The Shire of Mingenew is a local government area in the Mid West region of Western Australia, about 110 kilometres (68 mi) southeast of the city of Geraldton and about 370 kilometres (230 mi) north of the state capital, Perth. The Shire covers an area of 1,939 square kilometres (749 sq mi), and its seat of government is the town of Mingenew.
The Shire of Mingenew was initially constituted as the Upper Irwin Road District on 25 October 1901, over a much larger area. On 12 December 1919, it was renamed the Mingenew Road District.[2] Between 1923 and 1928, it lost 80% of its land area to the neighboring Perenjori-Morawa Road District and the new districts of Carnamah and Three Springs. By 1930, it had adopted roughly its present boundaries.
On 1 July 1961, it became a shire following the passage of the Local Government Act 1960, which reformed all remaining road districts into shires.[2]
On 18 September 2009, the Shires of Mingenew, Three Springs, Morawa and Perenjori announced their intention to amalgamate. A formal agreement was signed five days later, and the name Billeranga was later chosen.[3] However, by February 2011, community pressure had led to the negotiations stalling, and on 16 April 2011, voters from the Shire of Perenjori defeated the proposal at a referendum.[4][5]
Since 2005 the Shire has been divided into two wards. Prior to this, a five-ward system was in place with the Town Ward having three councillors and the remaining wards one each.
^* This LGA holds city status under the Local Government Act 1995, ^† This LGA holds town status under the Local Government Act 1995, ^# Western Australian law applies to the Indian Ocean Territories under the Territories Law Reform Act 1992
