August 20, 2026
South Burnett mayor Kathy Duff has assured local businesspeople that Council is sustainable and running “a very, very tight ship”.
The mayor was speaking at a Kingaroy Chamber of Commerce and Industry meet’n’greet, hosted by the South Burnett Regional Council, in the Kingaroy Town Hall Reception Room on July 28.
Mayor Duff said Council’s 2.95 per cent rate rise for residential properties and 3.95 per cent for commercial properties were probably the lowest in Queensland this year.
“I campaigned on affordable rates by cutting the waste, and that’s what we have been doing,” the Mayor said.
“We have been delivering efficiencies where we can, we have found lots of places and we’re running a very, very tight ship.”
She said Council had cut back spending on consultants.
“Millions of dollars were being spent on consultants. We’ve been very careful to grow our own,” she said.
“We are now doing our own traffic control … we’ve taken over the Animal Management Centre … we’ve done a lot of internal reviews.
“We’ve actually done a whole restructure of our organisation and this Budget we’re going to get the depots back in the towns and have locals working locally which will save on travelling costs and increase our efficiencies.”
She said Council also had no new borrowings and had cut its borrowings from over $30 million in 2021-22 to $17 million in this Budget.
“We’re proud to have delivered that,” the Mayor said.
But she said massive savings could still be made from stopping waste going to landfills.
Mayor Duff urged businesses to sort more recyclables from industrial and commercial waste, to stop it going to tips.
“That would be a major saving to our Council,” she said.
Mayor Duff said the SBRC had a $34 million cash buffer and emphasised the forecast deficit of $3.5 million was “unfunded depreciation”, ie. assets that never have to be replaced.
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Other guest speakers were:
- Cr Danita Potter said $500,000 had been set aside in the Budget for a detailed design for the Kingaroy Swimming Pool; and $8.2 million for upgrades to the Gordonbrook water storage to allow Kingaroy to expand.
- New Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise chair Ian Macfarlane and incoming CEO Jo Sheppard also spoke. TSBE now has about 500 members including some in the South Burnett. Mr Macfarlane said agriculture had changed over the years. Farmers on the Darling Downs had looked at other options, or options that complemented what they were already doing. He said the gas boom had delivered millions of dollars to Western Downs farmers, putting a base under their incomes so they were not as affected by droughts etc. Ms Sheppard said TSBE was helping farmers and businesses to make informed decisions about the opportunities available.
- Katie Mulder, from the Queensland Renewable Energy Council, said there were about 10 to 12 renewable energy projects at different stages in the South Burnett region, including solar farms and battery storage. She said not all of them would make it to construction stage “but a good chunk of them will”. She said local participation in these projects was very important, and the QREC was encouraging its members to work closely with local Chambers of Commerce and organisations such as TSBE.
The video from Visit South Burnett’s “Wouldn’t You Like To Be In My Shows” tourism promotion project was also played during the meet’n’greet.
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Stanwell will be hosting the September KCCI meet’n’greet at the KCCI Hub, 195 Kingaroy Street, Kingaroy.
The meeting will be held from 5:15pm on Tuesday, September 8.
Guest speakers will include Stanwell general manager southern generation Mick Joy and acting manager mining, Anthony Goodger.
Golding general manager mining Cliff Dickson will also be introducer; Golding recently took over operations at the Meandu coal mine.
Crime Stoppers CEO David Hansen will also be introducing the “Eyes On The Street” app.
Cost to attend is $15 for members or $20 for non-members.
RSVP by email before September 6.
