Sydney‘s fat cat councillors in obscene cash grab for phones, dinners and more

EXCLUSIVE: LORD Mayor Clover Moore and her City of Sydney councillors are set to have their expenses boosted under a new policy proposal.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore and her fellow councillors are set for a major increase in their expenses budget. Picture: Craig Greenhill.

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LORD Mayor Clover Moore and her City of Sydney councillors are set to have their expenses boosted under a new policy that allows them to claim a whopping $5000 a year on phones, gives them an overly generous budget for Christmas cards and doubles their allowance for attending swanky dinners.

While the rest of the country is being asked to tighten their belts, the vast sums given to Sydney councillors to join “professional bodies” and pay for training will skyrocket from $20,000 a year to a staggering $50,000 per annum.

The extraordinarily generous entitlements led new Local Government Minister Gabrielle Upton to issue a warning to councils issuing “unnecessary expenses”.

Under the raft of new entitlements, councillors will now be allowed to claim $6000 per year on carer expenses — up $2000 from last year.

The generous entitlement will not only be available to be claimed for councillor’s children, but for the care of current or former spouses, siblings, grandparents, stepchildren and in-laws requiring care.

The maximum amount councillors are allowed to spend each attending non-council events has doubled from $1000 to $2000.

New Local Government Minister Gabrielle Upton has warned councils against unnecessary expenses.

While councillors used to need approval for attending dinners that cost ratepayers more than $200, under the new policy they will only need to get approval if the cost exceeds $500.

The budget for phones and communication devices is also being pushed up from $4000 a year to $5000, double the cost budgeted to most Western Sydney councils.

The expenses splurge is revealed in the 2017 Draft Expenses and Facilities Policy which is currently on public exhibition.

Other perks include a $1500 allowance for postage each — which includes the budget for councillors to send out 600 Christmas cards. In comparison, Campbelltown Council gives councillors $50 each per year for postage.

For councillors feeling peckish, there’s also a $3000 a year entitlement each to spend on food and beverages for council-related meetings.

They can also travel in style with $6000 each to spend on local transport and $3000 to spend on travelling to conferences interstate. International travel is not capped and allows the Lord Mayor and councillors to fly business class.

According to City of Sydney financial statements, $642,000 was spent on councillor expenses last year or about $64,200 per councillor.

A City of Sydney spokeswoman defended the new policy, claiming “councillors are entitled to the necessary resources and support to do these important jobs”.

International travel is not capped and allows Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore and councillors to fly business class. Picture: Bob Barker

“The proposed budget for councillor training has been increased in response to the NSW Government’s changes to the Local Government Act, which put a greater emphasis on professional development of councillors across the state,” the spokeswoman said.

“Other proposed changes, including for carer and communications expenses, reflect increases in market costs and will ensure adequate support is provided to councillors.”

The spokeswoman said a final decision on the policy was expected to be made in March.

Ms Upton, however, warned that the Office of Local Government had the power to investigate any potential misuse of funds.

“Ratepayer funds should never be wasted on unnecessary expenses,” she said. “Nor should it be an opportunity for any councillor to take advantage of overly generous allowances.”

Independent councillor Angela Vithoulkas also defended the entitlements, claiming they were minuscule compared to state and federal perks.

“I don’t think it is anywhere near the state level,” Ms Vithoulkas said.

“$1500 for postage is really not very much when you consider how many constituents we have.”

“The same for the $3000 refreshments budget, really that only covers a few community meetings.”

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