Berrigan Shire

This article is about the local government area. For the regional town, see Berrigan, New South Wales.

Berrigan Shire is a local government area in the southern Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire lies on the New South Wales State border with Victoria formed by the Murray River. The Shire is adjacent to the Newell and Riverina Highways. The Shire is a mainly agricultural region, with dairying, cattle raising, woolgrowing and cropping the main activities. The vast majority of the Shire is irrigated. Tourism is another major activity, concentrated on the river towns of Tocumwal and Barooga.

Berrigan Shire
Local government area
Berrigan Shire Office, Chanter Street, Berrigan. Location in New South Wales
Coordinates: 35°38′S 145°48′E
Country	Australia
State	New South Wales
Region	Riverina
Established	1906
Council seat	Berrigan
Government
• Mayor	Cr. Julia Cornwell-McKean (Unaligned)
• State electorate	Murray
• Federal division	Farrer
Area
• Total	2,066 km2 (798 sq mi)
Population
• Totals	8,665 (2021 census)[1] 8,707 (2018 est.)[2]
• Density	4.1941/km2 (10.863/sq mi)
Website	Berrigan Shire
LGAs around Berrigan Shire Edward River Murrumbidgee Federation Murray River Berrigan Shire Federation Moira (Vic) Moira (Vic) Moira (Vic)

The mayor of Berrigan Shire is Cr. Julia Cornwell-McKean, an unaligned politician.

Towns and localities

Towns in the shire are:

• Berrigan, where the Council office is based
• Finley
• Tocumwal, and
• Barooga.

Demographics

Selected historical census data for Berrigan Shire local government area
Census year			2011[3]	2016[1]
Population		Estimated residents on census night	8,066	8,462
		LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales		97th
		% of New South Wales population
		% of Australian population
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses		English
		Australian
		Italian
		Chinese
		Irish
Language, top responses (other than English)		Italian
		Mandarin
		Cantonese
		Korean
		Greek
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses		Catholic
		No religion
		Anglican
		Eastern Orthodox
		Buddhism
Median weekly incomes
Personal income		Median weekly personal income	A$
		% of Australian median income
Family income		Median weekly family income
		% of Australian median income
Household income		Median weekly household income
		% of Australian median income

Proposed amalgamation

A 2015 review of local government boundaries by the NSW Government Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal recommended that the Berrigan Council merge with parts of the Jerilderie Shire to form a new council with an area of 4,022 square kilometres (1,553 sq mi) and support a population of approximately 10,000.^[4] The Jerilderie Shire Council submitted an alternate proposal to the Minister for Local Government that the entire Jerilderie Shire amalgamate with the Murrumbidgee Shire.^[5]

The NSW Government decided in May 2016 not to proceed with the proposed amalgamation.^{[citation needed]}

Council

Current composition and election method

Berrigan Shire Council is composed of eight councillors elected proportionally as a single ward. All councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The mayor is elected by the councillors at the first meeting of the council. The most recent election was held on 14 September 2024, and the makeup of the council is as follows:^[6]

Party		Councillors
	Independents and Unaligned	7
	Total	7

The current Council, elected in 2024, is:^[6]

Councillor		Party	Notes
	Renee Brooker	Unaligned
	Julia Cornwell-McKean	Unaligned
	Matthew Hannan	Unaligned
	Catherine Healy	Unaligned
	Katie Ngatokoa	Independent
	Renee Paine	Independent
	John Stringer	Independent
	Vacant

Election results

2024

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2024 New South Wales local elections in Murray and Far West § Berrigan results.[edit]

2024 New South Wales local elections: Berrigan^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Matthew Hannan (elected)	unopposed
	Independent	Catherine Healy (elected)	unopposed
	Independent	Julia Cornwell McKean (elected)	unopposed
	Independent	Renee Brooker (elected)	unopposed
	Independent	Renee Paine (elected)	unopposed
	Independent	John Stringer (elected)	unopposed
	Independent	Katie Ngatokoa (elected)	unopposed
Registered electors

A by-election will be held to fill the remaining eighth seat, with only several candidates nominating for the election.^[8][9]

2021

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2021 New South Wales local elections in Murray and Far West § Berrigan.[edit]

2021 New South Wales local elections: Berrigan^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Matthew Hannan (elected)	833	17.6
	Independent	Carly Marriott (elected)	654	13.9
	Independent	Sarah McNaught (elected)	610	12.9
	Independent	Edward (Ted) Hatty (elected)	488	10.3
	Independent	John Taylor (elected)	347	7.4
	Independent	Roger Reynoldson (elected)	313	6.6
	Independent	Julia Cornwell McKean (elected)	302	6.4
	Independent	Renee Paine (elected)	271	5.7
	Independent	Marcus Fry	195	4.1
	Independent	Mandy Bonat	185	3.9
	Independent	Clare Allan	182	3.9
	Independent	Daryll Morris	172	3.6
	Independent	Ross Bodey	168	3.6
Total formal votes			4,720	95.0
Informal votes			249	5.0
Turnout			4,969	80.5

2012

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2012 New South Wales local elections § Berrigan.[edit]

2012 New South Wales local elections: Berrigan^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	1. Colin Jones (elected) 2. Denis Glanville (elected)	937	22.6
	Independent	John Bruce (elected)	828	20.0	−1.6
	Independent	Matt Hannan (elected)	479	11.6	+1.3
	Independent	Andrea O'Neill (elected)	421	10.2	+10.2
	Independent	Daryll Morris (elected)	383	9.2	+9.2
	Independent	Brian Hill (elected)	355	8.6	+1.2
	Independent	Bernard Curtin (elected)	351	8.5	+0.7
	Independent	Gary Mexted	252	6.1	+6.1
	Independent	Liz McLaurin	135	3.3	−1.8
Turnout				79.4