The Shire of Bowen was a
local government area in the
North Queensland region of
Queensland, Australia. The shire, administered from the town of
Bowen, covered an area of 21,184.4 square kilometres (8,179.3 sq mi), and existed as a local government entity from 1879 until 2008, when it amalgamated with the
Shire of Whitsunday to form the
Whitsunday Region.
The Shire's economy was based on tropical agriculture, fishing, tourism and coal mining.
History
The Shire of Bowen had its origins in two entities:
the
Borough of Bowen which was constituted as a municipality on 7 August 1863 under the Municipalities Act 1858 to provide local government within the urban area of
Bowen
the
Wangaratta Division which was created on 11 November 1879 as one of 74 divisions around Queensland under the Divisional Boards Act 1879 to provide local government in the rural areas surrounding Bowen[2]
With the passage of the Local Authorities Act 1902, the Borough of Bowen became the
Town of Bowen and Wangaratta Division became the
Shire of Wangaratta on 31 March 1903.[2][3][4]
On 2 April 1960, the Town of Bowen was abolished, and merged into the Shire of Wangaratta, which was renamed Shire of Bowen.[3][4][5][6]