Wentworth Shire

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

Wentworth Shire is a local government area in the far south-west Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. This Shire is located adjacent to the Murray and Darling Rivers. The Shire's major roads are the Sturt and the Silver City Highways. The Shire includes the towns of Wentworth, Buronga, Gol Gol, Dareton and Pooncarie. The shire's namesake is explorer and politician William Wentworth.^[3]

Wentworth Shire New South Wales
Location in New South Wales
Coordinates	34°05′S 141°54′E
Population	7,453 (LGA 2021)[1]
• Density	0.26/km2 (0.67/sq mi)
Established	23 January 1879[2]
Area	26,269 km2 (10,142.5 sq mi)
Mayor	Daniel Linklater (Independent)
Council seat	Wentworth
Region	Far West
State electorate(s)	Murray
Federal division(s)	Farrer
Website	Wentworth Shire
LGAs around Wentworth Shire: OACDT (SA) Unincorporated Far West Central Darling OACDT (SA) Wentworth Shire Balranald Renmark Paringa (SA) Mildura (Vic) Mildura (Vic)

The mayor of Wentworth Shire Council is Cr. Daniel Linklater, an Independent politician.

Heritage listings

Wentworth Shire has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

• Darling River, Polia Station, Pooncarie: PS Rodney^[4]
• Wentworth, 112 Beverley Street: Wentworth Gaol^[5]
• Wentworth, 30 Caddell Street: St Ignatius School^[6]
• Wentworth, Darling Street: St John's Anglican Church, Wentworth^[7]
• Wentworth, 1122a Low Darling Road: Avoca Homestead Complex^[8]

Council

The area of Wentworth was proclaimed a municipality on 23 January 1879.^[2] The first Mayor was Mr. W. Gunn who held office from 1879 to 1880.^[9]

Current composition and election method

Wentworth Shire 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 by the councillors at the first meeting of the council. The most recent election was held on 4 December 2021 and the current makeup of the council is as follows:^[10]

Party		Councillors
	Independents	6
	Independent National	2
	Vacant	1
	Total	9

One seat is vacant following the death of councillor Stephen Heywood on 7 February 2024.^[11]

The current council, elected in 2021, in order of election, is:^[10]

Councillor		Party	Notes
	Peter Crisp	Independent National
	Steve Cooper	Independent
	Tim Elstone	Independent
	Daniel Linklater	Independent National	Mayor 2023–[12]
	Susan Nichols	Independent	Deputy Mayor 2023–[12]
	Greg Evans	Independent
	Brian Beaumont	Independent
	Jo Rodda	Independent

Election results

2024

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

2024 New South Wales local elections: Wentworth^{[13][14][15][16]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent National	Daniel Linklater (elected)	1,496	44.9	+19.8
	Independent National	Peter Crisp (elected)	416	12.5	−2.4
	Independent	Tim Elstone (elected)	384	11.5	−0.3
	Independent	Jo Rodda (elected)	170	5.1	+1.0
	Independent	Susan Nichols (elected)	151	4.5	−1.4
	Independent	Michael Weeding (elected)	130	3.9
	Independent	Brian Beaumont	114	3.4	−1.9
	Independent National	Bill Wheeldon	111	3.3	−1.0
	Independent National	Jon Armstrong (elected)	105	3.2
	Independent	Greg Evans (elected)	103	3.1	−0.7
	Independent	Jody Starick (elected)	78	2.3
	Independent	Ivan Behsmann	76	2.3
Total formal votes			3,334	96.3
Informal votes			127	3.7
Turnout			3,461	73.7

Localities

Locality population	2016	2021
Arumpo	34	40
Buronga	1,212	1,252
Curlwaa	393	496
Dareton	501	456
Ellerslie	82	56
Gol Gol	1,523	1,596
Mourquong	79	75
Pomona	161	167
Pooncarie	166	226
Wentworth	1,437	1,577