Huon Valley Council

The Huon Valley Council is a Local Government Area of Tasmania. It is the southernmost local government area in Australia.

It encompasses the town of Huonville, on the Huon River, some surrounding towns, and many protected areas and forestry plantations. The Tahune Airwalk is also in the area, located near the township of Geeveston.

In 1993 the Municipalites of Esperance, Huon and Port Cygnet were amalgamated to form the Huon Valley Council. Remote subantarctic Macquarie Island, which is located some 1400 km southeast of Tasmania proper, was part of Esperance until then, and has been part of Huon Valley since then.

The municipality has seven townships:

  1. Cygnet
  2. Dover (on Esperance Bay)
  3. Franklin
  4. Geeveston
  5. Port Huon
  6. Glen Huon
  7. Huonville

For election purposes, Huon Valley is un-subdivided. Councillors serve divided four year terms, with elections every two years using the Hare-Clark system of proportional representation. The terms of four Councillors expire at one two yearly election, and the terms of five Councillors expire at the other. The Mayor and Deputy Mayor are each directly elected for a two-year term. The Mayor and Deputy Mayor must also be elected Councillors. Unless a non-retiring Councillor they are ineligible to hold the position of Mayor or Deputy Mayor if they fail to win election to a Councillor position as well. The current composition of the Council, with place of residence, is:

  • Mayor for a term expiring 2013: Robert Armstrong (Cygnet)
  • Deputy Mayor for a term expiring 2013: Mike Wilson (Port Huon)

Elected 2011 for a term expiring 2015:

  • Robert Armstrong (Cygnet)
  • Liz Smith (Cygnet)
  • Peter Pepper (Geeveston)
  • Ian Paul (Judbury)

Elected 2009 for a term expiring 2013:

  • Bruce Heron (Grove)
  • Mike Wilson (Port Huon)
  • Tony Duggan (Huonville)
  • Rohan Gudden (Cygnet)
  • Rosalie Woodruff (Cygnet)

Neither the Australian Labor Party nor the Liberal Party of Australia endorse local government candidates in Tasmania. Most councillors are non-partisan. Two Councillors, Liz Smith and Rosalie Woodruff, are members of the Australian Greens.

According to ABS data, the townships in the South East that experienced the largest growth were Huonville (including Franklin where the population was up by 1,300 people)with Cygnet third (up for 440).

Famous quotes containing the words valley and/or council:

    “I will frankly declare, that after passing a few weeks in this valley of the Marquesas, I formed a higher estimate of human nature than I had ever before entertained. But alas! since then I have been one of the crew of a man-of-war, and the pent-up wickedness of five hundred men has nearly overturned all my previous theories.”
    —Herman Melville (1819–1891)

    “I haven’t seen so much tippy-toeing around since the last time I went to the ballet. When members of the arts community were asked this week about one of their biggest benefactors, Philip Morris, and its requests that they lobby the New York City Council on the company’s behalf, the pas de deux of self- justification was so painstakingly choreographed that it constituted a performance all by itself.”
    —Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)