City of Wanneroo: History
Prior to 1902, Wanneroo was part of the Perth Road District, which eventually went on to become the City of Stirling. The Wanneroo Road District was established on 31 October 1902 under the Roads Act 1888. The board was named after the Wanneroo wetlands in the area, first explored and recorded by John Butler in 1834.
With the passage of the Local Government Act 1960, all road boards became shires effective from 1 July 1961, and the Shire of Wanneroo came into being, encompassing everything north of Beach Road and west of Alexander Drive. With the development of and subsequent population growth surrounding Joondalup, the Shire of Wanneroo attained City status on 31 October 1985.
On 1 July 1998, on the recommendation of a report by the Local Government Advisory Committee, the City of Wanneroo was bifurcated. The southwestern section, encompassing the urban centre of Joondalup, was separately incorporated as the new City of Joondalup. The remainder, including the inland suburbs east of Lake Joondalup and the coastal suburbs north of Burns Beach, formed a reduced Shire of Wanneroo, which quickly regained City status on 1 July 1999. As this was before the local government elections to elect a mayor and councillors, the second incarnation of the Shire did not have a Shire President.