Wide Bay-Burnett councillors receive pay increase as farm incomes set to fall 41 per cent

A tale of two industries headed in opposite directions has been revealed with a new report earmarking pay increases for the region’s council members at the same time experts say farming wages are headed the other way.

Mayors and councillors in the Wide Bay-Burnett have been given a pay rise up to more than $6,000 as a recent government analysis shows farm incomes are plummeting.

Mayors and councillors in the Wide Bay Burnett are being given pay rises of up to more than $6000 as the state continues to grapple with rising costs and plummeting incomes in other sectors.

The latest review by the Local Government Remuneration Commission has awarded increases between 3 and 4 per cent for mayors, deputy mayors and councillors in regional councils around the Wide Bay-Burnett.

The independent commission’s report says it took into account a range of factors in determining the maximum pay increases including inflation, public sector wage increases in Queensland and nationally, and the existing disparity between the salary paid to mayors and councillors in regional areas of Queensland when compared to metropolitan locations.

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While the increases are well within the annual wages growth for Queensland of 4.7 per cent, and less than the 10 to 27 per cent pay rises awarded to three other councils around the state, the pay bump comes soon after the federal department of agriculture said it expected average incomes for large-scale cattle and crop operations, the lifeblood of the Wide Bay-Burnett economy, to fall 41 per cent nationally in 2023-24.

The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences executive Director Dr Jared Greenville said drier conditions and lower prices for agricultural commodities will see broadacre farm incomes fall back to levels last seen three years ago.

The federal department of agriculture is predicting broadscale farm incomes to fall by 41 per cent due to drier conditions and lower prices for agricultural commodities.

“Livestock farms will be affected by large decreases in prices for beef cattle and sheep, with sheep farm incomes forecast to be well below average,” Dr Greenville said.

“We are expecting incomes well below the long-term average in parts of northern New South Wales and southern Queensland and the northern parts of the Western Australian cropping zone, mainly due to drier conditions resulting in lower crop yields.”

Bundaberg and Fraser Coast Regional Councils are set to receive the largest pay increases in the region of four per cent, ranging from a $6647 increase for mayors Dempsey and Seymour to a $3848 increase for councillors.

North Burnett Regional Council also received a four per cent increase, but this translated to a much smaller increase in dollar terms with mayor Les Holtz receiving a $4592 increase taking his 2024-25 salary to $119,392.

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Gympie and South Burnett Regional Councils received a three per cent increase, with mayors Glen Hartwig and Brett Otto receiving a $4945 increase to a 20240-25 salary of $146,239.

Mayors and councillors can opt to be paid less than what the tribunal has ruled, but it requires a motion to pass council.

Originally published as Wide Bay-Burnett councillors receive pay increase as farm incomes set to fall 41 per cent