Mackay Region

Mackay Region Queensland
Location within Queensland
Coordinates	21°08′28″S 149°11′08″E / 21.14111°S 149.18556°E / -21.14111; 149.18556
Population	121,691 (2021 census)[1]
• Density	15.9658/km2 (41.3511/sq mi)
Established	2008
Area	7,622 km2 (2,942.9 sq mi)
Mayor	Greg Williamson[2]
Council seat	Mackay
Region	North Queensland
State electorate(s)	Mackay Mirani Whitsunday
Federal division(s)	Dawson Capricornia
Website	Mackay Region
LGAs around Mackay Region: Whitsunday Whitsunday Coral Sea Whitsunday Mackay Region Coral Sea Isaac Isaac Isaac

The Mackay Region is a local government area located in North Queensland, Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by three previous local government areas with modern histories extending back as far as 1869.

It has an estimated operating budget of A$118 million.

In the 2021 census, the Mackay Region had a population of 121,691 people.^[1]

Yuwibara (also known as Yuibera, Yuri, Juipera, Yuwiburra) is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken on Yuwibara country. It is closely related to the Biri languages/dialects. The Yuwibara language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the Mackay Region.^[3]

Prior to 2008, the Mackay Region was an entire area of three previous and distinct local government areas:

• the City of Mackay;
• the Shire of Mirani;
• and the Shire of Sarina.

The city had its beginning in the Mackay Municipality which was proclaimed on 22 September 1869 under the Municipal Institutions Act 1864.^[4] Its first mayor was David Dalrymple, and the council first met on 1 December 1869. It achieved a measure of autonomy in 1878 with the enactment of the Local Government Act. With the passage of the Local Authorities Act 1902, Mackay became a Town on 31 March 1903, and was ultimately proclaimed a City on 17 August 1918.

On 11 December 1879, the Pioneer Division came into being as one of Queensland's 74 divisions created under the Divisional Boards Act 1879 on 11 November 1879, chaired by John Ewen Davidson. On 31 March 1903, Pioneer became a Shire. Two areas split away from it over the next decade; the Shire of Sarina on 1 January 1912, and the Shire of Mirani on 4 September 1913.^[5]

On 21 November 1991, the Electoral and Administrative Review Commission, created two years earlier, produced its second report, and recommended that local government boundaries in the Mackay area be rationalised. The Local Government (Mackay and Pioneer) Regulation 1993 was gazetted on 17 December 1993, and on 30 March 1994, the two amalgamated into a larger City of Mackay, which first met on 8 April 1994.

In July 2007, the Local Government Reform Commission released a report making recommendations for statewide reform of local government boundaries, and recommended that the three areas of Mackay, Mirani and Sarina amalgamate, due mainly to Mackay's role as a regional centre and all three shires' involvement in sugar production. The City of Mackay endorsed the suggestion, but the two shires proposed alternative options. In the end, the commission's proposal was unchanged.^[6] On 15 March 2008, the City and Shires formally ceased to exist, and elections were held on the same day to elect councillors and a mayor to the Regional Council.

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (June 2020)

• 2000–present: Gregory Roy Williamson^[7]

Mackay Regional Council is unsubdivided, meaning it does not have any wards. The mayor is directly-elected.

The incumbent mayor, Greg Williamson, formed the Greg Williamson Alliance ahead of the 2016 election, with six members of the group re-elected in 2020.^[8]

In 2023, four councillors left the group, and in 2024 Team Greg Williamson was formed with the stated aim of "creat[ing] a progressive, modern council".^[8][9]

The current council, elected in 2024, is:

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2024 Queensland local elections § Mackay.[edit]

2024 Queensland local elections: Mackay^[10][11][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Labor	Belinda Hassan (elected)	26,376	4.16
	Mackay First	George Christensen (elected)	25,556	4.03
	Mackay First	Namarca Corowa (elected)	25,440	4.01
	Independent	Martin Bella (elected)	25,364	4.00
	Independent	Peter Sheedy (elected)	25,118	3.96
	Team Greg Williamson	Ash-Lee Johnson (elected)	24,404	3.85
	Independent	Alison Jones (elected)	24,399	3.84
	Mackay First	Nathenea MacRae (elected)	24,149	3.80
	Mackay First	Heath Paton (elected)	24,084	3.79
	Team Greg Williamson	Karen May (elected)	24,000	3.78
	Team Greg Williamson	Michelle Green	23,941	3.77
	Independent	Pauline Townsend	23,601	3.72
	Mackay First	Melissa Fowler	23,486	3.70
	Independent Labor	Fran Mann	23,118	3.64
	Mackay First	Keith Hicks	22,705	3.58
	Mackay First	Jeff Keioskie	22,390	3.53
	Mackay First	Kylee Stanton	22,274	3.51
	Mackay First	Ian Christensen	21,831	3.44
	Team Greg Williamson	Neil Wallace	21,730	3.42
	Mackay First	Lindsay Temple	21,222	3.34
	Independent	Justin Englert	19,432	3.06
	Independent	Greg Fisher	19,076	3.01
	Team Greg Williamson	Peter Freeleagus	18,902	2.98
	Independent	Russell Seymour	18,063	2.85
	Independent	Kimberly Doyle	17,805	2.81
	Team Greg Williamson	Stephen Cutting	17,792	2.80
	Independent	Les Scott	17,462	2.75
	Team Greg Williamson	Joshua Thornton	17,370	2.74
	Independent LNP	Ian Rowan	13,580	2.14
Turnout			73,008	82.16
Party total votes
	Mackay First		233,137	36.73	+36.73
	Independent		190,320	29.98
	Team Greg Williamson		148,139	23.34
	Independent Labor		49,494	7.80
	Independent LNP		13,580	2.14
Party total seats				Seats	±
	Mackay First			4	4
	Independent			3	1
	Team Greg Williamson			2	4
	Independent Labor			1	1

• Team Greg Williamson changes compared with Greg Williamson Alliance at 2020 election
• Belinda Hassan was elected as Greg Williamson Alliance but became Independent Labor in December 2023
• Fran Mann was elected as Greg Williamson Alliance but became Independent Labor in December 2023
• Justin Englert was elected as Greg Williamson Alliance but became independent in December 2023
• Pauline Townsend was elected as Greg Williamson Alliance but became independent in December 2023

The Mackay Region includes the following settlements:

The population figures for each of the predecessor local government areas prior to the 2008 amalgamation:

The estimated population figures (official census population figures are in bold) for the amalgamated Mackay Region from 2008.

The Mackay Regional Council operates libraries in Mackay, Mount Pleasant, Walkerston, Sarina and Mirani.^[16] A mobile library service visits the following districts on a fortnightly schedule: Yalboroo, Bloomsbury, Midge Point, Ball Bay, Seaforth, Koumala, Swayneville, Hay Point, St Helens Beach, Calen, Shoal Point, Oakenden, Habana, Blacks Beach, Slade Point, Hampden, Marian, Gargett, Finch Hatton, Homebush, Chelona, McEwens Beach and Bucasia.^[17]

Media related to Mackay Region at Wikimedia Commons

• "Looking back and moving forward: A brief history of Mackay Regional Council" (PDF). Mackay Regional Council. 2008. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 January 2022.