending well beyond the normal functions of local government. The remaining areas were governed under the ''Local Government Act'' like most other parts of Queensland. In March 1991, elected Council status was restored by the new Goss
Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...
government, and in 1994 Pedro Stephen became its first and so far only mayor.


Geography and jurisdiction

Since 1984, the Shire of Torres only administers those sections of its area which are not autonomous. It is effectively colocated with the
Northern Peninsula Area Region The Northern Peninsula Area Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia, covering areas on the northwestern coast of Cape York Peninsula. It was created in March 2008 out of three Aboriginal Shires and two autonomous Is ...
, which covers a number of Deed of Grant in Trust (DOGIT) areas on the peninsula, and the Torres Strait Island Region, which replaced 15 autonomous island councils in March 2008. During statewide local government reform in 2007–08, the Queensland Government considered merging the Shire with the other areas, but felt that having one area subject to three different types of legislation would be inefficient, and the Shire was one of a handful to remain unchanged through the process. The shire covers a land area of , of which it controls and administers under the ''Local Government Act 1993''. Areas under its jurisdiction include included: *
Albany Island Albany Island or Pabaju is an island off the north-eastern coast of Cape York Peninsula in the Adolphus Channel of Queensland, Australia. It is within the locality of Somerset in the Shire of Torres. Geography Albany Island is off the no ...
* Dayman Island * Entrance Island * Friday Island (Gealug) * Goods Island (Palilug) * Horn Island (Narupai) and its
airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...
* Little Adolphus Island * Mount Adolphus Island * Packe Island * Port Lihou Island * Possession Island * Prince of Wales Island (Muralug) *
Thursday Island Thursday Island, colloquially known as TI, or in the Kalaw Lagaw Ya, Kawrareg dialect, Waiben or Waibene, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands, an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait. TI is located approximately ...
(Waibene) * Turtle Head Island * Wednesday Island (Mawai lt spelling Muwai


Demographics

The population of the Shire of Torres, along with Cook, Aurukun and Mornington, have been singled out by the
Australian Bureau of Statistics The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is an List of Australian Government entities, Australian Government agency that collects and analyses statistics on economic, population, Natural environment, environmental, and social issues to advi ...
(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 located in isolated communities and on small islands. As such, all figures are likely to be lower than the actual population on the census date. In addition, until 1 July 2002, the Australian Bureau of Statistics included the Island and DOGIT councils within the Shire of Torres statistical local area. Information for the reduced Shire back to 1996 has been provided on the ABS website through the Time Series Profile.


Mayor and council

Until the 2007–08 reforms, the council consisted of seven councillors, but this was reduced to four. A mayor is elected separately by the entire Shire. Meetings are held on the third Tuesday of each month at the Torres Shire Council offices at Douglas Street,
Thursday Island Thursday Island, colloquially known as TI, or in the Kalaw Lagaw Ya, Kawrareg dialect, Waiben or Waibene, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands, an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait. TI is located approximately ...
. On 15 March 2008, Pedro Stephen, an ordained
Full Gospel The Full Gospel or Fourfold Gospel is an evangelical doctrine that summarizes the Gospel in four aspects, namely the Salvation (Christianity), salvation, sanctification, faith healing and Second Coming of Christ. It has been used in various Christi ...
minister first elected in 1994 and the first ever
Torres Strait Islander Torres Strait Islanders ( ) are the Indigenous Melanesians, Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal peoples of the res ...
to be elected as a mayor of a local government area, was re-elected with almost 50% of the vote.


Mayors

* 2008–2016: Napau Pedro Stephen * 2016–2022: Vonda Malone * 2022-present: Yen Loban


Library

The Torres Shire Council operates Ngulaig Meta Municipal Library at 121 Douglas Street on Thursday Island.


See also

*
List of Torres Strait Islands The Torres Strait Islands are a group of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait between Queensland, Australia and Papua New Guinea. This is a list of the named islands and island groups in the Torres Strait. In addition there are u ...
* Torres Strait Island Region *
Torres Strait Regional Authority The Torres Strait Regional Authority is an Australian Government body established in 1994 to administer the Torres Strait Islands. It consists of 20 elected representatives. The primary function of the authority is to strengthen the economic, ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Torres Shire Local government areas of Queensland Far North Queensland 1885 establishments in Australia Queensland in World War II Cape York Peninsula