# Upper Hunter Shire

The Upper Hunter Shire is a local government area in the Upper Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire was formed in May 2004 from the Scone Shire and parts of Murrurundi and Merriwa shires.
The mayor of the Upper Hunter Shire Council is Cr. Maurice Collison, following the sudden resignation of Wayne Bedggood as mayor and as a councillor on 9 June 2020. No reason has been given for the sudden resignation.
Council's General Manager is Greg McDonald.

## Towns

The towns of the Upper Hunter are Scone, Parkville, Aberdeen, Murrurundi, and Merriwa, as well as several villages, including Bunnan, Gundy, Moonan Flat, Ellerston, Wingen, Blandford and Cassilis. Of the towns, only Aberdeen on the Shire's southeastern border is situated on the Hunter River.

## Heritage listings

The Upper Hunter Shire has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
* Ardglen, Main Northern railway: Ardglen Tunnel
* Merriwa, Bow Street: Colonial Cottage Museum
* Murrurundi, Main Northern railway: Murrurundi railway station
* Murrurundi, Mount Street: Rosedale Cottage
* Scone, 144 Kelly Street: Scone Civic TheatreScone, New South Wales
* Scone, 41 Kingdon Road: Old Court Theatre
* Scone, Main Northern railway: Scone railway station
* Wingen, Raglan Street: Mountain House, Wingen

## Demographics

At the 2021 census, there were 14,229 people in the Upper Hunter Shire local government area, of these 50.0 percent were male and 50.0 percent were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 7.0 percent of the population, which was higher than the national and state averages of 3.4 and 3.2 percent respectively. The median age of people in the Upper Hunter Shire was 42 years, which was marginally higher than the national median of 38 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 18.6 percent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 21.2 percent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 47.3 per cent were married and 13.1 per cent were either divorced or separated.
Population growth in the Upper Hunter Shire between the 2006 census and the 2011 census was 6.00 percent. When compared with the total population growth of Australia for the same period, at 8.32 percent, population growth in the Upper Hunter Shire local government area was slightly lower than the national average. The median weekly income for residents within the Upper Hunter Shire was marginally lower than the national average.
At the 2021 census, the proportion of residents in the Upper Hunter Shire local government area who stated their ancestry as Australian or English exceeded 85 percent of all residents (the national average was 62.9 percent). In excess of 29% of all residents in the Upper Hunter Shire nominated a religious affiliation with Anglican at the 2021 census, which was considerably higher than the national average of 9.8 percent. Meanwhile, as at the 2021 census date, compared to the national average, households in the Upper Hunter Shire local government area had a significantly lower than average proportion (5.3 percent) where two or more languages are spoken (the national average was 24.8 percent); and a significantly higher proportion 89.5 percent where only English was spoken at home (the national average was 72.0 percent).
Selected historical census data for the Upper Hunter Shire local government area :
| Census year | Census year | Census year | 2006 | 2011 | 2016 | 2021 |
| Population | Population | Estimated residents on Census night | 12,976 | 13,754 | 14,112 | 14,229 |
| Population | Population | LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales | | | | |
| Population | Population | % of New South Wales population | 0.19% | 0.20% | 0.18% | 0.17% |
| Population | Population | % of Australian population | 0.07% | 0.07% | 0.06% | 0.05% |
| Cultural and language diversity | Cultural and language diversity | Cultural and language diversity | Cultural and language diversity | | | |
| Ancestry, top responses | Ancestry, top responses | Australian | – | 36.6% | 35.7% | 45.3% |
| Ancestry, top responses | Ancestry, top responses | English | – | 32.4% | 30.5% | 42.7% |
| Ancestry, top responses | Ancestry, top responses | Irish | – | 8.2% | 8.7% | 11.7% |
| Ancestry, top responses | Ancestry, top responses | Scottish | – | 7.9% | 7.6% | 10.5% |
| Ancestry, top responses | Ancestry, top responses | German | | 2.8% | 2.8% | – |
| Ancestry, top responses | Ancestry, top responses | Australian Aboriginal | – | – | – | 6.4% |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | Mandarin | n/c | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.7% |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | Portuguese | n/c | 0.2% | – | 0.2% |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | Filipino | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.3% |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | Cantonese | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.2% |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | Arabic | n/c | 0.1% | – | – |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | Tagalog | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.2% | – |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | French | – | – | – | 0.2% |
| Religious affiliation | Religious affiliation | Religious affiliation | Religious affiliation | | | |
| Religious affiliation, top responses | Religious affiliation, top responses | Anglican | 41.3% | 39.3% | 35.1% | 29.9% |
| Religious affiliation, top responses | Religious affiliation, top responses | Catholic | 27.2% | 26.9% | 25.9% | 22.9% |
| Religious affiliation, top responses | Religious affiliation, top responses | No Religion | 9.7% | 13.4% | 16.7% | 28.8% |
| Religious affiliation, top responses | Religious affiliation, top responses | Uniting Church | 6.5% | 5.6% | 4.4% | 3.7% |
| Religious affiliation, top responses | Religious affiliation, top responses | Presbyterian and Reformed | 3.2% | 3.3% | – | – |
| Median weekly incomes | Median weekly incomes | Median weekly incomes | Median weekly incomes | | | |
| Personal income | Personal income | Median weekly personal income | $438 | $552 | $630 | $751 |
| Personal income | Personal income | % of Australian median income | 94.0% | 95.7% | 95.1% | 93.2% |
| Family income | Family income | Median weekly family income | A$1,090 | A$1,392 | A$1,589 | A$1,914 |
| Family income | Family income | % of Australian median income | 93.1% | 94.0% | 91.6% | 90.2% |
| Household income | Household income | Median weekly household income | A$882 | A$1,071 | A$1,242 | A$1,429 |
| Household income | Household income | % of Australian median income | 85.9% | 86.8% | 86.3% | 81.8% |

## Council
### Current composition and election method

Upper Hunter Shire Council is composed of nine councillors elected by Optional Preferential Voting 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 makeup of the council is as follows:
| Party | Councillor |
| Independents | Allison McPhee |
| Independents | Maurice Blackburn |
| Independents | James Burns |
| Independents | Tayah Clout |
| Independents | Ron Campbell |
| Independents | Elizabeth Flaherty |
| Independents | Belinda McKenzie |
| Independents | Lee Watts |
| Independents | Adam Williamson |
| Greens | Sue Abbott |
| Total | 9 |

## Election results
### 2024

2024 New South Wales local elections: Upper Hunter :
| Party | Party | Candidate |
| | Independent | Christopher Richards |
| | Independent National | Allison McPhee |
| | Independent | Tayah Clout |
| | Independent | Troy Stolz |
| | Independent | George Fraser |
| | Independent | Adam Williamson |
| | Independent | Maurice Collison |
| | Independent National | James Burns |
| | Independent | Peter McGill |
| | Independent National | Pat Ryan |
| | Independent | Earle Shields |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | Total formal votes |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout |

## Attractions

The Upper Hunter is the largest horse-rearing region in Australia.
The Burning Mountain Nature Reserve, near Wingen, is the site of a subterranean coal seam fire that has been burning for several thousand years.
The council also owns several FM rebroadcasters of Radio National and SBS Radio, under the self-help schemes run by those broadcasters.