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The Shire of Torres is a local government area located in Far North Queensland, Australia, covering large sections of the Torres Strait Islands and the northern tip of Cape York Peninsula north of 11°S latitude. It holds two distinctions—it is the northernmost Local Government Area in Australia, and is the only one to abut an international border – it is at one point just from Papua New Guinea. It is administered from Thursday Island. ==History== The Hann Division was created on 11 November 1879 as one of 74 divisions around Queensland under the ''Divisional Boards Act 1879''. On 30 October 1885, the coastal islands of Hann Division was separated to create Torres Division. With the passage of the ''Local Authorities Act 1902'', Balonne Division became Shire of Balonne on 31 March 1903. Most of the islands were unincorporated until the 1970s, but Thursday Island had a town council going back to 1912. In 1939, the ''Torres Strait Islanders Act'' was passed by the Federal Government, allowing for a form of local government on each island. On 27 January 1942, after the fall of Singapore during World War II, the Australian government gave the order to evacuate all civilians from Thursday Island, which now became a military base. In 1946, civilians started returning to the island. In 1952 the Council was dissolved and replaced by administrators. On 9 May 1974, the Shire was established and gazetted by the Bjelke-Petersen government, in an effort to gain leverage on a boundary dispute between the Australian and Papua New Guinea governments.〔Hughes, Colin A. (Dec 1974.) "Political Chronicles (May–August 1974)", ''Australian Journal of Politics and History'' 20(3), University of Queensland Press, p.390.〕 It was created from the following parts: However, elective government was not restored to the Shire until March 1991—along with the Shires of Mornington, Cook and Aurukun, it was administered by the Local Government Department's Far North regional office.〔Australian Bureau of Statistics, Queensland Office. (1986) ''Queensland Year Book'' (under "Local Government")〕 When the ''Community Services (Torres Strait) Act 1984'' was enacted, 15 island councils were created. Each was responsible for local basic utilities and services, and worked with the Queensland Police to provide for community police officers—hence extending well beyond the normal functions of local government. The remaining areas were governed under the ''Local Government Act'' like most other parts of Queensland. In March 1991, elected Council status was restored by the new Goss Labor government, and in 1994 Pedro Stephen became its first and so far only mayor. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Shire of Torres」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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