Shire of Wangaratta (Victoria) November 1916. On 18 November 1994, the Shire was abolished, and merged with the City of Wangaratta, the Shire of Oxley and various surrounding districts into the Rural City of Wangaratta. Wangaratta was divided into four ridings, each of which elected three councillors: Shire of Wangaratta (Victoria) The Shire of Wangaratta was a local government area about northeast of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1863 until 1994. The Shire did not include Wangaratta itself, which was governed by a separate local government. Wangaratta was first incorporated as the
Victoria (Australia) by international investment; attracted to the state by the availability of cheap land close to the city and inexpensive energy from the Latrobe Valley. Victoria produced 26.4% of total manufacturing output in Australia in 2015–16, behind New South Wales at 32.4%. Machinery and equipment manufacturing is the state's most valuable manufacturing activity, followed by food and beverage products, petrochemicals and chemicals. Prominent manufacturing plants in the state include the Portland and Point Henry aluminium smelters, owned by Alcoa; oil refineries at Geelong and Altona; a major petrochemical facility at Laverton; and Victorian-based CSL, a global biotechnology company that produces vaccines