June 27, 2018
The South Burnett Regional Council will lose its most senior officer this Friday when CEO Gary Wall retires after a 47-year career in local government.
New CEO Mark Pitt will be stepping into Mr Wall’s shoes next Monday, July 2.
Gary started working with the former Kingaroy Shire Council as a pay clerk soon after he finished high school, and over the years steadily moved through the ranks to eventually become Kingaroy Shire Council’s chief financial officer.
He was appointed as General Manager of Finance when the South Burnett Regional Council was formed in 2008, one of the new Council’s five most senior roles.
Later, he was made Acting CEO from November 2014 until he was confirmed in the role in February 2015, beating a field of 45 candidates.
At Monday’s annual Budget meeting, Mr Wall reflected on his time with both Councils and the most significant changes he’d seen during almost five decades behind a desk.
The first that immediately sprang to mind was computers.
Mr Wall said when he started work at Kingaroy Shire Council, the office only owned one calculator and it could only be used by the Shire’s engineers.
Because of this, Mr Wall had to process the payroll for 120 staff by hand.
And when the Council finally purchased its first true computer, it was so big it filled a room all by itself.
“These days there’s more processing power in something the size of your fingernail,” he said, noting that computers of all shapes and sizes were now commonplace in all council offices and were increasingly being used in council equipment as well.
The second big change was the construction of Tarong Power Station in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and the growth that followed it.
Mr Wall said this helped turn Kingaroy from a sleepy agricultural town into a regional centre.
The third big change was the 2008 Council amalgamations.
The merging of four shires into one region had been challenging at the time, but he thought it had generally been a good thing.
“I’ve seen so much infrastructure upgraded (since amalgamation), particularly in the smaller towns, and that simply would not have been done.”
The fourth major change was the rise of social media, which had opened up councillors and staff to 24-hour scrutiny.
“It’s now so easy to share information that’s inaccurate or completely false,” he said.
“This gains momentum and eventually becomes the truth in readers’ minds, and this has made our roles far more challenging.”
Mr Wall said he’d delayed his retirement slightly because he had put a lot of work into the 2018-19 Budget and was keen to see it passed.
This year’s Budget will be returning an operating surplus, the first time this has occurred since amalgamation.
Mr Wall said getting the balance right means he can start his retirement knowing he had left the council on a sustainable footing.
“(This) Budget is special for me,” Mr Wall said.
“It has been a long and difficult task to finally get back to surplus and I’m really proud to be leaving council in that state,” he said.
Mayor Keith Campbell said he would miss having Gary in the office.
“From the outset Gary’s focus has been on organisational sustainability, improving and streamlining processes and ensuring Council resources are used prudently,” the Mayor said.
“His focus on the bottom line has seen him leading efficiency reviews across the organisation as well as independent external financial reviews.
“Gary’s succession planning for the organisation has been significant.
“He also led Council’s participation in our youth employment and traineeship programs, which drew 166 applications for 10 positions this year.
“Being a long-term resident of Kingaroy, Gary has been involved with school P&Cs and a number of sporting clubs, as well as being a board member of SBCare and the South Burnett Community Hospital Foundation.”
Mr Wall said he plans to use his retirement to spend more time with his family, as well as continuing to contribute to the community.
