# City of Wagga Wagga

City of Wagga Wagga is a local government area in the Riverina region of southern New South Wales, Australia.
The mayor of the City of Wagga Wagga is Cr. Dallas Tout, an independent politician.

## City, town and localities

The City of Wagga Wagga includes the suburbs of
* Ashmont
* Bomen
* Bourkelands
* Boorooma
* Cartwrights Hill
* East Wagga Wagga
* Estella
* Forest Hill
* Glenfield Park
* Gumly Gumly
* Kapooka
* Kooringal
* Lake Albert
* Lloyd
* Mount Austin
* North Wagga Wagga
* San Isidore
* Tatton
* Tolland
* Turvey Park
* Wagga Wagga
as well as the villages of
* Tarcutta
* Ladysmith
* Mangoplah
* Uranquinty
* Collingullie
* Oura
* Humula
* Currawarna
* Galore

## History

Wagga Wagga was first incorporated as the Borough of Wagga Wagga on 15 March 1870. It received city status and became the City of Wagga Wagga on 17 April 1946. The municipality enlarged substantially on 1 January 1981 when the adjoining Shire of Kyeamba and Shire of Mitchell were amalgamated into the City.

## Heritage listings

The City of Wagga Wagga has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
* Bomen, Main Southern railway: Bomen railway station
* Tarcutta, Tarcutta Street: Hambledon Homestead
* Wagga Wagga, Botanic Gardens Site (BGS), Baden Powell Drive: Mobile Cook's Galley, Museum of the Riverina
* Wagga Wagga, Main Southern railway: Wagga Wagga railway station

## Demographics

At the 2021 census, there were 69,047 people in the City of Wagga Wagga local government area, of these 48.6% were male and 51.4% were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 6.6% of the population, close to twice the national average of 3.2%. The median age of people in the City of Wagga Wagga was 35 years, which was lower than the national median of 38 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 20.3% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 15.2% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 44.8% were married and 11.3% were either divorced or separated.
At the 2021 Census, 40.0% of residents stated their ancestry as Australian. Excluding not stated responses, 60.9% of residents in the City of Wagga Wagga nominated a religious affiliation with Christianity, which was higher than the national average of 47.1%. 85.3% of households only speak English at home, higher than the national average of 72%.
Selected historical census data for the City of Wagga Wagga local government area :
| Census year | Census year | Census year | 2001 | 2006 | 2011 | 2016 | 2021 |
| Population | Population | Estimated residents on census night | 54,845 | 57,015 | 59,458 | 62,385 | 67,609 |
| Population | Population | LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales | | | | 39th | 38th |
| Population | Population | % of New South Wales population | 0.87% | 0.87% | 0.86% | 0.83% | 0.84% |
| Population | Population | % of Australian population | 0.29% | 0.29% | 0.28% | 0.27% | 0.27% |
| Population | Population | Estimated ATSI population on census night | 1,767 | 2,336 | 2,731 | 3,508 | 4,471 |
| Population | Population | % of ATSI population to residents | 3.2% | 4.1% | 4.6% | 5.6% | 6.6% |
| Median weekly incomes | Median weekly incomes | Median weekly incomes | | | | | |
| Personal income | Personal income | Median weekly personal income | No Data | A$463 | A$586 | A$696 | A$839 |
| Personal income | Personal income | % of Australian median income | No Data | 99.36% | 101.56% | 105.14% | 104.22% |
| Family income | Family income | Median weekly family income | No Data | A$1,137 | A$1,418 | A$1,682 | A$2,060 |
| Family income | Family income | % of Australian median income | No Data | 97.10% | 95.75% | 97.00% | 97.17% |
| Household income | Household income | Median weekly household income | No Data | A$967 | A$1,149 | A$1,354 | A$1,638 |
| Household income | Household income | % of Australian median income | No Data | 94.16% | 93.11% | 94.16% | 93.81% |
| Dwelling structure | Dwelling structure | Dwelling structure | | | | | |
| Dwelling type | Dwelling type | Flat or apartment | 8.8% | 10.9% | 10.3% | 9.8% | 9.2% |
| Dwelling type | Dwelling type | Semi-detached, terrace or townhouse | 4.6% | 4.1% | 4.2% | 4.1% | 4.8% |
| Dwelling type | Dwelling type | Separate house | 84.5% | 84.2% | 84.8% | 84.9% | 85.5% |
| Dwelling type | Dwelling type | Other dwellings | 0.8% | 0.9% | 0.6% | 0.9% | 0.4% |
| Dwelling type | Dwelling type | Unoccupied dwellings | 8.3% | 8.2% | 9.7% | 10.2% | 7.5% |
Selected historical census data for the City of Wagga Wagga local government area :
| Ancestry, top responses ||||||||||
| 2001 | 2001 | 2006 | 2006 | 2011 | 2011 | 2016 | 2016 | 2021 | 2021 |
| No Data | No Data | No Data | No Data | Australian | 45.4% | Australian | 43.1% | Australian | 40.0% |
| No Data | No Data | No Data | No Data | English | 38.8% | English | 39.7% | English | 39.4% |
| No Data | No Data | No Data | No Data | Irish | 13.8% | Irish | 14.3% | Irish | 12.9% |
| No Data | No Data | No Data | No Data | Scottish | 10.1% | Scottish | 10.7% | Scottish | 10.7% |
| No Data | No Data | No Data | No Data | German | 5.4% | German | 5.3% | Aboriginal | 6.4% |
| Country of Birth, top responses ||||||||||
| 2001 | 2001 | 2006 | 2006 | 2011 | 2011 | 2016 | 2016 | 2021 | 2021 |
| Australia | 89.3% | Australia | 88.9% | Australia | 87.8% | Australia | 84.1% | Australia | 83.0% |
| England | 1.5% | England | 1.5% | England | 1.4% | England | 1.3% | India | 1.5% |
| New Zealand | 0.7% | New Zealand | 0.7% | New Zealand | 0.7% | India | 1.0% | Iraq | 1.2% |
| Scotland | 0.3% | India | 0.3% | India | 0.5% | New Zealand | 0.7% | England | 1.2% |
| Netherlands | 0.3% | Scotland | 0.3% | China | 0.4% | Philippines | 0.7% | New Zealand | 0.7% |
| Germany | 0.2% | Netherlands | 0.2% | South Africa | 0.3% | China | 0.4% | Philippines | 0.7% |
| Language, top responses (other than English) ||||||||||
| 2001 | 2001 | 2006 | 2006 | 2011 | 2011 | 2016 | 2016 | 2021 | 2021 |
| Italian | 0.3% | Arabic | 0.3% | Arabic | 0.5% | Malayalam | 0.6% | Kurdish | 1.0% |
| Greek | 0.2% | Mandarin | 0.2% | Mandarin | 0.4% | Mandarin | 0.5% | Malayalam | 0.8% |
| Cantonese | 0.2% | Cantonese | 0.2% | Cantonese | 0.2% | Arabic | 0.5% | Mandarin | 0.6% |
| Mandarin | 0.1% | Italian | 0.2% | Hindi | 0.2% | Tagalog | 0.3% | Arabic | 0.5% |
| German | 0.1% | Greek | 0.1% | German | 0.2% | Filipino | 0.3% | Punjabi | 0.4% |
| Religious affiliation, top responses ||||||||||
| 2001 | 2001 | 2006 | 2006 | 2011 | 2011 | 2016 | 2016 | 2021 | 2021 |
| Catholic | 33.5% | Catholic | 33.4% | Catholic | 33.2% | Catholic | 30.6% | No Religion | 31.3% |
| Anglican | 26.6% | Anglican | 25.5% | Anglican | 23.9% | No Religion | 22.2% | Catholic | 27.1% |
| No Religion | 9.4% | No Religion | 11.6% | No Religion | 15.0% | Anglican | 19.5% | Anglican | 15.3% |
| Presbyterian/Reformed | 7.6% | Presbyterian/ Reformed | 7.1% | Uniting Church | 5.5% | Presbyterian/ Reformed | 4.9% | Presbyterian/ Reformed | 3.8% |
| Uniting Church | 7.1% | Uniting Church | 6.4% | Presbyterian/ Reformed | 4.9% | Uniting Church | 4.5% | Uniting Church | 3.4% |
| Not Stated | n/c | Not Stated | n/c | Not Stated | n/c | Not Stated | 7.9% | Not Stated | 6.4% |

## Council
### Current composition and election method

Wagga Wagga City Council (WWCC) 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 makeup of the council is as follows:
| Party | Councillors |
| Independents | 5 |
| Labor Party | 2 |
| Getting It Done | 1 |
| Greens | 1 |
| Total | 9 |
The current Council, elected in 2021, is:
| Councillor | Party | Notes |
| Dallas Tout | Independent | Mayor |
| Jenny McKinnon | Greens | Deputy Mayor |
| Dan Hayes | Labor |
| Amelia Parkins | Labor |
| Richard Foley | Independent |
| Tim Koschel | Independent |
| Michael Henderson | Independent |
| Rod Kendall | Independent |
| Georgie Davis | Getting It Done |
A referendum was held on 8 September 2012 and an absolute majority of voters resolved in favour to reduce the number of councillors from eleven to nine. The change came into effect at the September 2016 elections.

### Administration staff

In December 2009, Wagga Wagga City Council announced that it had appointed Phil Pinyon as the general manager of the Wagga Wagga City Council replacing Lyn Russell, who suddenly announced her resignation in October 2009, after completing 18 months of her five-year contract.

### Cutting ties with China's Sister City

In April 2020, The Wagga council voted to cut ties with China's Kunming city; a week later they would vote again joining Kunming as a sister city.

## Election results
### 2024

2024 New South Wales local elections: Wagga Wagga :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Your Voice Matters To Us | 1. Timothy Koschel (elected 1) 2. Allana Condron (elected 5) 3. Mick Henderson 4. Chris Ingram 5. Jacinta Evans | 8,369 | 22.9 | +14.1 |
| | Community First | 1. Dallas Tout (elected 2) 2. Karissa Subedi (elected 9) 3. Marie (Pascale) Vythilingum 4. Megan Norton 5. Nin Nin Sang Dong | 5,952 | 16.3 | +6.3 |
| | Labor | 1. Amelia Parkins (elected 3) 2. Tim Kurylowicz 3. Peita Vincent 4. Steven Dale 5. Mark Jeffreson | 4,716 | 12.9 | −10.1 |
| | Getting It Done | 1. Georgina Davies (elected 4) 2. Karen Butts 3. Pradeep Kurien 4. Sarah Humphries 5. Steve Taylor | 4,412 | 12.1 | +5.7 |
| | Foley's Five | 1. Richard Foley (elected 6) 2. Christopher Kanck 3. Shahnaz Akter 4. Wayne Deaner 5. Alisha Watkins | 2,984 | 8.2 | −15.8 |
| | Greens | 1. Jenny McKinnon (elected 7) 2. Sam Ryot 3. George Benedyka 4. Virginia Gawler 5. Emma Rush | 2,279 | 6.2 | −3.1 |
| | Building Tomorrow Together | 1. Lindsay Tanner (elected 8) 2. Ali Tanner 3. Clare Lawlor 4. Michael Nugent 5. Andrew Roberts | 2,144 | 5.9 | +5.9 |
| | Christians | 1. Paul McCausland 2. Christopher Cowell 3. Paul Cocks 4. Dorcas Musyimi 5. Darcy Maybon | 1,585 | 4.3 | +4.3 |
| | Fix Our Roads | 1. Robert Sinclair 2. Kane Salamon 3. Rosina Gordon 4. Julie Sinclair 5. Cassidy Turner | 1,514 | 4.1 | +4.1 |
| | Supporting Diversity | 1. Rory McKenzie 2. Samuel Avo 3. Gail Manderson 4. Midya Bari 5. Anna Gannon | 939 | 2.6 | −9.7 |
| | Ready To Serve | 1. Ryan Dedini 2. Kelly O'Kane 3. Andrew Tuovi 4. John Kennedy 5. Sarah-Jane Jameson | 832 | 2.3 | +2.3 |
| | Voice of Wagga Residents | 1. Saba Nabi 2. Singh Manjinder 3. Birenbhai Patel 4. Priyanka Udeniya 5. Hina Ashfaq | 640 | 1.7 | +1.7 |
| | Independent | Rosyln Prangnell | 159 | 0.4 | +0.4 |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 36,525 | 91.9 | |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 3,233 | 8.1 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 39,758 | | |

### 2021

| Elected councillor | Party |
| Michael Henderson | Clean Out Council |
| Richard Foley | Clean Out Council |
| Dan Hayes | Labor |
| Amelia Parkins | Labor |
| Rod Kendall | Independent (Group D) |
| Dallas Tout | Community First |
| Jenny McKinnon | Greens |
| Tim Koschel | Here For You |
| Georgie Davis | Getting It Done |
2021 New South Wales local elections: Wagga Wagga :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Clean Out Council | Clean Out Council | 9,201 | 25.6 | |
| | Labor | Labor | 8,279 | 23.1 | +6.1 |
| | Independent (Group D) | Independent (Group D) | 4,416 | 12.3 | |
| | Community First | Community First | 3,576 | 10.0 | |
| | Greens | Greens | 3,347 | 9.3 | +5.0 |
| | Here For You | Here For You | 2,808 | 7.8 | |
| | Getting It Done | Getting It Done | 2,291 | 6.4 | |
| | Independent (Group F) | Independent (Group F) | 837 | 2.3 | +2.3 |
| | Independent Liberal | Robert Sinclair | 572 | 1.6 | |
| | Independent Liberal | Rosina Gordon | 287 | 0.8 | |
| | Independent | Richard Salcole | 235 | 0.7 | |
| | Independent Liberal | Robin Dennis | 20 | 0.1 | |
| | Independent Liberal | Daniel Vieria | 16 | 0.0 | |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 35,885 | 93.2 | |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 2,634 | 6.8 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 38,519 | 83.3 | |

### 2016

2016 New South Wales local elections: Wagga Wagga :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent | 1. Rod Kendall (elected 1) 2. Tim Koschel (elected 5) 3. David Merlino 4. Donna Argus 5. Paul Watson 6. Leila Bright 7. Robyn Krik | 6,840 | 20.50 |
| | Country Labor | 1. Dan Hayes (elected 2) 2. Vanessa Keenan (elected 8) 3. Leah Ellis 4. Bethany Saab 5. James Halliburton | 5,670 | 17.00 |
| | Independent | 1. Kerry Pascoe (elected 3) 2. Michelle Bray 3. Belinda Coleman 4. Tim Sheather 5. Steven Wait | 4,540 | 13.61 |
| | Independent | 1. Paul Funnell (elected 4) 2. Tina Gavel 3. Jack Egan 4. Mick Henderson 5. Denise Flack | 4,545 | 13.62 |
| | Independent | 1. Yvonne Braid (elected 6) 2. Greg Packer 3. Simone Lieschke 4. Brett Grant 5. Myriam Hribar | 1,882 | 5.64 |
| | Independent | Greg Conkey (elected 7) | 1,181 | 3.54 |
| | Independent | Dallas Tout (elected 9) | 876 | 2.63 |
| | Independent | 1. Andreia Schineanu 2. Atlanta Hall 3. Bianca Miller 4. Kerri-Anne Miller 5. Jenni Campbell | 1,653 | 4.96 |
| | Greens | 1. Kevin Poynter 2. Jacquie Tinkler 3. Emma Rush 4. Michael Bayles 5. Ray Goodlass | 1,447 | 4.34 |
| | Australia First | 1. Lorraine Sharp 2. Robbie Williams 3. Jean Williams 4. Chris Sharp 5. Jean Huges | 1,476 | 4.42 |
| | Independent | Alan Brown | 584 | 1.75 |
| | Independent | Mary Kidson | 546 | 1.64 |
| | Independent | Simone Eyles | 413 | 1.24 |
| | Independent | Richard Foley | 506 | 1.52 |
| | Independent | Peter Dale | 435 | 1.30 |
| | Independent | Anabel Williams | 395 | 1.18 |
| | Independent | 1. Ros Prangnell 2. Patricia Murray | 223 | 0.67 |
| | Independent | Peter Templeton | 147 | 0.44 |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 33,359 | 93.85 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 2,186 | 6.15 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 35,545 | 80.54 |

## Symbols and emblems

Crows are considered a symbol of the city of Wagga Wagga, appearing in the council's logo, coat of arms, and throughout local business logos and public artworks. This is due to the debated interpretation of 'Wagga Wagga' being derived from a Wiradjuri term meaning 'place of many crows'. The floral emblem for the city is the Silver Banksia.

### Coat of arms

Coat of arms of the City of Wagga Wagga :
* NotesGranted by the Kings of Arms.
* Adopted15 November 1965
* CrestOut of a Mural Crown in front of a Caduceus Or, winged Sable, eight leaves of the River Red Gum Tree (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) conjoined and in the form of two letters W proper.
* HelmA closed helmet.
* EscutcheonVert, on a Fess between in chief eight stalks of Wheat, each four in the form of the letter W, and in base a Merino Ram's head caboshed, all Or, a Bar wavy Azure.
* SupportersOn either side a Crow wings addorsed proper, gorged with a Collar dancetty Or, and perched on a forked twig.
* CompartmentA compartment of grass divided by Water Barry wavy Argent and Azure.
* MottoForward in Faith
* Other elementsMantling Vert doubled Or.
* SymbolismThe colours of green and gold, and the gold band on green in the escutcheon are taken from the arms of Captain Charles Sturt, the first European explorer of the area. The wavy blue line represents the Murrumbidgee River. The wheat (arranged as two "W" letters for the city name), and the Merino Ram head are for the principal industries of the city. The eight River Red Gum leaves in the crest are also arranged as two "W" letters and are placed in front of the Caduceus, the symbol of Mercury, the Roman god of commerce. The crow supporters with "W" collars are taken from the former Council seal and allude to the meaning of Wagga Wagga ("the place of many crows"). The compartment of grass divided by water represents the building of the city on both sides of the river.

## Gallery

* Wagga Wagga Civic Centre
* City Council Mayoral gong. Stolen 2 January 2009, remains unfound