Brisbane City Council office holders paid hefty extra allowance

As a massive extra allowance for Brisbane City Council office bearers comes to light, we can also reveal your councillor’s position on the generous superannuation they receive — at twice the rate of everyday workers.

MASSIVE expense-of-office allowances paid directly into the personal bank accounts of Brisbane’s most senior councillors are being treated like additional taxable income for them to spend on whatever they want.

The Sunday Mail can reveal the allowances, which are paid to the lord mayor, opposition leader and council chairs, can be spent on any personal expenses, with none of their purchases documented or recorded.

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In the last financial year, the lord mayor was entitled to an expense-of-office allowance of almost $100,000 on top of a salary of $265,549, while the council’s eight chairs and opposition leader received $20,320 each.

The allowances have been paid directly to the personal bank accounts of office holders since 1994, with the lord mayoral allowance first established in 1925.

It is also reviewed by the independent tribunal that determines councillor salaries, and cost ratepayers $282,647 in the 2018-19 financial year.

All council chairs already earn a salary of over $200,000 a year, while the Opposition Leader receives a salary of about $177,031.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner defended the allowance, but would not say if he believed it should be paid to his personal bank account, or if records of purchases made with the allowance should be publicly available.

“We firmly believe that no lord mayor or councillor should be setting their own salary or allowances, which is why the LNP introduced the Independent Councillor Remuneration Tribunal,” he said.

“These allowances were examined and reviewed at the last independent tribunal meeting in 2017 and the allowances are publicly reported in the Brisbane City Council Annual Report.”

A council spokesman confirmed the allowance was treated as “taxable income”.

“In 1994, the Labor council introduced the direct payment of the expense-of-office allowance that was modelled on the Federal Government system and is still in operation today,” the spokesman said.

Local Government Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said while remuneration was a matter for the council, he suggested there were a number of issues of inconsistency between Brisbane City Council and other local governments.

“This is another thing that might inform thoughts… about how remuneration issues are dealt with,” he said.

The revelation comes after The Sunday Mail last week revealed Brisbane councillors were receiving superannuation benefits of 20 per cent – more than double what the average worker earns and above what councillors in other major cities receive.

Cr Schrinner last week moved for the independent tribunal that sets councillor salaries to reconvene before the end of the year to sort out the massive super payments.

The tribunal had not previously considered super, with the current scheme introduced under Labor lord mayor Jim Soorley in 1995.

Cr Schrinner last week said he did not have a view on how much the super rate should be.

“My view is it should be set independently and not by politicians,” he said.

“You will get the best outcome here, the fairest outcome, the right outcome, if it’s done independently.”

Patrick Condren

Adrian Schrinner

Labor lord mayoral candidate Patrick Condren said the expense-of-office allowance should not be paid directly to the personal bank accounts.

“There needs to be openness and accountability,” he said.

“The ratepayers of Brisbane deserve to know how their elected officials are spending their – in terms of the ratepayers – hard-earned money.

“I would certainly commit to an auditing process that would allow openness and accountability.

“It’s a no-brainer.”

Mr Condren said he did not understand why there would not be any oversight on how the allowance was spent.

The remuneration tribunal has previously indicated allowances for councillors should be removed, suggesting they be rolled into the salary of the office-holder instead.

The tribunal did not however make any specific recommendations and said they would monitor recommendations made by the Queensland Independent Remuneration Tribunal – which has not taken any action on allowances in recent years.

Almost every LNP councillor refused to comment on whether they believed they should be receiving 20 per cent super. One – Cr Andrew Wines – said he supported the Lord Mayor’s proposal.

Labor councillors suggested the superannuation payments should be linked to the benefits permanent council staff receive.

Council Opposition Leader Jared Cassidy said he believed the 20 per cent super payments did not meet community expectations.

“It should be brought in line with what the community would expect,” he said.

“A good starting point would be in line with council employees.”

Independent councillor Nicole Johnston said all salaries and super payments for councillors should be tied to council staff entitlements.

Greens councillor Jonathan Sri said councillor super benefits and salaries should be dramatically reduced.

Council staff are entitled to 14 per cent super if they personally contribute 5 per cent of their salary.

HOW OTHER COUNCILLORS RESPONDED

Do you think Brisbane City councillors should receive 20% superannuation?

Andrew Wines, Enoggera (LNP):

I support the Lord Mayor’s proposal.

Jared Cassidy, Deagon (ALP):

I don’t believe that meets the community expectation of what a councillor should receive. A good starting point would be in line with council employees.

Kara Cook, Morningside (ALP):

No, I don’t think councillors should receive 20 per cent superannuation. When I was elected in January 2018 I was astounded that the superannuation was so high. I think superannuation should be paid at the same rate as Brisbane City Council employees and should be independently reviewed as a priority.

Peter Cumming, Wynnum Manly (ALP):

No. Given what community standards are, I think it is too generous.

Jonathan Sri, The Gabba (Greens):

No. Not only should we have a dramatic reduction in super, but we should be also talking about drastically reducing councillors’ base salary. Councillors are ridiculously overpaid.

Steve Griffiths, Moorooka (ALP):

I think that it should be reviewed by the independent tribunal.

Charles Strunk, Forest Lake (ALP):

I believe that the superannuation they receive from council or from ratepayers should be paid at the same rate as city council employees are.

Nicole Johnston, Tennyson (IND):

My strong belief is that all councillors’ salary and super should be tied to Council staff entitlements.