Wide Bay Burnett’s highest paid public servants of 2023
Australia’s top bureaucrats are in the multi-millionaire’s club, and while the highest ranked bureaucrats in the Wide Bay and Burnett are not in that stratosphere, they are still on big bucks. See who the biggest earners are.
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Many of Australia’s top bureaucrats are in the multi-millionaire’s club, and while the highest ranked bureaucrats of the Wide Bay and Burnett are not in that stratosphere, more than a few rake in $400,000+ each year.
The Queensland Premier herself only mades $427,500 in 2022.
These are the 16 highest publicly reported salaries of the senior members of the Wide Bay and Burnett’s public service, as outlined in annual reports for their individual departments and organisations.
All details are from the latest reports available.
16. Ana Rodger, TAFE East Coast General Manager
The TAFE east coast general manager Ana Rodger was paid $262,000 in remuneration in the 2021-22 financial year.
This was about $15,000 less than the remuneration reported for the same role in 2020-21.
Ms Rodger has been working with TAFEs across the state since the early 2000s, initially spending more than five years as the chief financial officer of the Tropical North Queensland TAFE.
15. Annette Scott, Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service
The chief of the Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service, which includes Kingaroy, Murgon and Nanango, was reported to have been paid $265,000 in 2022, including a $241,000 base salary.
Ms Scott took over the role in April of the that year, replacing Dr Peter Gillies who moved across to the Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service in September 2021.
Dr Gillie’s reported salary with the DDHHS was $560,000 in the 2020-21 financial year, and $147,000 in 2021-22 (full details further down the list).
Before stepping into the top job Ms Scott was the executive director at Allied Health Services at the Darling Downs Health Service, and was awarded the Public Service Medal at the 2021 Queen’s Birthday Honours for her outstanding contributions to the state’s health.
14. Robert Jennings, Gympie Regional Council CEO
Like the majority of the Wide Bay Burnett’s councils, the full salary of Gympie Regional Council’s top position is not disclosed in the council’s annual report.
The council reported all four of its senior management were paid between $200,000 and $300,000 for the 2021-2022 financial year.
Mr Jennings did not join the council until March 2023, with the position previously held by acting CEO David Lewis following the sudden departure of Shane Gray in January 2022.
The council’s newest chief executive moved to Gympie following a four-year run as the CEO of Katherine Town Council, a three-year run as the CEO of Alice Springs council, and time in the Shire of Nannup too.
13. Debbie Carroll, Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service CEO
Debbie Carroll took home $327,000 in 2021-22, the Wide Bay Hospital and Health reports, including $291,000 in monetary benefits.
Ms Carroll began her health career as a general nurse at Mackay Base Hospital in 1981.
She graduated from Central Queensland University, moving into senior health positions in north and central Queensland health services before joining the WBHHS as an executive director at Bundaberg.
12. Gympie magistrate Bevan Hughes
Magistrate Bevan Hughes was sworn into the courts in August 2021, joining Gympie’s court in August 2023 after serving across the Cairns, Cape York and Torres Strait Island regions.
Mr Hughes was a former member of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal, and is still part of the Magistrates Domestic and Family Violence Committee and Therapeutic Jurisprudence Committee.
Each of the region’s magistrates wages were recorded at $368,478 in 2022.
11. Bundaberg magistrate John McInnes
Bundaberg magistrate John McInnes was appointed to the state’s magistrates courts in 2019, after working for more than two decades as part of the state’s Legal Aid service.
His background includes working as a criminal defence barrister, having first been admitted in 1995.
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Each of the region’s magistrates wages were recorded at $368,478 in 2022.
10. Hervey Bay magistrate Trinity McGarvie
Hervey Bay Magistrate Trinity McGarvie was appointed to the state’s Magistrates courts in 2019.
Ms McGarvie was a former partner at Suthers George Lawyers at Maryborough, initially heading to Mt Isa’s courts before returning to the Fraser Coast’s city’s larger city.
Each of the region’s magistrates wages were recorded at $368,478 in 2022.
9. Maryborough magistrate John Milburn
Maryborough magistrate John Milburn was appointed to the courts in 2022.
Mr Milburn was principal of the McCarthy Durie Milburn, Milburn Guttridge, and Milburn’s Law firms for more than 30 years, beginning practice as a barrister in 2016.
He finished in the role in 2020, first becoming a magistrate at Gladstone before moving to Maryborough’s courts.
Each of the region’s magistrates wages were recorded at $368,478 in 2022.
8. Kingaroy magistrate Andrew Sinclair
Andrew Sinclair sits at the Kingaroy Magistrates Court having been first appointed in the state in 2017.
A former Queensland Supreme Court barrister first appointed in 1989, Mr Sinclair worked on the Fitzgerald Inquiry and as a Crown prosecutor for the Special Prosecutions Office.
He spent 10 years working privately at Cairns and the Sunshine Coast.
Each of the region’s magistrates wages were recorded at $368,478 in 2022.
7. Bundaberg magistrate Edwina Rowan
Edwina Rowan was appointed to the Bundaberg Magistrates Court in January 2022.
Ms Rowan served as a solicitor at Charltons Lawyers Bundaberg before the appointment, practising in family and criminal law as well as being president of the city’s Law Association.
In 2019, she won the prestigious Agnes McWhinney award, named for Queensland’s first woman solicitor in celebration of women who “forge new pathways” for themselves and their peers.
Each of the region’s magistrates wages were recorded at $368,478 in 2022.
6. Margot Stork, North Burnett Regional Council CEO
Margot Stork’s exact remuneration is not detailed in the council’s latest annual report, but the council reports one senior executive’s contract salary for the 2021-22 was listed between the $300,000-$400,000 range, while two others were $200,000-$300,000.
This was in comparison to 2020-2021, when all three senior staff members were within the $200,000-$300,000 band.
It should be noted Ms Stork took over from former CEO Rachel Cooper in the middle of the financial year.
Ms Stork has spent more than two decades working across councils and state governments, and she holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration.
5. Mark Pitt, South Burnett Regional Council CEO
The exact wage for South Burnett Regional Council CEO Mark Pitt is not outlined in the annual report.
The council reports one of its four senior staff members has a salary of more than $300,000.
Mr Pitt has held the top job at the council since 2018, and his contract was renewed for another four years in 2022.
His background includes time spent at councils including Bulloo Shire, Cook Shire, Northern Midlands, and North Burnett Regional.
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4. Steve Johnston, Bundaberg Regional Council CEO
Bundaberg Regional Council’s annual report lists only one senior executive with a salary between $350,000 to $450,000, with reporting at the time CEO Steve Johnston’s contract was renewed putting the figure at $428,699.
Mr Johnston’s background has included time as CEO with three councils across New South Wales and Queensland.
In 2009 and 2010 he was the CEO of the national Planning Institute Australia, and has been in Bundaberg’s top job since 2017.
3. Ken Diehm, Fraser Coast Regional Council CEO
The Fraser Coast Council was the only one of the Wide Bay Burnett councils to outline the full details of Ken Diehm’s pay packet for the year.
Across the 2021-22 financial year his full remuneration was $444,120, including $387,620 in gross salary and a capped superannuation of $27,500.
Queensland councils are not required to detail the specifics of CEO contracts.
Mr Diehm has been with the council since 2017, and in 2020 his contract was extended for another five years.
The council’s website lists his formers rolls as including working as CEO of the City of Greater Geraldton in Western Australia, and time as the was the director of Water and Waste at Townsville City Council and as CEO of NQ Water.
2. Dr Peter Gillies, Sunshine Coast Health and Hospital Service CEO
Dr Peter Gillies received a $482,000 pay packet for his work in the top job at the Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service in 2021-22.
The 25-year medical veteran joined the SCHHS in September 2021, moving across from the Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service.
Dr Gillies’ medical career has taken him across the globe, including work in South Africa and the United Kingdom.
He worked as a doctor for more than 25 years and has worked in South Africa and the United Kingdom.
1. Glenn Stockton, SunWater CEO
The leader of northern Queensland’s water service received a total of $657,000 in remuneration in the 2021-22 financial year.
The organisation covers not only Bundaberg, the Fraser Coast and the Burnett regions, but stretches north to Townsville, making it one of the largest quangos in the state.
Mr Stockton’s previous stints included director and board chairman of the Pulse Partnerships Consortium delivering the Cross River Rail, director and Chief Executive Officer of the ACT Light Rail project, and time served as a colonel in the Royal Australian Engineers.
He is a member of the Order of Australia.
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