July 15, 2014
South Burnett Regional Council’s General Manager of Finance Gary Wall was presented with a Pride of Workmanship Award at last night’s meeting of the Kingaroy Rotary Club.
The vocation category for June was “finance” and Gary is more than qualified to win.
He has been employed by the former Kingaroy Shire Council and now South Burnett Regional Council for more than 40 years.
Gary began as a junior finance clerk in the Kingaroy Shire Council, learning his skills under the guidance of former Shire Clerks Ron Knopke and Ron Turner.
Since then he has risen through the ranks to take on the role of Director of Finance in 2008 when the Kingaroy Shire was amalgamated into the South Burnett Regional Council, probably the most challenging role in the new Council.
Gary was responsible for the merger of four very different rating systems, water and sewage schemes and electronic data schemes.
His nomination for the award reads:
“In 2008 the new SBRC was rated by Queensland Treasury Corporation as financially weak but it was the frank and fearless advice given by Gary and his team to Council that saw the organisation move from this relatively low score card into a rating of financially moderate – a huge achievement given the state of some of the smaller Shires amalgamated.
“As the new Council continued on, several restructures have occurred to ensure that Council is ‘right-sized’. This has meant the structure going from five Directors underneath the CEO to three General Managers looking after very broad areas of Council.
“Of the six staff that made up the leadership group of Council in 2008, Gary is the only one still with the organisation. He has been the mainstay through these changes and has solidified his position of respect among staff and councillors alike since 2008 as he has had very different departments within Council come and go from under his direct control as a General Manager.
“As a manager he is universally respected by his staff and equally is very protective of those that work with him.
“His real skill is understanding complex financial situations in a Local Government context.
“What makes Local Government finance all the more challenging is the political nature that comes with framing a Budget. For decades, Gary has been successfully able to deliver Budgets that meet the required political demands placed on him but still ensure the organisation stays financially sustainable. It takes a man of great patience to be able to continually make third, fourth and fifth drafts of Budgets and provide financial scenarios of options for Council making sure the right decisions are made.
“As the General Manager of Finance, Gary is required to work directly with all departments across the Council to ensure Budgets are correct, which given the complex nature of engineering particularly is no mean feat. Ensuring that stand-alone infrastructure schemes such as water, waste water and waste collection and disposal requires a superior knowledge of operations as well as finance.
“It does not go unnoticed that Gary works both Saturdays and Sundays as his car can be seen parked on Glendon Street.
“He also works long hours at home each night.
“Gary is also a very personable character with a warm nature and goes out of his way to keep in touch with what his staff and Councillors are up to on a personal level, with further endears him to those work with him.
“He is a model of a Local Government employee who places a value on loyalty to the residents of the region to ensure their rates are spent wisely and that the right financial decisions are made.”
