The Shire of Kingaroy was a local government area in the South Burnett area of Queensland, Australia, about 100 kilometres (62 mi) northwest of the capital, Brisbane. The shire covered an area of 2,420.3 square kilometres (934.5 sq mi), and existed as a local government area from 1912 until 2008, when it amalgamated with a number of other local government areas in the South Burnett area to become the South Burnett Region.
The seat of the shire was the town of Kingaroy, which continues as the set of the South Burnett Region.
The shire's name derives from the Wakka Wakka Aboriginal words "king dhu'roi", meaning "ant hungry". While land use was dominantly pastoral in the area's early European history, dairying, beef, small crops and in particular peanut farming became mainstays of Kingaroy's economy.
History
Dr Ellen Kent Hughes
Kingaroy was originally part of the Barambah (later Nanango) Divisional Board, which was created on 11 November 1879 under the Divisional Boards Act 1879. With the passage of the Local Authorities Act 1902, Nanango became a shire council on 31 March 1903.
The town of Kingaroy started to grow after the arrival of the railway in 1904, and on 12 January 1912, the Shire of Kingaroy was proclaimed.
In 1923, Dr Ellen Kent Hughes was elected to the Kingaroy Shire Council, the first woman council member elected to a local government council in Queensland.[2][3]
