Shire of Tiaro

The Shire of Tiaro was a local government area in the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, between the regional cities of Gympie and Hervey Bay about 220km north of the state capital, Brisbane. The shire covered an area of 2185.3km2, and existed as a local government area from 1879 until 2008, when it was dissolved and split between two new local government areas, the Gympie Region and the Fraser Coast Region.The name "Tiaro" is of Aboriginal origin, meaning withered or dead tree. 43 per cent of the Shire was covered by State forest. The main industries in the shire were sugar, beef and dairy cattle, orchards and timber felling and milling.HistoryTiaro Division was created on 11 November 1879 as one of the initial 74 divisions around Queensland under the Divisional Boards Act 1879 with a population of 1852.On 9 February 1884, following a petition by the ratepayers of subdivisions Nos. 2 and 3 of Tiaro Division, part of Tiaro Division was excised to establish a separate municipality called the Shire of Tiaro. The Tiaro Divisional Board were opposed to the creation of the shire, and had attempted various legal actions to prevent it. The new shire started life in an immediate dispute with the division over the apportionment of the accounts. One of the early actions of the Shire Council was to commission the construction of a shire hall, which many of their ratepayers saw as an unnecessary expense. By April 1886, the ratepayers were petitioning to abolish the Shire. As a result, on 16 December 1886, the shire was abolished and the territory returned to authority of the Tiaro Division.