February 16, 2024
South Burnett Regional Council CEO Mark Pitt PSM addressed a State Government committee this week discussing proposed amendments to legislation which could affect the rates paid by resources companies.
Mr Pitt was part of a small delegation from the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ).
LGAQ CEO Alison Smith proposed the establishment of a Local Government advisory panel to further explore the amendments.
The suggested changes are to four Resource Acts.
Amongst other proposals, they would mandate the payment of applicable local government rates and charges as a condition of a resource authority.
They would also allow the Department of Resources to take action against a resources company if their rates and charges were unpaid, and take this into consideration when processing any application for a permit renewal.
Ms Smith said these amendments were necessary as without them, “rogue” mining companies could continue to get a free ride.
Quilpie Shire Council CEO Justin Hancock shared the experience of his council where a resources company had converted a number of leases from exploration to production, increasing the area of rateable land by 270 per cent.
The Council had calculated the outstanding rates on this land would be more than $6.3 million by June 30, 2024, however the company had not entered into any long-term payment plan and was now not returning emails.
“If a household were not to pay their rates, there are mechanisms to essentially sell and recover the rates but unfortunately at the moment Council doesn’t have an opportunity to sell leases when they’re unpaid,” Mr Hancock said.
“They’re returned to the State which leaves Council basically without an ability to recover any outstanding rates at all.”
Earlier in the day, representatives from the Queensland Resources Council argued against some of the changes, sharing examples of massive rates hikes by councils.
However, Mr Pitt said statistics about rate jumps could be misleading and overlooked the impact of projects.
He cited the example of the Kingaroy Solar Farm which will shift from rural production to energy production.
There were also other issues.
Mr Pitt said the Coopers Gap Wind Farm had been in production for three years but with no rates change on the project.
“There is no lease area around the actual turbines so there was no valuation. We can’t rate unless there is a valuation,” he said.
He said the rural producers had been “a human shield” up until now.
“Those lease areas have (now) been finalised so this was the first year that we’ve able to rate Coopers Gap as energy production.”
The SBRC had written to the affected landholders advising them that their rating would change, and the leasing would change in accordance with the new valuations, prior to the last lot of rates notices.
The public hearing was held in Brisbane on Monday.
Footnote: The proposed amendments to these Acts could also streamline the process of transferring land held as reserves (eg: some showgrounds) to freehold land, and simplify the various categories of reserve land, a proposal put forward by the South Burnett Regional Council and adopted at an LGAQ conference but which was not discussed on Monday. The amendments could also have implications for some Deed Of Grant In Trust (DOGIT) land, held by First Nations communities.
The South Burnett is fortunate to have a CEO of such calibre, integrity and a genuinely decent person.
I hope the rumour now being fuelled on social media that he will be sacked should a certain mayoral candidate be elected, are just the thoughts of idle minds – and not connected to the mayoral candidates whose corflutes have been included with those social media posts.
To maintain their integrity, the candidates whose corflutes have appeared in these posts should make public statements about whether asking a new council to support their agenda to sack a CEO is part of their plan.
It is important we care about our all of our community and the people who make it a better place.
The Private Hospital development is a credit to the CEO and the way he has been able to bring the councillors along to support this development is another of the ways he contributes to the South Burnett succeeding.
I endorse the comments of John and the integrity and capacity of CEO Mark Pitt.
He is a very confident, capable and intelligent Chief Executive Officer and well recognised among his peers throughout Queensland, as per the article.
His most recent achievement with the Private Hospital development is a master stroke that will contribute enormously to the South Burnett’s medical needs.
However, a recent Facebook post by “Bevan Collingwood is with Kathy Duff” was alarming and needs to be taken seriously by voters in the forthcoming elections. This post articulates Cr Duff’s five point plan but exhibits displeasure with the CEO.
If Kathy Duff becomes Mayor, does this possibly mean that current CEO Mark Pitt will be sacked? This street talk has been going on for weeks and now it appears confirmed by Collingwood.
We want the disharmony of the past four years to stop and move on productively.
Mr Pitt is the best CEO our Council has ever had. His work on the $130 million health precinct is a masterstroke and just one of many significant accomplishments this man has made in the past few years since he moved to our region.
I’d also like to remind any critics that Mr Pitt has a PSM after his name, awarded because of his many decades of outstanding work in local government. We would be extremely foolish to lose his expertise.