New mayors at Barcaldine, Longreach, Barcoo, Diamantina shires

Cr Dillon, 37, became a councillor at the 2016 local government elections and said it was his concern over a lack of transparency around key council decisions that partly prompted him to stand for mayor this time round.

One of four candidates, he defeated long-term mayor Rob Chandler with 835 votes to 713 after preferences were distributed.

He is one of four changes at the top of western Queensland councils - Tony Rayner will lead the Longreach Regional Council, while Barcoo Shire Council works manager Sally O'Neil is the new mayor there, and Robbie Dare has returned after eight years to reclaim the mayor's position at the Diamantina Shire Council.

Two western Queensland mayors were re-elected - Andrew Martin at Blackall-Tambo and Gavin Baskett at Winton, while Boulia's Rick Britton was re-elected unopposed.

Cr Dillon said it became obvious during the last Barcaldine council term that he and the previous mayor had different styles.

"There's a finite amount of money to use but I think we can have a consultative approach around things like road maintenance - I'm keen to re-establish a partnership," he said.

This would include community forums before and after budgets and decision-making that shared different costing options.

"I think there's a better way to engage, rather than making assumptions," he said. "It's not a chance to subvert our responsibility but respect has to go back to the community."

He would like to move quickly to video recordings of meetings that would be available within hours on the council website, rather than livestream meetings, saying internet speeds at Muttaburra and Aramac made that less than ideal.

Read more: Ireland replaces Ludwig at Livingstone shire

The poll for Barcaldine's councillors remained undeclared on Monday afternoon and may yet be recounted, with 10 votes separating the sixth and seventh positions.

The three existing councillors will be returned - Milynda Rogers received 1261 votes, Beccy Plumb 1038 votes, and Gary Peoples had 986 votes - while two of the new councillors will be Tom Gleeson with 1118 votes, and Daniel Arthur on 850 votes.

Fighting for the last position are Col Hansen with 713 votes and former councillor Russ Glindemann with 703 votes.

The biggest challenge for the incoming council will be keeping non-agricultural businesses alive through the COVID-19 crisis, Cr Dillon said.

"We're unlikely to see tourism bounce back so we've got to see enough support for those businesses to keep the doors open until tourism returns, which could be 12 months away," he said.

Otherwise, the main challenge would be to ensure traditional industries were provided with the tools they need to be productive - roads, funding for exclusion fencing, and access to water.

"Local government has definitely got a charter to represent ratepayers on issues like vegetation management," he said. "I expect we'll be making representations to the state government on a number of things as soon as councillors are sworn in."

Longreach results

Another existing councillor also made the step up to head their council when Tony Rayner was declared the victor in the Longreach Regional Council mayoralty contest with agribusiness consultant Brecken Curtis.

Cr Rayner finished with 1084 votes, or 55 per cent of the vote, to Mr Curtis' 870 votes.

He said that along with the rest of the world, his primary focus was minimising the risk to his communities of coronavirus and would be working with state and federal governments to help businesses overcome the economic impacts.

The council has already engaged a specialist accountant to provide advice to people working their way through the assistance provided by federal and state governments.

As far as rate relief went, Cr Rayner said the discount period had already been extended but further concessions and assistance measures could only be discussed once the council had been sworn in.

There will be two new Longreach councillors, Tracy Hatch from Ilfracombe, who secured the third highest number of votes, 1557, and Dale Bignell from Isisford, with 1219 votes.

Topping the council poll was current deputy mayor Leonie Nunn (1786 votes), followed by existing councillors Tony Martin (1572 votes), Tony Emslie (1533 votes), and Trevor Smith (1507 votes).

Barcoo results

Dianne Pidgeon is the only Barcoo Shire Council representative with any prior experience following the declaration of the poll there.

Sally O'Neil will be the shire's new mayor, receiving 103 votes to Shane Buckley's 68 votes.

Cr Pidgeon received 132 votes, followed by Roger Batt with 113 votes, Ingrid Miller on 102 votes, and Andrew Miller with 84 votes.

Tony Jackson was one vote off the pace with 83 votes.

Diamantina results

Former mayor Robbie Dare has made a barnstorming return to the top job out on the Diamantina, receiving 52pc of the vote after preferences.

Former mayor Geoff Morton received 23pc and another challenger Michael Dunne finished with 24pc of the vote.

Mr Dare, 65, retired from local government at the 2012 election and was breeding thoroughbred horses and Angus cattle at Toowoomba when he decided to take another tilt at the mayor's job.

He still owns the roadhouse at Bedourie and campaigned on a platform of getting the shire moving again.

Diamantina Shire councillors to be returned are Doug Cooms (79 votes), Steve Cramer (75) and Don Rayment (60), while Francis Murray (84 votes) is the new councillor replacing the retiring Bev Maunsell.

Winton results

After winning the by-election for mayor in 2017, Gavin Baskett has won his first general election as mayor for the Winton shire.

He received 458 votes to fellow councillor Travis Harbour's 265 votes.

Four women make up the majority of Winton's five council positions, three of them new faces.

Joining exisiting councillor Tina Elliott, who received 566 votes, are Sandy Gillies (421 votes), Anne Seymour (396 votes) and Cathy White (370 votes), along with Shane 'Boo' Mann (468 votes).

Ms Seymour has previously been a councillor at Mount Isa.

Blackall-Tambo results

It is largely business as usual for the Blackall-Tambo community, with Tambo grazier Andrew Martin returned as mayor with 65pc of the vote against Blackall grazier Peter Skewes.

New councillor David Hardie topped the poll with 981 votes and previous councillor Grahame 'Foot' Schluter has made a return with 632 votes.

The four re-elected councillors are Lindsay Russell (893), Boyd Johnstone (854), Pam Pullos (809) and Jane Scobie (802).

Boulia results

Joining mayor Rick Britton on council benches at Boulia are two re-elected councillors Sam Beauchamp (145 votes) and Jack Neilson (139 votes), along with new councillors Jan Norton (99 votes) and Tim Edgar (91 votes).