Mayor & Councillors (registers of interest)

Central Highlands Regional Council has nine councillors, including the mayor, who are elected for a four-year term. It is a councillor’s responsibility to make decisions on all areas of policy and budget, including the level and extent of services and works to be provided during the year. Decisions are made on a majority voting system in which each councillor has one vote. If there are an equal number of votes, the mayor has the casting vote. Councillors are your local government representatives and are happy to speak with you about anything happening within the region.

Note: Councillors have social media accounts that they use to express their own personal views and not necessarily those of council. Any councillor that identifies themselves on a social media page as a councillor is bound by the council’s code of conduct policy.

Council Term 2024 – 2028

Pursuant to section 100(3) of the Local Government Electoral Act 2011 (Qld) the following notice of results for the election of the mayor and councillors are published.

Local Government Elections Notice of Results – Mayor

Local Government Elections Notice of Results – Councillors

Councillor Contact Card 

Council Term 2024 – 2028

	Cr Janice Moriarty M: 0418 145 317 mayor@chrc.qld.gov.au Register of interest - April 2024 Register of Interest - December 2024	Mayor Janice Moriarty served as a councillor in the 2020-2024 term and is now serving as Mayor for the 2024-2028 term. Mayor Moriarty has lived in the region for almost 32 years and prior to being elected to council ran her own small consultancy business specialising in community/social development and research projects. Mayor Moriarty’s career highlights include working at the Central Queensland University Emerald campus, Central Highlands Development Corporation (CHDC), the former Department of State Development, Trade and Innovation (Queensland Government) and Central Highlands Regional Council. She holds a Bachelor of Arts, Master of Business Administration and Doctorate focused on regional and rural community planning. Mayor Moriarty is an Associate Fellow of the Institute of Managers and Leaders and is a Graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Mayor Moriarty acknowledges her greatest achievement as raising her three children Shaun, Luke and Emily and being the proud grandmother of six grandchildren who include fifth-generation Moriarty’s living in Emerald. Mayor Moriarty is also pleased to have actively worked with many volunteers over the years in sporting, school, church and community groups. A highlight for Mayor Moriarty has been her involvement with study tours to the region from the University of Queensland which resulted in several hundred international students enjoying and learning about the Central Highlands.
	Cr Rachael Cruwys M: 0418 431 727 r.cruwys@chrc.qld.gov.au Register of interest - April 2024 Register of interest - September 2024 Register of interest - January 2025	Councillor Rachael Cruwys was first appointed to the vacant councillor position left by Cr Natalie Curtis' resignation on 24 May 2023 following a written application and informal ballot process. Cr Cruwys will now serve her first full term of council and is humbled to have been chosen by her fellow councillors as Deputy Mayor.  Cr Cruwys is a lifelong resident of Capella having grown up on a cattle and grain property east of the town. Having both commercial and stud cattle interests, she continues her involvement in the cattle industry. Through her passion for the industry Cr Cruwys was awarded the Samuel and Eileen Gluyas Winston Churchill Fellowship, travelling abroad to research improved genetics and domestic marketability of Brahman cattle.
	Cr Joseph Burns M: 0419 017 968 jburns@chrc.qld.gov.au Register of interest - April 2024 Register of interest - July 2024	Councillor Joseph Burns is serving his second term as a councillor for the Central Highlands Regional Council. Cr Burns was born and raised in Emerald, living in the region for 37 years. Cr Burns works in a supervisory/trainer assessor role for Wolff Mining at Coronado Curragh Mine, Blackwater. Career highlights include studying law at James Cook University, his role as supervisor of dozer push operations, and being one of the first in Australia to learn and operate the Caterpillar Semi Autonomous Tracked Systems (dozers).
	Cr Robert Donaldson M: 0472 789 236 rdonaldson@chrc.qld.gov.au Register of interest - April 2024 Register of interest - July 2024	Councillor Robert Donaldson is serving his first term as a councillor for the Central Highlands Regional Council. Cr Robert Donaldson has lived in the Central Highlands his entire life growing up on a mixed farming property north of Capella, that his family still owns. Cr Donaldson attended Cappella State School for primary education and boarding school in Brisbane for his secondary education. Cr Donaldson pursued further education at Queensland Agricultural College, Gatton.  After Gatton, Cr Donaldson returned home to Capella to work in the family business and worked for Ross Ford Contracting operating dozers for 12 months.   In 1993, Cr Donaldson married his wife Gayle, and they moved to their property just east of Bogantungan. Together they raised four children, two girls who live in Brisbane, and two boys who work in the mining industry and back at home on the farm.
	Cr Craig Hindmarsh M: 0484 387 135 chindmarsh@chrc.qld.gov.au Register of interest - April 2024 Register of interest - July 2024	Councillor Craig Hindmarsh is serving his first term as a councillor for the Central Highlands Regional Council. Cr Craig Hindmarsh moved to the Central Highlands from the North Burnett in 1994 to take up employment at Comet. Since then, Cr Hindmarsh has held various employment positions, most within the Central Highlands region, from feedlot hand, property manager, rural contractor, livestock transport driver, and almost 8 years as a contract rural fuel sales/logistics coordinator covering all corners of the Central Highlands region and beyond. Most recently, Cr Hindmarsh has taken a role as a civil earthmoving operator for a contractor within the mining industry. Cr Hindmarsh and his wife have been permanent residents of the Duaringa district for almost 20 years, raising their three boys and being actively involved with the P & C Association and other local initiatives. From these experiences, Cr Hindmarsh has developed an extensive geographical knowledge of the Central Highlands. Also, through business, Cr Hindmarsh has established an association with a number of people and rural businesses within the region giving Cr Hindmarsh a broad understanding of what residents within the region expect from their council.
	Cr Karen Newman M: 0419 489 772 k.newman@chrc.qld.gov.au Register of interest - April 2024	Councillor Karen Newman is serving her first term as a councillor for the Central Highlands Regional Council. Cr Newman was born in Springsure where she resided for the years prior to coming to Emerald in 2009. Cr Newman has worked as an officer across multiple local government departments over 17 years, specialising in community engagement, development, strategic planning, economic development, along with associated project and program delivery. Cr Newman has a background in the rural sector prior to entering local government and her family have been involved in the transportation industry for numerous generations. Cr Newman has been actively involved in Central Highlands community groups for over 35 years most notably in education, resource industry advisory committees, tourism, innovation, sports, heritage and the arts. Highlights include the Springsure 150 Years celebrations, Community Cabinet advocacy, Central Queensland Priority Country Area Program (PCAP) Advisory Committee and multiple regional events. Cr Newman is a current member of the Australian Institute of Project Management, Australian Smart Communities Association, Welcoming Cities Australia, volunteers in the community and has her own consultancy business.
	Cr Gai Sypher M: 0407 842 622 gsypher@chrc.qld.gov.au Register of interest - April 2024 Register of interest - June 2024	Councillor Gai Sypher is serving her fourth term on council having been first elected in 2012. She believes it is a privilege to serve her communities and works diligently to listen, respond, and achieve. She has always had a strong focus on tourism and is an active participant on the Central Highlands Development Corporation's Tourism Advisory Committee. Cr Sypher has a Bachelor of Arts with majors in Sociological Welfare and Aboriginal Studies, as well as a Master of Management (Human Resources). Cr Sypher is an experienced grant writer and works closely with her community to support them to grow and thrive. She enjoyed an eighteen-year career with Central Queensland University in Emerald in an executive management position, an achievement she rates as a career highlight.
	Cr Christopher Whiteman M: 0436 328 142 cwhiteman@chrc.qld.gov.au Register of interest - April 2024 Register of interest - June 2024	Councillor Christopher Whiteman grew up near Rolleston in the south of the Central Highlands region on a cattle property. Cr Whiteman still lives on a cattle property in the region and has long-term plans to continue living there. Cr Whiteman spent his life working on the land as a grazier and farmer before turning his hand to mining over the last few years and now is adding councillor to his busy schedule. Cr Whiteman’s business experience gives him financial literacy and management skills, his work in the corporate world has given him the ability to work within imperfect systems while keeping goals in mind to achieve efficient outcomes. Cr Whiteman’s spare time is spent focused on family.
	Cr Gillian Wilkins M: 0427 092 705 gwilkins@chrc.qld.gov.au Register of interest - April 2024	Councillor Gillian Wilkins graduated in 1987 from the University of Queensland as a Veterinary Surgeon and although semi-retired from vet practice, she still does the odd locum in Brisbane. Cr Wilkins started her own practice in 2005 and sold it in 2017. The same year, Cr Wilkins moved to Emerald to be with her husband. After Cr Wilkins moved here, she decided on a career change. Cr Wilkins had wanted to be a teacher for a number of years and initially was a Teacher Aid at Emerald SHS, before applying for a teaching degree. Cr Wilkins graduated in July 2020, with a Masters of Teaching (Secondary - Science/Biology and Maths). Cr Wilkins currently does supply teaching and tutoring in between her councillor obligations. Since moving to Emerald, Cr Wilkins has loved the small-town lifestyle and becoming a councillor is a way for her to ensure this lifestyle is maintained or improved upon.  Cr Wilkins says it’s a pleasure working with the other councillors and mayor who all seem to have an eclectic collection of ability and knowledge.