$100k ‘wasted’ on brochure featuring new Lord Mayor

Labor councillors have slammed a new pamphlet featuring Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner as a waste of almost $100,000 in ratepayer funds.

RATEPAYERS have shelled out nearly $100,000 on pamphlets sent to thousands of Brisbane homes featuring a picture of newly installed Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner.

Labor councillors have slammed the spend as a waste of ratepayer funds, suggesting it was a ploy to boost the profile of the new Lord Mayor ahead of next year’s council election.

The Courier-Mail can reveal the pamphlet, which spruiked the LNP’s pet Brisbane Metro project, was sent out to at least half a million homes across the city.

Labor councillor Jared Cassidy said the move was “political advertising funded by ratepayers writ large”.

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Labor councillor Jared Cassidy suggested the move was about boosting the profile of the newly installed Lord Mayor. Picture: Peter Cronin

“I think people would be pretty disgusted to find out that $100,000 of our rates money has gone to promoting the Lord Mayor in a pamphlet that tells us nothing new,” he said.

“(This administration is) all to willing to grab hold of ratepayers’ money to use it for self-promotion leading up to an election.”

Cr Cassidy said the $99,900 spent on the brochures should have gone to other services in the community, such as new footpaths.

He said the council’s current advertising policy wasn’t strong enough given “we’ve never seen an administration stoop to the lows they have”.

“We’ve got a situation where their biggest source of income — developer donations — has now dried up and they’ve now become inventive,” he said.

In response to questions put to Cr Schrinner, a council spokeswoman insisted all council-funded communications were governed by a strict policy that ensured political parties were not mentioned.

The pamphlet featured a picture of new Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner and was sent to at least half a million Brisbane homes. Picture: AAP/Richard Walker

“The (council) CEO’s office has oversight of this,” she said.

“The Lord Mayor has a responsibility to communicate and engage with residents about projects and services that impact their day-to-day life.”

The Courier-Mail revealed earlier this year that Local Government Minister Stirling Hinchliffe was considering a new advertising code of conduct for all councils under a suite of reforms to local government.

The LNP administration has previously come under fire for their use of ratepayer funds for ads, including a recent spend of $34,640 on a segment on Channel 7 TV show Great Day Out featuring then-lord mayor Graham Quirk.