Shire of Cook

The Shire of Cook is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia. The Shire covers most of the eastern and central parts of Cape York Peninsula, the most northerly section of the Australian mainland.It covers an area of 106188.4km2, and has existed as a local government entity since 1919.HistoryThe Daintree and Hann Divisions were created on 11 November 1879 as two of 74 divisions around Queensland under the Divisional Boards Act 1879.With the passage of the Local Authorities Act 1902, they became the Shires of Daintree and Hann on 31 March 1903.On 16 January 1919, they merged to form the Shire of Cook.The Borough of Cooktown was proclaimed as a separate municipality on 3 April 1876 under the Municipal Institutions Act 1864. On 24 August 1932, the Town of Cooktown (the successor to the Borough of Cooktown) was absorbed back into Cook Shire.Prior to 2005, a number of Aboriginal communities administered under Deed of Grant in Trust by community councils were part of the Shire's area, but they were formally excised and given a new status as Aboriginal Shires. This formed part of the Meeting Challenges, Making Choices strategy developed in response to the Cape York Justice Study undertaken by Justice Fitzgerald QC in November 2001.