Cr James Mackay’s $113 footpath stickers slammed by Labor

Brisbane’s council opposition has slammed a councillor for spending just $113 on stickers to guide students safely to school.

A councillor has been accused by one of his own colleagues of going “a little too far” after using the city’s footpaths and $113 for a little self-promotion.

Labor opposition leader Jared Cassidy took to Twitter at the weekend to slam LNP councillor James Mackay for putting his name and the Brisbane City Council logo on wayfinding stickers in Taringa.

But the LNP administration said the wayfinding dots could be rolled out to more locations across Brisbane, minus the councillor’s name.

The same stickers, which show pedestrians the safest route between Taringa train station and the Queensland Academy of Science, Mathematics and Technology at Toowong, were later spotted with Cr Mackay’s name scratched off.

We thought it was bad enough that @bne_lordmayor had hijacked $6.5m of ratepayer’s money to advertised himself. Now we see his LNP team hijacking the footpaths with their advertising. @brisbanecityqld can we just plaster the footpaths now? pic.twitter.com/drAyamhtWD

— Cr Jared Cassidy (@CrJaredCassidy) February 7, 2021

Cr James Mackay

Cr Cassidy said the use of ratepayer funds indicated a “culture of self-promotion” within council, claiming the LNP administration spent millions on itself.

“Here we have an LNP councillor plastering his name all over public footpaths, to shamelessly advertise himself,” Cr Cassidy said.

“This is a prime example of the lengths Team Schrinner is willing to go, to advertise and promote themselves.”

However, public and active transport chair Ryan Murphy claimed the wayfinding dots only cost $113, or around $3.75 a sticker and praised the idea.

A picture of the sticker with Cr Mackay's name now removed. Picture: Supplied.

“Cr Mackay is a father of a young child and is extremely passionate about keeping everyone safe, so he delivered these creative wayfinding stickers, which received the full support from the school,” Cr Murphy said.

“James may have taken it a little too far by placing his name on the sticker, but we love the concept and are now working up a proposal to get these rolled out across Brisbane, in consultation with schools.”

A sticker bearing Councillor James Mackay's name and the Brisbane City Council logo. Picture: Jared Cassidy.

Cr Murphy said the Labor opposition should’ve congratulated the local councillor’s “cool way to engage with local kids.”

He claimed the stickers guided students to a safer route between QASMT and Taringa station after reports of students crossing the extremely busy Moggill Rd.

“It’s incredibly disappointing the Labor Opposition leader has made petty political comments on Twitter about this safety initiative,” he said.