Playford Council chief executive Mal Hemmerling collects $40,000 each year in allowances
DETAILS of the large allowances paid to South Australia’s highest earning council boss are not on a public register, because councils are not required by law to include them. SEE ALL CEO AND MANAGER SALARIES
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PLAYFORD Council chief executive Mal Hemmerling remains the highest paid council boss in South Australia, an investigation by The Advertiser has shown.
Dr Hemmerling is being paid $366,287, which includes superannuation, a $25,000 vehicle allowance and a $15,000 training and development allowance. His counterpart at Salisbury Council, John Harry, receives $308,667, while Adelaide City Council chief executive Mark Goldstone earns $360,500.
However, details of the allowances are not published on a register of salaries, which each council must keep and have available for public inspection at their offices under the Local Government Act.
Instead, the register only states Dr Hemmerling has “private use of motor vehicle plus training and development allowance”.
Details of the two allowances paid to Dr Hemmerling were obtained by The Advertiser from a report prepared for the Local Government Association last year on council chief executive salaries.
The Advertiser has been told that councils only need to detail the base salaries of their executives on their salary registers, not the financial value of any allowances they receive.
Analysis of the salary registers kept by the 17 Adelaide metropolitan councils showed there was no standard format or consistency, with some disclosing the financial value of allowances while others only stated they were being paid.
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A Playford Council spokeswoman said it published its salary register on its website and regularly updated it, as required by law.
“The City of Playford has published the salary register as per the Local Government Act which requires the specific details of the salary base plus superannuation with mention to other benefits and allowances,” she said.
“We support the standardisation of salary reporting in line with the community’s expectations of transparency across all levels of government.”
Dr Hemmerling has been driving Playford Council’s plan to rejuvenate the Elizabeth area, which has some of the highest unemployment in the state, through the construction of buildings and capital investment.
His 35 salaried executives are amongst the highest paid in metropolitan Adelaide’s 17 councils, with his deputy receiving $267,256 while other managers earn between $132,365 and $241,055. Twelve of them have private use of motor vehicles.
A spokeswoman said Dr Hemmerling — a former chief executive of the Australian Grand Prix, Sydney Olympics and Adelaide City Council — had ensured business confidence in the north had remained strong in the wake of the Holden closure last year.
“In the past three years, Dr Hemmerling and his team have developed an aggressive plan to create more than 4000 jobs and generate over $420 million of investment — 87 per cent of which is private investment,” she said.
“Following the closure of the General Motors Holden plant in Elizabeth, it was predicted the City of Playford would experience an economic meltdown impacting not only Playford but the state.
“It is important Playford had an experienced administrator with the skills and contacts to seek out investment and create the base for a solid future for the fastest-growing council in the state.”
The spokeswoman said because of Dr Hemmerling’s leadership, the economic collapse in the north post-Holden had not happened.
“Dr Hemmerling is an experienced and highly respected operator with the skills and contacts to seek out and secure investment and create the base for a solid future for the fastest-growing council in South Australia,” she said.
“Our council is commercially focused with a clear track record of working in partnership and with public and private developers to bring world-class facilities to our community and the state.”
Playford Council, which employs 470 people, has total borrowings of $108.3 million.