City of Botany Bay facts for kids

Quick facts for kids City of Botany Bay New South Wales
Population	39,356 (2011 census)
• Density	1,471/km2 (3,810/sq mi)
Established	29 March 1888 (Botany) 11 May 1996 (Botany Bay)
Abolished	9 September 2016
Area	26.75 km2 (10.3 sq mi)
Mayor	Ben Keneally (Labor)
Council seat	Botany Town Hall, Botany
Region	South-Eastern Sydney
Parish	Botany
Website	City of Botany Bay
LGAs around City of Botany Bay: Marrickville Sydney Randwick Marrickville City of Botany Bay Randwick Rockdale Botany Bay Randwick

The City of Botany Bay was a local government area in the Inner South and South-Eastern region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The area encompassed the suburbs to the north of Botany Bay, such as Botany. First proclaimed in 1888 as the "Borough of Botany", the council became the "Municipality of Botany" from 1906 to 1996, when it was proclaimed a city as the "City of Botany Bay".

The administrative centre was located at Mascot, which is 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) south of the Sydney central business district. The city was amalgamated with the neighbouring City of Rockdale on 9 September 2016 to form Bayside Council. The last mayor of the City of Botany Bay prior to amalgamation was Cr. Ben Keneally, a member of the Labor Party and the husband of Kristina Keneally, a former Premier of New South Wales.

History

Real estate map for Town of Botany, 1907

First proclaimed in 1888 as the "Borough of Botany", the first council, divided into three wards (Booralee Ward, Cook Ward, Banks Ward), was elected on 9 June 1888. On 15 July 1899, the Botany Town Hall, designed by Byera Hadley, was opened by the governor, Lord Beauchamp. The town hall remained the seat and primary meeting-place of the council until amalgamation in 2016.

The council became the "Municipality of Botany" from 1906 to 11 May 1996, when it was proclaimed a city as the "City of Botany Bay" by the Governor of New South Wales, Gordon Samuels at Sir Joseph Banks Park in Botany. The council wards were abolished from 31 January 1908. Under the Local Government (Areas) Act 1948, the Municipality of Mascot (formerly North Botany), which was located immediately to the North, was amalgamated into Botany.

ICAC Operation Ricco

In February 2016, the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) commenced a public inquiry (known as Operation Ricco) into allegations that the former chief financial officer employed by the council and other council employees, dishonestly exercised official functions to obtain financial benefits for themselves and others by causing fraudulent payments of more than A$4.2 million to be made by the council through false invoicing to either themselves, or various entities. It was also alleged that the former chief financial officer and the council employees dishonestly exercised official functions to obtain financial benefits for themselves and others by using council resources. The inquiry heard that certain senior staff were "totally unqualified" for their positions, and that a culture of "extremely poor corporate governance" allowed official corruption to occur.

It was also revealed that the council's General Manager until 2011, Peter Fitzgerald, had used thousands of dollars in "discretionary" council funds for personal items, private travel for himself and family, in addition to receiving annual cheques for $20,000 from the council for travelling expenses. Fitzgerald admitted that he had not seen a single statement for any of his council accounts until shortly before his retirement in 2011, and was not aware if he had exceeded those "discretionary" limits.

In July 2017, ICAC released its report and found that former chief financial officer, Gary Goodman, and eleven other council employees had acted corruptly, after raising more than $5 million in fake invoices and charging more than $600,000 in personal expenditure on council credit cards, and recommended prosecutions against all. However, despite the specific findings against individuals, the final report noted in particular that "The scale, breadth and duration of corruption at the Council cannot be attributed to a few rogue individuals alone. Overwhelming failures in the Council’s procedures and governance framework created significant opportunities for corruption, and Mr Goodman and others took full advantage."

With the merger of Botany Bay into Bayside Council in September 2016, the legacy of "significant breakdowns in administrative, financial and governance internal controls identified in the former council" had ramifications for the auditing and accounting processes in the new Council with the Council stating that it was unable "to ensure completeness of [their] financial statements as a whole", and the first mayor of Bayside Council, Bill Saravinovski, in particular noted that, "the misappropriations and costs of remediation result in a net fund deficit of $17 million, placing Bayside Council at a significant disadvantage".

Creation of Bayside Council

A 2015 review of local government boundaries by the NSW Government Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal recommended that the City of Botany Bay merge with the City of Rockdale to form a new council with an area of 50 square kilometres (19 sq mi) and support a population of approximately 153,000.

There was significant community opposition to the merger from within both communities. In Botany Bay, residents were given the chance to have their say in a community poll which was held on 27 February 2016. Ultimately 97.8 per cent of Botany Bay residents voted 'no' when asked the question 'Do you agree that the City of Botany Bay should merge with Rockdale City Council?'. Botany Bay attempted to seek a compromise by proposing to merge with the City of Randwick and parts of the City of Sydney.

With the proclamation of the majority of council amalgamations on 12 May 2016, Botany Bay Council appealed the decision in the Supreme Court of New South Wales, thereby delaying the proposed amalgamation until a decision was made by the Court. The Supreme Court rejected the appeal in early September 2016, and the Minister for Local Government, Paul Toole, moved quickly to proclaim the formation of Bayside Council on 9 September 2016, with the former administrator of Central Darling Shire, Greg Wright, appointed as the Administrator.

Demographics

As of the 2011 census, there were 39,356 people in the Botany Bay local government area, of these 49.5% were male and 50.5% were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 1.6% of the population. The median age of people in the City of Botany Bay was 37 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 18.2% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 14.4% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 47.6% were married and 11.4% were either divorced or separated.

Population growth in the City of Botany Bay between the 2001 census and the 2006 census was 5.18%; and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 census, population growth was 5.19%. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78% and 8.32% respectively, population growth in Botany Bay local government area was lower than the national average.

Selected historical census data for the City of Botany Bay local government area
Census year			2001	2006	2011
Population		Estimated residents on Census night	35,572	37,415	39,356
		LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales		61
		% of New South Wales population		0.5%	0.57%
		% of Australian population	0.19%	0.18%	0.18%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses		Australian			16.7%
		English			14.5%
		Chinese			8.0%
		Irish			5.8%
		Greek			5.6%
Language, top responses (other than English)		Greek	7.4%	6.5%	5.8%
		Bengali	3.4%	3.5%	3.6%
		Indonesian	n/c	n/c	3.2%
		Spanish	4.5%	3.8%	3.2%
		Mandarin Chinese	n/c	n/c	3.0%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses		Catholic	35.0%	34.2%	32.9%
		No religion	7.5%	10.1%	13.0%
		Anglican	13.2%	12.2%	10.8%
		Eastern Orthodox	10.9%	10.2%	9.5%
		Islam	8.3%	7.8%	8.1%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income		Median weekly personal income		A$453	A$575
		% of Australian median income		97.2%	99.7%
Family income		Median weekly family income		A$995	A$1,488
		% of Australian median income		96.9%	100.5%
Household income		Median weekly household income		A$1,166	A$1,245
		% of Australian median income		99.6%	100.9%

Council

Final composition and election method

City of Botany Bay Administration Building, Mascot

Botany Bay City Council was composed of seven councillors, including the mayor, for a fixed four-year term of office. The mayor was directly elected for a four-year term from 1995 to 2016 while the six other Councillors were elected proportionally as six separate wards, each electing one councillor. From 1948 to 1995 the council consisted of 15 councillors/aldermen, with three elected in each of five wards. From 1995 to 2008, the councillors were elected at-large and from 2008 to 2012 the councillors were elected to three wards (A, B, C), with two councillors elected in each. The most recent election was held on 8 September 2012. In Wards One and Five, only one candidate nominated for election. There being no additional candidates, the election for these Wards was uncontested. The final makeup of the council at the last election for the term 2012–2016, including the mayor, was as follows:

Election results

2012

This section is transcluded from Results of the 2012 New South Wales local elections #Botany Bay

Results of the 2012 New South Wales local elections

Mayors

Seal of the Municipality of Botany, from 1938 Jubilee History, depicts the landing of Captain James Cook at Botany Bay in 1770. The Latin motto, Sicut Patribus Sit Deus Nobis, translates to "God be with us as He was with our fathers".

See also: Municipality of Mascot

Mayor		Party	Term	Notes
	James John Macfadyen	Independent	20 August 1888 – 13 February 1890
	John E. Chant	Independent	13 February 1890 – 14 February 1891
	Charles R. Swinbourne	Independent	14 February 1891 – 10 February 1893
	Francis John Luland	Independent	10 February 1893 – 14 February 1895
	James John Macfadyen	Independent	14 February 1895 – 13 February 1896
	Joseph Pemberton	Independent	13 February 1896 – 9 February 1897
	Joshua Wiggins	Independent	9 February 1897 – 8 February 1898
	Francis Hambly	Independent	8 February 1898 – 10 February 1900
	Oscar William Nilson	Independent	10 February 1900 – 16 February 1901
	William Stephen	Independent	16 February 1901 – 10 February 1902
	Frederick Page	Independent	10 February 1902 – 12 February 1903
	Francis John Luland	Independent	12 February 1903 – 20 February 1905
	Clement Frederick Etherden	Independent	20 February 1905 – February 1909
	Frederick Anderson	Independent	February 1909 – 11 February 1910
	John Herford	Independent	11 February 1910 – 9 February 1911
	William Hale	Independent	9 February 1911 – 12 February 1913
	Oscar William Nilson	Independent	12 February 1913 – 10 February 1914
	William David Stephen	Independent	10 February 1914 – 10 February 1915
	James Facer Gray Siddins	Independent	10 February 1915 – 17 February 1916
	William David Stephen	Independent	17 February 1916 – February 1919
	Harold Hickson	Independent	February 1919 – December 1920
	William David Stephen	Independent	December 1920 – December 1922
	John Herford	Independent	December 1922 – December 1924
	James Facer Gray Siddins	Independent	December 1924 – 1 December 1927
	Frederick Page	Independent	1 December 1927 – December 1928
	George Frederick Anderson	Independent	December 1928 – December 1930
	Frederick James Kerr	Independent	December 1930 – December 1932
	William Herford	Independent	December 1932 – December 1937
	George Frederick Anderson	Independent	December 1937 – 1 December 1938
	Garnet Arthur Jackson	Labor	1 December 1938 – 4 December 1939
	Cyril Henry Edward Wall	Labor	4 December 1939 – December 1940
	Garnet Arthur Jackson	Labor	December 1940 – December 1941
	George Valentine Arthur	Labor	December 1941 – December 1942
	John James Chalmers	Labor	December 1942 – December 1943
	John Francis McCarthy	Labor	December 1943 – December 1944
	Cecil Dengate Hensley	Labor	December 1944 – December 1945
	James Sydney Greenfield	Labor	December 1945 – December 1946
	Thomas Henry Albert Tierney	Labor	December 1946 – December 1948
	Francis Bernard Joyce	Labor	December 1948 – December 1953
	John Samuel Elphick	Labor	December 1953 – December 1954
	Alexander McPherson	Labor	December 1954 – December 1956
	John Samuel Elphick	Labor	December 1956 – December 1962
	Gladstone Sparks		December 1963 – December 1964
	Alfred P. P. Lever		December 1964 – December 1965
	George R. Hanna		December 1965 – December 1966
	James Slattery		December 1966 – September 1968
	John Samuel Elphick	Labor	September 1968 – September 1969
	James Slattery		September 1969 – September 1970
	Alfred P. P. Lever		September 1970 – September 1971
	James Tobin	Labor	September 1971 – September 1972
	John Samuel Elphick	Labor	September 1972 – September 1974
	Robert Mann	Labor	September 1974 – September 1975
	James Tobin	Labor	September 1975 – September 1976
	Robert Mann	Labor	September 1976 – September 1977
	James Tobin	Labor	September 1977 – September 1980
	Robert Mann	Labor	September 1980 – September 1981
	Ron Hoenig	Labor	September 1981 – 8 September 2012
	Ben Keneally	Labor	8 September 2012 – 12 May 2016

Town Clerks/General Managers

The Local Government Act, 1993 removed the requirement that the administrative head of a council be a "Town or Shire Clerk" and specified that the head was to be known as the "General Manager".

Years	Officeholder	Notes
8 August 1888 – 27 May 1889	George Garton
27 May 1889 – 12 November 1890	Samuel Tickle
12 November 1890 – 27 October 1899	Benjamin Radford
27 October 1899 – December 1912	Benjamin Morgan
December 1912 – 12 February 1913	J. A. Wauchope (acting)
12 February 1913 – August 1915	Roland Charles Rose
September 1915 – September 1923	Samuel Morgan
September 1923 – 30 March 1939	Leo Roy Flack
30 March 1939 – 24 May 1939	John Edward Brotchie (acting)
24 May 1939 – April 1943	Sidney D. Marchant
May 1943 – 31 December 1948	John Edward Brotchie
1 January 1949 – September 1964	T. G. Barber
September 1964 – 1974	R. Madden
1974 – 1982	J. Evans
1982 – 1984	A. S. Ford
1984 – 1997	J. F. Patterson
1997 – June 2011	Peter Fitzgerald
June 2011 – 12 May 2016	Lara Kirchner

Coat of arms

Arms of the City of Botany Bay

Notes Final design of grant made by the Garter, Clarenceux, and Norroy & Ulster kings of arms, of the College of Arms. Adopted 1988 Motto Value Our Heritage Symbolism The Kangaroo supporter represents the native fauna of Australia and the Bengal tiger supporter references Australia’s first zoo established in Botany in 1840, the Sir Joseph Banks Pleasure Gardens. Both wear an Astral crown, which refers to the importance of the aviation industry to the area which includes Sydney Airport. The banksia flower (Banksia ericifolia) above a mural crown in the crest represents the native flora and references the man for whom the flower is named, Sir Joseph Banks, the botanist who sailed with Captain James Cook into Botany Bay on HMS Endeavour in April 1770. Botany Bay and its importance to shipping at Port Botany is represented in the escutcheon by the anchor and wavy blue lines, which also reference the area's position at the mouth of the Cook's River. The gold Polar star in the escutcheon is taken from the arms of James Cook, while the gold Fleur-de-lis is taken from the arms of Joseph Banks. The gold and black colours in the escutcheon are also taken from Banks' arms.