City of Kwinana

The City of Kwinana is a local government area of Western Australia, Australia. It covers an area of approximately 118 square kilometres in metropolitan Perth, and lies about 38 km south of Perth CBD, via the Kwinana Freeway. Kwinana maintains 287 km of roads and has an estimated population of 36,145.HistoryKwinana is a Kimberley Aboriginal word meaning either "young woman" or "pretty maiden". The ship SS Kwinana was wrecked on Cockburn Sound in 1922 and blown onto Kwinana Beach. The nearby area acquired the name and it was officially adopted for a township in 1937. Some of its suburbs take their names from the sailing ships that first brought immigrants to Western Australia, for example, Medina, Calista and Parmelia.The Kwinana Road District was formed out of part of Rockingham on 15 February 1954 as a result of the passage of the Kwinana Road District Act 1953. Section 4 of the Act stated that "there shall not be a duly elected Road Board for the Kwinana Road District but the Governor may, by Order in Council, appoint a fit and proper person having a comprehensive knowledge and experience of local government matters to be Commissioner of the district."On 11 November 1960, an Order in Council was issued dividing Kwinana into five wards in preparation for an election to be held on 11 February 1961. The Town ward would elect 3 councillors while the Rural, Industrial, Naval Base and Kwinana Beach wards would each elect one councillor. In order that the election could go ahead, the Kwinana Road District Act was repealed on 14 February 1961 by proclamation, with the District now subject to the same laws as any other council. The first elected councillors took office on 15 February 1961.