Southern Downs Region 2.83

The Southern Downs Region is a local government area in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia, along the state's boundary with New South Wales. It was created in 2008 from a merger of the Shire of Warwick and the Shire of Stanthorpe.It has an estimated operating budget of A$22.8 million.HistoryThe majority of the former Warwick Shire is home to the Githabul people who have lived around this area for tens of thousands of years before arrival by Europeans in the early 1840s.The current area of the Southern Downs Region existed as two distinct local government areas: the Shire of Warwick; which in turn it was consistent of four previous local government areas: the City of Warwick; the Shire of Allora; the Shire of Glengallan; the Shire of Rosenthal; The City of Warwick came into being as the Warwick Municipality on 25 May 1861 under the Municipalities Act 1858, a piece of New South Wales legislation inherited by Queensland at its separation two years earlier. On 21 July 1869, the Municipality of Allora was established under the Municipal Institutions Act 1864.On 11 November 1879, the Clifton, Glengallan and Stanthorpe Divisions were created as three of 74 divisions within Queensland under the Divisional Boards Act 1879. In 1886, Rosenthal was created out of parts of Glengallan.