The Moreland Council has their ‘allowance’ for the next four financial years fixed at $31,444 for Councillors and $100,434 the Mayor per annum.
Cnr Bolton recently argued that both the position of the Mayor and the Councillors should be pegged at the median Australian wage of $49,805.00 for the Mayor and $24,902.50 for Councillors. This figure is meant to represent the ‘part-time’ nature of a Councillor.
Indeed, most Councillors have full-time or part-time jobs, as the position of a Councillor does not pay the bills and expenses for people with families.
Having Councillor’s wages set so low (with the exception of the highly sought after Mayoral position) is problematic. Local council is the tier of government that is most intimately involved with and accessible by their constituents. Although many areas of life are governed by state and federal laws, local governments have a surprisingly broad remit. The role of the Council as a whole is to provide good governance for the benefit and wellbeing of the municipal community. Council can perform any duties or functions or exercise any powers conferred on it.
Because Councillors are required to remain employed whilst serving in office (as opposed to the other tiers of government) councillors lack the time and energy to think creatively and strategically about what they can do in their role and with their powers. Most months, Councillors are swamped by 300-page long agendas that they need to spend their spare time understanding and forming quick opinions on.
There is certainly an argument for keeping the Council truly representative of its constituents; working people juggling the pressures of life. However, most people work too much to consider taking on another job, especially taking on a role in a proactive and engaged way.
We should have a local government that can afford to pause, reflect and think seriously about the matters affecting their municipality. We want people who care deeply about local politics vying for a spot on Council and we want to ensure that those committed candidates are not being prevented from running in the first place. We want parents, people with dependants, people with disabilities and people without jobs to be able to run for council. We also want young people to see local council as a valuable and valued role in society; not something that people can or should just do in their spare time.
In order to achieve this, we need Councillor’s to do their work full-time.
You could be forgiven for thinking that the Moreland Council is fighting over scraps, but it is worth mentioning that the CEO of the Moreland Council can get upwards of $360,001 per annum. Perhaps wages should be distributed more equally to cover an increased allowance for our elected representatives.
By ES
The Coburg Meddler 