Councillor Angela Owen still on ratepayer funded salary during federal election campaign

A Brisbane City councillor who is running for a federal seat will continue to draw her ratepayer funded salary while she campaigns. Her colleague quit as soon as the election was called.

Cr Angela Owen is the LNP federal candidate for Moreton. She has taken paid leave from Brisbane City Council while she campaigns for the federal election. Picture: Patria Jannides

A BRISBANE City Councillor has continued to draw a ratepayer funded salary while she campaigns for federal parliament despite calls for her to take unpaid leave.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner confirmed today Cr Angela Owen (Calamvale), the LNP federal candidate for Moreton, was on paid leave from council while she campaigns for the federal election.

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Cr Schrinner said “last time I checked, Cr Owen was a councillor in this place and all councillors are renumerated”.

In contrast, her former colleague Julian Simmonds resigned from Brisbane City Council to run for the federal seat of Ryan when Prime Minister Scott Morrison called the election.

Federal election candidate for the seat of Ryan, Julian Simmonds, resigned from Brisbane City Council when the federal election was called. Picture: AAP/Richard Walker

Cr Owen said in a statement: “When the Prime Minister called the election, the Divisional Manager of City Governance and Administration was advised I am taking leave until the election, but will honour commitments already diarised.”

Independent Cr Nicole Johnston (Tennyson) said Cr Owen not taking unpaid leave was an “outrageous subsidisation of a federal election”.

Cr Johnston moved an urgency motion that any councillor who campaigned for another level of government should be required to take unpaid leave, which failed.

It came after Opposition leader Cr Peter Cumming asked Cr Schrinner if Cr Owen was still on the council’s payroll.

Cr Nicole Johnston moved an urgency motion that any councillor who runs for another level of government should take unpaid leave. Picture: AAP/Richard Walker

“Can you confirm the ratepayers of Calamvale are paying Cr Owen’s wages while she is campaigning for a federal seat that does not include any part of her ward and what steps have you taken to ensure she is not using council assets such as her ward office and ratepayer-funded car,” Cr Cumming asked.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said it was “no different” to other situations where councillors ran for other levels of government.

He said when former Labor councillor Milton Dick ran for federal government he was “not only being paid as councillor, he was being paid as leader of the opposition”.

Cr Schrinner later clarified to Southern Star Mr Dick announced he was running for Oxley in 2015 and continued as councillor and leader of the opposition until the 2016 local government election.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said Cr Owen was not doing anything inappropriate. Picture: AAP/Richard Walker

Mr Dick did not recontest that local election, and the federal election was on July 2016.

The election was called on May 8, 2016, which means that Mr Dick was not a councillor while he campaigned for federal office.

Cr Schrinner said Cr Owen was “very familiar” with the rules on what is appropriate when a councillor ran for election at another level of government.

“This is not an unusual or outrageous thing. Cr Owen is not doing anything inappropriate,” he said.

“She is simply abiding by the rules that govern us here. I would say that when residents contact Cr Owen, she provides that assistance as you would expect of a sitting councillor.”