By NIKKI TODD
BICKERING over how much councillors should be paid is expected to continue tonight with the issue topping the agenda at the monthly Tweed Shire Council meeting.
Councillors last month voted against accepting a recommendation by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) to increase their wages by 2.5 per cent in the new financial year.
The pay rise would have pushed Tweed Mayor Barry Longland’s pay packet up by $930 to $38,160 while his six councillors would have seen their wages rise by $430 per year to $17,490.
But, in their haste, the councillors forgot to give themselves any remuneration at all, necessitating a renewed discussion on the issue tonight when a rescission motion and a proposal by Deputy Mayor Michael Armstrong to support the status quo will be debated.
Cr Armstrong, who juggles his role at council with a full-time position in the office of Federal Labor MP Justine Elliot, said he could not in conscience vote to give himself a pay rise.
“This is about sending out a consistent statement as to how we as a council should be treating our finances,’’ Cr Armstrong said.
“It is difficult from my perspective to be able to justify increasing our own remuneration, even though it is only a token increase, while at the same time asking for efficiencies from council departments.
“We are in a new world where we have rate-pegging back, so there is no capacity to increase our revenues exponentially. We need to look at sending the right signals and that is that we are acting responsibly with ratepayers money to deliver the services that ratepayers demand.’’
Cr Armstrong said calls for councillors to be paid a full-time wage in keeping with their counterparts in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast were a separate issue and being considered by the NSW Government.
“At the moment this is a part-time position, regardless of the hours that each councillor is putting in,’’ he said.
But Cr Longland said he would argue strongly in favour of the pay rise, saying councillors should receive a fairer go for all their hard work.
“I think it is misguided symbolism to suggest that councillors, who are not well paid – I get paid less than my secretary as the mayor of Tweed Shire – should not take a pay rise,’’ Cr Longland said.
“Councillors are paid a pittance, it is like a part-time job at a café or something.
“And a 2.5 per cent increase effectively is a pay cut anyway with inflation of 3.2 per cent according to the ABS. So if you look at that we are actually taking a 0.7 per cent pay cut by accepting that.
“So I will argue that we should adopt what was suggested by IPART. The remuneration tribunal come up with these numbers, it has got nothing to do with councillors trying to money grab.
“Certainly in my case I am working seven days a week.’’
Greens Cr Katie Milne said while she felt the current council deserved more pay than the previous bunch, she could still not support a pay rise.
