Shire of Shark Bay Western Australia |
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Location in Western Australia
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Population | 928 (2013 est) | ||||||||||||
• Density | 0.036502/km2 (0.09454/sq mi) | ||||||||||||
Established | 1904 | ||||||||||||
Area | 25,423 km2 (9,815.9 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
President | Cheryl Cowell | ||||||||||||
Council seat | Denham | ||||||||||||
Region | Gascoyne | ||||||||||||
State electorate(s) | North West | ||||||||||||
Federal Division(s) | Kalgoorlie | ||||||||||||
Website | Shire of Shark Bay | ||||||||||||
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The Shire of Shark Bay is a local government area of Western Australia in the Gascoyne region. It has an area of 25,423 km² and a population of about 950. It is made up of two peninsulas, located at the westernmost point of Australia. There is one town in the Shire of Shark Bay, Denham, which is the administrative centre for the Shire. There are also a number of small communities; they are Useless Loop (a now-closed mining site), Monkey Mia (a popular resort where dolphins come in), Nanga and Hamelin Pool. The Overlander and The Billabong are roadhouses.
The Shark Bay Road District was gazetted on 13 May 1904. In 1951 the then current officials were dismissed. On 1 July 1961, it became a shire under the Local Government Act 1960.
The Shire is divided into three wards:
Major employers include the salt works at Useless Loop along with the fishing industry and the various retail outlets meeting the needs of the tourist industry. There are some 30 personnel employed by the Department of Environment and Conservation and twenty by the Shire. There is a primary school and a Distance Education structured secondary school. Numbers of school aged children fluctuate around the 100 mark. The Police Station is manned by 3 officers.
Local industries include tourism, fishing, salt, pearl marine culturing, mining of shell grit and various pastoral activities.