The
mayor of the City of Broken Hill Council is
Cr. Tom Kennedy, an
independent politician.
Council history
Following a petition submitted by residents to the
Colonial Secretary on 2 May 1888, the Municipal District of Broken Hill was first incorporated on 22 September 1888.[4][5] The incorporation occurred during a
typhoid epidemic, which killed 128 people, and the need for public health and water supply provisions was one of the main driving forces behind incorporation, and one of the biggest issues for the new municipality.[6][7] One contemporary report commented that "The town is in a terrible state owing to defective sanitary arrangements. People continue to leave by trains daily in hundreds in view of the impending drought."[8] As a consequence, in 1892 the private Broken Hill Water Supply Company completed construction on the
Stephens Creek Reservoir, which provided the first reliable clean water supply to the town.[9][10]
The first council was divided into four wards: Burke, Wills, Sturt and King, each returning three aldermen, and the first election, conducted by Charles George Gibson as Returning Officer, was held at the Broken Hill Court House on 24 November 1888.[11][12] The ward system remained in place until early 1909 when the council requested that the state government abolish the wards and elect the aldermen proportionally, which was proclaimed on 24 May 1909.[13][14] By 1891 the population had passed 23,000, making Broken Hill the third largest town in New South Wales, and that number continued to grow, reaching 25,000 by 1897.[15][16] Civic improvements, spurred on by silver mining profits, continued during the 1890s with the construction of schools, a technical college, town hall, post offices and gaol. Timber and temporary structures gave way to brick and stone, the town's streets were paved and recreation reserves were planted with trees.[17][18][19] The council commissioned the
Town Hall, designed in the
Italianate style by Whittall & Wells of Adelaide, with the foundation stone laid by
Sir Henry Parkes on 3 April 1890.[20][21][22] The hall was officially opened by the
Governor of New South Wales,
Lord Jersey, with the
Governor of South Australia,
Lord Kintore, in attendance, on 6 August 1891.[23][24]
The council was renamed the Municipality of Broken Hill following the passage of the Municipalities Act, 1897 on 6 December 1897. The council's population continue to grow in this period and by 1906, the council resolved to apply for
City status, being able to fulfil the city conditions set in Local Government Act, 1906, and the City of Broken Hill was proclaimed on 17 July 1907, the only municipality to do so under the 1906 act.[25]
Later history
Following the release of the report of public inquiry that detailed ongoing infighting among councillors and their conflicts with staff and councillor interference in operational matters, on 10 January 2007 the council was dismissed by the
Minister for Local Government,
Kerry Hickey.[26] The elected council was replaced by a single
Administrator, with the former Broken Hill General Manager, Ken Boyle, appointed.[27] Elections originally scheduled for September 2008 were deferred and the council remained under administration until a special election held on 5 December 2009.[28]
Broken Hill City Council is composed of nine
councillors elected
proportionally as a single
ward. All councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The
mayor is
elected directly by a popular vote. The most recent election was held on 4 December 2021 and the makeup of the council is as follows:[35][36]
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^"The Governor at Broken Hill". Evening News. No. 7548. New South Wales, Australia. 7 August 1891. p. 5. Retrieved 30 May 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
^"LORD JERSEY AT BROKEN HILL". South Australian Register. Vol. LVI, no. 13, 957. South Australia. 7 August 1891. p. 5. Retrieved 30 May 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
^Media notesArchived 22 March 2018 at the
Wayback Machine, Member (AM) in the General Division of the Order of Australia (A-L), Australia Day 2018 Honours List, gg.gov.au
^"THE WONDERS OF THE BARRIER". The Advertiser. Vol. XLV, no. 13, 820. South Australia. 3 February 1903. p. 5. Retrieved 15 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
^"BROKEN HILL". Evening Journal. Vol. XXI, no. 5760. South Australia. 13 February 1889. p. 3. Retrieved 15 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
^Anne Porter,
'Lane, Zebina (1829–1906)',
Archived 15 September 2018 at the
Wayback Machine,Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1983, accessed online 15 September 2018
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^"MUNICIPALITY OF BROKEN HILL". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 25. 27 February 1907. p. 1437. Retrieved 15 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
^"MAYORAL ELECTIONS". The Daily Telegraph. No. 8951. New South Wales, Australia. 7 February 1908. p. 8. Retrieved 15 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
^"MUNICIPALITY OF BROKEN HILL". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 22. 19 February 1908. p. 1146. Retrieved 15 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
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^"MAYOR OF BROKEN HILL". Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate. No. 11, 312. New South Wales, Australia. 6 February 1911. p. 5. Retrieved 15 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
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^"BROKEN HILL'S NEW MAYOR". Barrier Miner. Vol. XXVI, no. 7952. New South Wales, Australia. 6 February 1914. p. 3. Retrieved 15 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
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^"AID. WICKS AGAIN CHOSEN AS MAYOR OF BROKEN HILL". Barrier Miner. Vol. XXXIV, no. 10, 334. New South Wales, Australia. 23 December 1921. p. 2. Retrieved 15 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
^"ALD. TOWNSEND ELECTED MAYOR". Barrier Miner. Vol. XXXV, no. 10, 638. New South Wales, Australia. 19 December 1922. p. 3. Retrieved 15 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
^"ALDERMAN RICHARD DENNIS J.P."Sport. Vol. XVIII, no. 917. South Australia. 13 April 1928. p. 28. Retrieved 2 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
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^
abcHagan, Jim (2006). People and Politics in Regional New South Wales: 1856 to the 1950s. New South Wales: Federation Press. pp. 300–301.
^Fraser, Daniel (10 December 2009).
"New Mayor Elected". ABC Broken Hill. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
^Green, Antony.
"Broken Hill City Council". 2012 NSW Local Council Elections. ABC News.
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