The City of Townsville is a local government area (LGA) located in North Queensland, Australia. It encompasses the city of Townsville, together with the surrounding rural areas. To the south are the communities of Alligator Creek, Woodstock and Reid River, and to the north are Northern Beaches and Paluma. Also included is Magnetic Island. In June 2018 the area had a population of 194,072, and is the 28th-largest LGA in Australia. Townsville is considered to be the unofficial capital of North Queensland.
In the , the City of Townsville had a population of 192,768 people.
History
Prior to 2008, the new City of Townsville was an entire area of two previous and distinct local government areas:
the former City of Townsville; and the City of Thuringowa.
The City of Townsville was first established as the Borough of Townsville under the Municipal Institutions Act 1864 on 15 February 1866. The surrounding rural area, which was given the name Thuringowa Division, was established on 11 November 1879 as one of 74 divisions around Queensland under the Divisional Boards Act 1879. On 31 March 1903, Thuringowa Division became the Shire of Thuringowa and Townsville was granted city status under the Local Authorities Act 1902, the ancestor of the current Local Government Act 1993.
The borders of the Townsville municipality were expanded to keep pace with urban growth in 1882, 1918, 1936, 1958 and 1964 – the purpose of expanding the borders was to keep urban and rural administrations separate. This state government convention changed under the Bjelke-Petersen government and the borders between the two local governments became static. By 1986 the Shire of Thuringowa had grown to a population of 27,000 and was declared a city.
The City of Townsville was notable in Australia in the 1890s and early 1900s for its support for municipal socialism. The anarchist and socialist Alderman Ned Lowry advocated for the City of Townsville to control various industries.
In 1939, Fred Paterson stood successfully as an alderman for the Townsville City Council, becoming the first member of the Communist Party to win such an office in Australia. He was then re-elected in 1943. The same year, he stood for the federal seat of Herbert, but was narrowly defeated. He then contested and won the Bowen seat in the Queensland Parliament, holding it from 1944 until 1950.
From 1942 to 1949, the council was held by a majority of members of the pro-soviet Labor party split, the North Queensland Labor Party.
A succession of endorsed Labor Party mayors and majority councillors held a continuous civic government from 1976–2008. This was the longest continuous Labor administration in the country until Tony Mooney was defeated in 2008.
Following local government reform undertaken by the State Government of Queensland, the City of Townsville and the City of Thuringowa were amalgamated in 2008.A Message from the Chairman, Cr Tony Mooney The process of amalgamation was completed on the election of a new combined council on 15 March 2008.
Mayors
Other notable aldermen include: 1936–1949 (deputy mayor 1939–1944) Tom Aikens, Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Mundingburra and Townsville South
Council
Townsville City Council services the LGA. The council is represented by 10 councillors and the mayor, who have been elected by the whole city. The current mayor is Nick Dametto.
The council consists of one mayor, elected at large, and 10 councillors, elected from 10 individual divisions.
Recent history (2008−present)
In 2008, the Australian Labor Party, which had controlled the council for 32 years − the longest-serving Labor administration in Australia − was defeated in a landslide by the conservative Team Tyrell, which won all but one of the councillor positions. Incumbent mayor Tony Mooney was among the ALP members defeated.
After one term, mayor Les Tyrell chose to retire from politics and did not recontest his position. At the 2012 election, councillor Dale Last ran for mayor and formed the Townsville First group, which ran candidates − including six Team Tyrell councillors − in all wards. Jenny Hill, the only sitting Labor member on council, formed Team Jenny Hill and successfully ran for mayor.
At the 2016 election, Team Jenny Hill defeated Jayne Arlett's Team in a landslide victory, picking up every single ward, along with retaining the mayoralty.
Current composition The current council, elected in 2024, is: WardCouncillorPartyNotesMayor Nick Dametto Independent From mayoral by-election on Saturday 15 November 2025, received 62% of the vote. Division 1 Paul Jacob TownsvilleCHANGE Division 2 Brodie Phillips Independent Division 3 Ann-Maree Greaney Team Jenny Hill Division 4 Kristian Price Independent Division 5 Vera Dirou TownsvilleCHANGE Division 6 Suzy Batkovic Team Jenny Hill Division 7 Kurt Rehbein Team Jenny Hill Division 8 Andrew Robinson Independent Division 9 Liam Mooney Team Jenny Hill Division 10 Brady Ellis Independent LNP
Past councillors
2008−2012 (unsubdivided) YearCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillor 2008 David Crisafulli (Team Tyrell) Jenny Lane (Team Tyrell/TF) Dale Last (Team Tyrell/TF) Rob McCahill (Team Tyrell) Ray Gartrell (Team Tyrell/TF) Deanne Bell (Team Tyrell) Sue Blom (Team Tyrell/TF) Brian Hewett (Team Tyrell) Vern Veitch (Team Tyrell/TF) Jenny Hill (Labor/TJH) Tony Parsons (Team Tyrell/TF) Natalie Marr (Team Tyrell/TF) 2008 Trevor Roberts (Ind./TF) 2012 Vacant
2012−present (10 wards) YearDivision 1Division 2Division 3Division 4Division 5Division 6Division 7Division 8Division 9Division 10CouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillor 2012 Sue Blom (TF/JAT) Tony Parsons (TF/JAT) Vern Veitch (TF/Ind.) Jenny Lane (TF) Pat Ernst (Ind.) Trevor Roberts (TF/JAT) Gary Eddiehausen (TF/JAT) Ray Gartrell (TF/JAT) Colleen Doyle (TJH) Les Walker (TJH) 2015 2016 Margie Ryder (TJH) Paul Jacob (TJH/Ind.) Ann-Maree Greaney (TJH) Mark Molachino (TJH) Russ Cook (TJH) Verena Coombe (TJH) Kurt Rehbein (TJH) Maurie Soars (TJH) 2019 2020 Sue Blom (Ind.) Suzy Batkovic (TJH) Liam Mooney (TJH) 2021 Fran O'Callaghan (NQSA) 2024 Paul Jacob (Change) Brodie Phillips (Ind.) Kristian Price (Ind.) Vera Dirou (Change) Andrew Robinson (Ind.) Brady Ellis (Ind. LNP)
Towns and localities
Demographics The populations given relate to the component entities prior to 2008. The 2011 census was the first for the new City.
Year Population(City total) Population(Townsville) Population(Thuringowa) 1911 15,731 10,636 5,095 1921 23,690 21,353 2,337 1933 29,300 25,876 3,424 1947 36,436 34,109 2,327 1954 43,098 40,471 2,627 1961 53,715 51,143 2,572 1966 65,303 62,403 2,900 1971 72,023 68,591 3,432 1976 91,279 80,365 10,914 1981 98,900 81,172 17,728 1986 112,917 82,809 30,108 1991 125,010 87,288 37,722 1996 131,371 87,052 44,319 2001 143,841 92,701 51,140 2006 158,647 99,483 59,164 2011 174,462 2016 186,757 2021 192,768
Amenities The Townsville City Council operates libraries at Aitkenvale, Townsville City and Thuringowa Central. It also operates a mobile library service, serving the following suburbs on a regular schedule: Burdell, Bluewater, Deeragun, Elliot Springs (Julago), Nelly Bay (Magnetic Island), Rollingstone, Saunders Beach, and Woodstock.
Sister cities Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea since 1983 Shunan, Japan since 1990 Iwaki City, Japan since August 1991 Changshu, People's Republic of China since 1995 Suwon, South Korea since 1996 Foshan, People's Republic of China since 2006
See also List of tautological place names
References
External links
Townsville community profile (2020) Population stats of LGA Townsville Region Social Atlas (2001 Census)