Councillors splash thousands of dollars on overseas trips

LOCAL councillors are under fire for jetting to overseas conferences and other junkets funded by ratepayers. Do you have a council horror story? Tell us.

LOCAL councillors are under fire for jetting to overseas conferences and other junkets funded by ratepayers.

Since last November, City of Melbourne councillors have taken seven overseas jaunts while a further six trips have been approved.

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The total cost of all this travel is $202,788, including an estimated $155,000 when Lord Mayor Robert Doyle leads an 11-day City of Melbourne business mission to Japan and China in March next year.

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In May, Cr Doyle attended a global cities forum in Chicago for a cost of $4426, while Deputy Lord Mayor Arron Wood flew to London in late June for The Economist Cities Unbound Conference for $4781.

City of Melbourne councillors racked up $300,000 in expenses, such as taxis and mobile phones, over four years.

Other trips included a $3036 cost for Greens councillor Cathy Oke to attend a biological diversity bash in Cancun, Mexico, last December, and she has approval for upcoming trips to Scandinavia and Germany.

A city council spokesman said that local and international travel was integral to capital city councillors representing the interests of “our citizens and stakeholders”.

“In recent years ... travel and trade missions have delivered millions of dollars in investment for Melbourne across a range of fields including biotech, urban design and planning, and education,” he said.

The City of Casey will install a life-size $50,000 nativity scene at its new Bunjil Place community precinct. Some councillors labelled it a stand against terrorists and a win for “Australian heritage”.

The spokesman said that every two years the Lord Mayor leads a user-pays targeted business mission to key Asian cities like Osaka and Tianjin to support the growth of Melbourne firms in crucial markets.

City of Yarra mayor Amanda Stone was invited to two related sustainability conferences to be held in Taiwan in late September and early October.

The organisers offered to fully cover the trip, but Cr Stone knocked it back and instead chose to attend a climate change conference to be held in Germany in November at a cost of $2250 to ratepayers.

Darebin council spent $35,000 on food for meetings in just one year.

“Due to the time commitment required to attend these conferences, the Mayor has indicated that she is only able to make one overseas trip,” said a report to a Yarra Council meeting this month.

Former Local Government Minister Natalie Hutchins, who has just taken on the Minister for Women role, told the Sunday Herald Sun that she was concerned about the number of foreign trips taken by councillors and there had to be more openness with the public.

“If it’s about sister cities and conferences, I think it can be pretty questionable about what the value back to the community is,” she said.

Frankston council put 50 pieces of street furniture into its $5.5 million Wells St revamp, including 18 stainless-steel planter boxes at $8670 each, 11 public seats at $14,000 each, four circular seats at $12,820, and 17 street lights at $19,000 each.

At a meeting last week, Melbourne City councillor Nic Frances Gilley was given approval to attend one of the Taiwan conferences, the EcoMobility World Congress, in place of Cr Doyle for a cost to council of $2735.

Also due to attend the Taiwan talkfest on “sustainable urban transportation” is Moreland Council Mayor Helen Davidson, with the cost of flights and accommodation to be fully met by the organisers.

At a meeting last month, Moreland councillors considered whether the free trip should be declared under the council’s gifts and hospitality policy.

Knox council spent $1.1m on seven unisex toilet blocks, even though many women are deterred from using them, saying they are unsafe and unclean.

Among trips taken by other councils was a $15,000 plus airfares cycling study tour to the Netherlands in June by City of Maribyrnong Mayor Catherine Cumming and Deputy Mayor Sarah Carter.

Maribyrnong Council spokeswoman Celia Haddock said the tour embodied world’s best practice on active transport and the council was focused on extending bicycle infrastructure and safety.

In April, City of Casey Mayor Sam Aziz, Cr Wayne Smith and two staff members went on a 7-day “economic partnership delegation” to China costing ratepayers an estimated $16,000.

RECORD RATES HAUL AS PAYROLLS INCREASE

MELBOURNE’S 31 metropolitan councils will collect an average $850 in rates and charges for every man, woman and child this financial year.

Analysis of the councils’ budgets by the Sunday Herald Sun reveals a record $3.9 billion in rates and charges will be harvested from ratepayers.

The City of Melbourne gathers the most cash — an average of $1832 for each resident — which reflects commercial rates and the high property values of the central municipality.

Yarra, which covers Richmond, Fitzroy and Collingwood, collects an average $1179 per resident.

Monash council receives just $602.

The data also reveals that employee costs are surging, up 5.3 per cent, outstripping both inflation and the 2 per cent rates cap imposed by the state government.

Moonee Valley had the biggest increase in employee costs — up 15.3 per cent — because of the new EBA, increased childcare costs and fewer vacant positions the previous year.

Manningham council increased its employee wages bill by just 0.5 per cent, the lowest of the 31 councils.

Melbourne has the most employees with 1420, ahead of Wyndham (1316), Casey (1158) and Hume (1099).

Yarra, even though it is one of the smallest councils by population, has one of the highest staff numbers with 839.

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