Call for ‘big four’ NSW councils to be made full-time
There is a call for a two-year pilot study to radically overhaul the state’s four biggest councils and make them full-time as they drive billions of dollars in infrastructure upgrades.
There is a fresh call for the “big four” councils in NSW to be “brought into the 21st century” and made full-time as they drive billions of dollars in infrastructure upgrades.
A long-serving Parramatta councillor says the days of councils merely presiding over roads, rates and rubbish are long gone — and it’s time this was recognised by the State Government.
“You can’t do the job properly as a councillor by turning up to a meeting from 6.30pm till midnight a few times a month, and once a year having a strategic workshop,” said Labor councillor Pierre Esber, who has had 20 years of council service in western Sydney.
“We are making decisions on some very important, and pivotal, matters for the community — including a $3 billion redevelopment of Parramatta Square — and we’re doing this after we’ve already had long days at work.
“At Parramatta, we have 14 of the 15 councillors with full-time jobs, some of whom travel interstate and overseas. The workload now is much bigger and we’re making important decisions when we’re all tired.
“So whether it’s a Berejiklian or a Daley government who is elected (on March 23), they need to look at how local government operates and better governance for it.”
Cr Esber called for the next government to roll out a pilot study involving the state’s four major cities of Sydney, Parramatta, Wollongong and Newcastle, making each full-time and reducing the number of elected councillors in half.
“We need to try a two-year pilot program for four of our biggest cities in NSW,” he said.
“I don’t believe councillors should be paid the equivalent of MPs. That’s a matter for the remuneration tribunal.
“What’s most important is getting better outcomes for our communities. We need to update the local government systems, because we’re still running our councils like when we were handed the charter over 100 years ago.”
Parramatta councillors are currently paid $33,310 a year, with Lord Mayor Andrew Wilson receiving an additional fee of $107,620, taking his earnings to $140,930.
By comparison, the City of Sydney councillors earn the most in NSW, taking home $39,540 with Lord Mayor Clover Moore pocketing an additional fee of up to $217,080.
At the other end of the scale, a rural councillor in Walgett, for example, pockets just $11,860 and the Mayor $37,740.
A spokesman for Local Government Minister Gabrielle Upton said Cr Esber’s proposal was “not something that is under consideration at this stage”.
A NSW Labor spokesman said if his party won power later this month, “we will be open to considering all ideas to improve governance” in councils.
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