The Shire of McKinlay is a local government area in outback north-western Queensland, Australia.

It covers an area of 40,737 square kilometres (15,728.6 sq mi), and has existed as a local government entity since 1891. The shire economy is based on beef production and mining. BHP operate the Cannington Mine in the shire, extracting silver, lead and zinc.

Wanamarra (also known as Maykulan and Wunumura is an Australian Aboriginal language in North West Queensland. The language region includes areas within the Shire of McKinlay, Shire of Cloncurry and Shire of Richmond, including the Flinders River area, and the towns of Kynuna and Richmond.^[2]

The Mackinlay Division was created on 9 December 1891 out of parts of Boulia and Cloncurry under the Divisional Boards Act 1887.

With the passage of the Local Authorities Act 1902, Mackinlay Division became the Shire of Mackinlay on 31 March 1903.

In 1932, the spelling of the shire's name was altered to be Shire of McKinlay, as the shire was named after the explorer John McKinlay.^[3]

On 24 July 1930, it was abolished and a new Shire of McKinlay was formed from parts of the Shires of Cloncurry, McKinlay, Winton and Wyangarie (Richmond).

The Shire of McKinlay includes the following settlements:

• Julia Creek
• Cannington
• Kynuna
• McKinlay
• Nelia

The McKinlay Shire Council operates public libraries at Julia Creek and McKinlay.^[4]

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (November 2017)

• 1927: W. M. Allison
• 2008–2012: Paul Woodhouse^[5][6]
• 2012–2020 : Belinda Murphy^[7]
• 2020–present: Philip Roland Curr^[8]