City of Ipswich

History

Ipswich is the second-oldest local government area in Queensland, after Brisbane. On 16 November 1859, after the enactment of the Municipalities Act of 1858 in New South Wales, a petition containing 91 signatures was received by the Governor of New South Wales seeking to have Ipswich, which at the time had 3,000 people, granted municipal town status. The petition was gazetted the following day, and no counter-petition was received.

On 29 November, the letters patent authorised by Queen Victoria which were to make Queensland a separate colony were published in New South Wales, and the petition was forwarded to the new Queensland governor, Sir George Ferguson Bowen. On 10 December 1859, the same day that the letters patent were published in Queensland, the petition was regazetted. On 3 March 1860 the Borough of Ipswich was proclaimed, and its first elections were held on 19 April 1860, where John Murphy became its first Mayor. The Municipality's corporate logo was designed by Reverend Lacey H. Rumsey, the rector of St Paul's Church in Ipswich in 1861.

Ipswich applied on 22 November 1904 to become a City, the status being conferred by the Government of Queensland on 1 December 1904 and its first mayor was Hugh Reilly. On its declaration, the City of Ipswich covered only the central area of Ipswich itself – even what are today considered inner suburbs were parts of different entities.

The Greater Ipswich Scheme of 1916

On 13 October 1916, a rationalisation of the local government areas in and around Ipswich was implemented. It involved the abolition of five shires:

• Brassall
• Bundanba
• Lowood
• Purga
• Walloon

resulting in:

• an enlarged City of Ipswich by including part of the Shire of Brassall and part of the Shire of Bundanba
• a new Shire of Ipswich by amalgamating part of the Shire of Brassall, part of the Shire of Bundanba, part of the Shire of Walloon and all of the Shire of Purga
• an enlarged Shire of Rosewood by including part of the Shire of Walloon
• an enlarged Shire of Esk by including all of the Shire of Lowood

Greater Ipswich Scheme of 1949

On 29 January 1949, a new Local Government Act was enacted to further amalgamate local government in the Ipswich area, abolishing the Shire of Normanby and the Shire of Rosewood. The City of Ipswich was enlarged (from 12¼ square miles to 30 square miles) to include the more urban parts of the Shire of Moreton (formerly known as the Shire of Ipswich). The Shire of Moreton was then enlarged by the inclusion of the northern part of the Shire of Normanby and all the Shire of Rosewood. The southern part of the Shire of Normanby was transferred to an enlarged Shire of Boonah.

Further enlargement

The Shire of Moreton was amalgamated into the City of Ipswich on 11 March 1995.

Loss of rural areas

In March 2000, Ipswich ceded some rural territory in Mount Walker, Mutdapilly, Rosevale and Warrill View to the neighbouring Shire of Boonah. Following the major reforms of local government in Queensland, on 15 March 2008, Ipswich lost the largely rural areas of Harrisville and Peak Crossing in its southeast to the new Scenic Rim Region.

On 31 October 2012, a groundbreaking ceremony for the Ecco Ripley housing development project was conducted by then Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasale and Sekisui House.

Demographics

In the 2016 census, the City of Ipswich had a population of 193,733 people.

In the 2021 census, the City of Ipswich had a population of 229,208 people.

Council

Ipswich City Council is composed of four wards (divisions), each with two councillors, along with a directly-elected mayor.

Until 2020, the council was made up of 10 councillors each representing one ward. Paul Pisasale, who was re-elected mayor in 2016, resigned on 6 June 2017 citing health concerns (specifically multiple sclerosis).

Division 7 Councillor Andrew Antoniolli and Deputy Mayor Paul Tully both contested the 2017 Ipswich mayoral by-election, held on 19 August 2017, with Antoniolli successful with 54.44% of the vote after preferences.

In May 2018, Antoniolli was charged with seven counts of corruption forcing him to stand down and administrators to take over Ipswich City Council.

In August 2018, the Queensland Government passed legislation to dismiss all of the councillors and replace them with an administrator.

Current composition

The current council, elected in 2024, is:

Mayors

Past councillors

2016–2018 (10 wards)

2020–present (four wards)

Election results

2024

2020

Suburbs

The City of Ipswich includes the following settlements:

¹ - split with Scenic Rim Region
² - not to be confused with White Rock in Cairns Region

Initiatives

Beginning in 1994 Ipswich adopted an innovative, community-based, information technology project which aimed to make the city a technology hub at the forefront of the growing move towards the information superhighway. The most prominent feature of the initiative, which was called Global Info-Links, was the development of a new library with free public internet access and the development of a wide area network to which people could subscribe.

In October 2000, the council began erecting cast brass plaques at significant heritage sites.

Services

Ipswich City Council operates four public libraries at Ipswich Central, Redbank, Redbank Plains and Springfield Central. It also operates a mobile library service to Booval, Brassall, Camira, Flinders View (Winston Glades) Goodna, Grandchester, Karalee, Marburg, Rosewood, South Ripley, Walloon, and Willowbank.

Sister cities

• Nerima City, Japan (from 1994)
• Hyderabad, India (from 2010)