Although the Shire of Westonia is located in the Wheatbelt region, it is at the eastern limit of land suitable for wheat growing. The most important industries of Westonia today are wheat and sheep, but historically it was a gold mining area.
History
The Westonia Road District was established on 30 June 1916. On 1 July 1961, it became the Shire of Westonia under the Local Government Act 1960, which reformed all remaining road districts into shires.[2]
In April 2012, residents of the Shire of Westonia rejected a proposed merger with the neighbouring larger Shire of Yilgarn, with 82 percent of voters opposing the merger.[3]
Wards
The Shire initially had a ward system with two elected members representing the north, south, west and town wards (for a total of eight members). However, following the 2009 local government elections the Shire of Westonia's ward system was abolished and the number of elected members was dropped to six.
^* This LGA holds city status under the Local Government Act 1995, ^† This LGA holds town status under the Local Government Act 1995, ^# Western Australian law applies to the Indian Ocean Territories under the Territories Law Reform Act 1992