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Kearsley Shire

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Kearsley Shire was a local government area in the Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia.

Kearsley Shire
New South Wales
Established7 March 1906 (1906-03-07)
Abolished1 January 1957 (1957-01-01)
Council seatCessnock
RegionHunter

Kearsley Shire was proclaimed (as Cessnock Shire) on 7 March 1906, one of 134 shires created after the passing of the Local Government (Shires) Act 1905.[1]

The shire's name and boundaries were often changed. The Municipality of Cessnock was excised from the Shire on 1 November 1926.[2] The balance of the Shire was renamed Kearsley Shire [citation needed]. The shire absorbed the Municipality of Greta on 1 January 1934.[3] On 6 June 1944, part of the shire merged with Tarro Shire and Bolwarra Shire to form Lower Hunter Shire, part merged with the Municipality of East Maitland, Municipality of West Maitland and Municipality of Morpeth to form the Municipality of Maitland and the balance reconstituted as Kearsley Shire.[4]

The shire office was in Cessnock.[5] Other towns and villages in the shire included Branxton, Greta and Kearsley.[3][5][6]

Kearsley Shire amalgamated with the Municipality of Cessnock to form Municipality of Greater Cessnock on 1 January 1957.[7]

Council

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Kearsley Shire Council was composed of four two-member wards (also known as ridings) − A Riding, B Riding, C Riding and D Riding.

At the 1944 election, the Communist Party of Australia (CPA) won a majority with five out of eight seats. According to the CPA's official newspaper, Tribune, this was the first time a communist party had won a local government majority in the English-speaking world.[8][9]

Ahead of the 1947 local elections, the state Labor government introduced compulsory voting for local elections, seen as an attempt to give them an advantage and harm the Communist Party. Ultimately, no CPA members were re-elected in Kearsley (although their actual number of votes rose, their percent of the vote went down).[10]

Election results

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1944

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This section is an excerpt from Results of the 1944 New South Wales local elections § Kearsley.[edit]
1944 New South Wales local elections: Kearsley[11][12]
Party Votes % Swing Seats Change
  Communist 4,149 52.29 +52.29 5   5
  Independent 3,084 38.86 2
  Labor 703 8.85 1
 Formal votes 7,936 100.0

References

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  1. ^ "Proclamation (121)". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. 7 March 1906. p. 1593. Retrieved 5 February 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ^ "Local Government Act 1919. Proclamation (137)". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. 22 October 1926. p. 4428. Retrieved 5 February 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ a b "Local Government Act 1919. Proclamation (211)". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. 15 December 1933. p. 4377. Retrieved 5 February 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "Local Government Act 1919. Proclamation (64)". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. 30 June 1944. p. 1096. Retrieved 5 February 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ a b "Shire of Kearsley (102)". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. 19 June 1936. p. 2488. Retrieved 5 February 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ "Shire of Kearsley: Town improvement districts (111)". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. 17 September 1948. p. 2471. Retrieved 5 February 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ "Local Government Act 1919. Proclamation (100)". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. 14 September 1957. p. 2664. Retrieved 5 February 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ "NELLIE SIMM — A MODEL OF CONSISTENCY AND COURAGE". Trove. Tribune.
  9. ^ "KEARSLEY COUNCIL ELECTS PRESIDENT". Trove. Tribune.
  10. ^ Mowbray, Martin (November 1986). "The Red Shire of Kearsley, 1944-1947: Communists in Local Government" (PDF). Labour History. 51 (51). Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Inc.: 83–94. doi:10.2307/27508799. JSTOR 27508799. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 April 2018.
  11. ^ "Declarations of Poll" (PDF). Cessnock Eagle and South Maitland Recorder. 9 December 1944. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 April 2018.
  12. ^ "LABOUR'S BID FAILS IN NEWCASTLE". Newcastle Morning Herald And Miners' Advocate. No. 22, 209. New South Wales, Australia. 8 December 1947. p. 1 – via National Library of Australia.

 

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