Mackay Regional Council appoints Scott Owen as new CEO

The military man boasts extensive experience at Queensland’s largest council in Brisbane, overseeing a budget of $900m. Here’s what else we know about our new CEO.

Mackay Regional Council has appointed a military man with extensive local government experience to lead the administration.

Scott Owen, selected from a list of candidates and formally endorsed by council this week, spent 10 years in the British Armed Forces, including two tours in Afghanistan.

For the past four years, he has held senior executive roles at Brisbane City Council, Queensland’s largest council.

As the BCC executive for city standards, he was responsible for a 2000-strong workforce and a combined budget expenditure of $900m.

Altogether, Mr Owens has six years’ experience in local government, including a stint at Townsville City Council.

Mackay Regional Council CEO Scott Owen. Picture: Contributed

“I’m excited to be back in North Queensland and am looking forward to embedding myself into the Mackay community,” he said.

“My personal goals in local government are built around simplifying operations and removing red tape to deliver the ratepayer and the community with a great council experience.”

He will now oversee a $400m budget and some 1100 staff and in a conversation with Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson, said he would look for ways to enhance the liveability of Mackay.

“It is not about the size of the budget or the amount of people, it is about how we deliver the work,” he said.

Mr Williamson said it was “fantastic” to have Mr Owen on board.

“We are really looking forward to this next period of development of MRC with Scott as the CEO,” he said.

Mr Owens replaces acting CEO Angela Hays, who took over from former CEO Michael Thompson after Mr Thompson stood down in March for health reasons.

Mr Owen officially begins his job on November 30.