Townsville City Council annual report reveals how much councillors, executives paid

Townsville City Council’s annual report has revealed how much each councillor, senior member of staff and adviser receives annually. SEE THE NUMBERS

Mayor Jenny Hill at Cutheringa Park. Picture: Shae Beplate.

Townsville City Council’s annual report has revealed how much each councillor, senior member of staff and adviser receives annually.

It has also broken down the expenses of each elected member for the period from July 2022/23.

Effective July 2022, the Local Government Remuneration Commission decided to increase the minimum remuneration levels for mayors, deputy mayors and councillors by 2 per cent.

Mayor Jenny Hill earns $212,247 annually, while Deputy Mayor Mark Molachino earns $144,328.

All remaining councillors earn $127,347 annually.

Cr Mark Molachino. Picture: Evan Morgan

The council is a category six council, which means as of July 2023, the councillors were entitled to $131,187 annually.

The Mayor is entitled to $218,647 as of July 2023.

When it comes to senior management, more than $2m was paid to five people.

Chief Executive Officer Prins Ralston is the highest paid senior executive and is paid between $500,000-$600,000 a year.

Four other senior executives were paid between $350,000-$450,000 annually.

The three councillor advisers to the Mayor were paid $503,160 between them.

Councillor expenses

Cr Hill claimed the most in expenses during the previous financial year, with just over $50,000 claimed.

During the 2022/23 financial year, Cr Hill went overseas twice to Singapore and South Korea.

Her trip to the World Cities Summit and the WCS Mayors Forum in Singapore cost the council about $3400, while the trip to South Korea for the Suwon Sister City Visit cost about $4000.

Councillor Fran O’Callaghan. Picture: Evan Morgan

An adviser accompanied her on the trips, with their expenses costing about $7000 to council.

Cr Molachino recorded the second highest expenses at $33,700.

Cr Margie Ryder had $31,899; Cr Sue Blom $16,013; Cr Ann-Maree Greaney $23,335; Cr Russ Cook $20,861; Cr Suzy Batkovic $17,806; Cr Kurt Behbein $11,075; Cr Maurie Soars $23,747; Cr Liam Mooney 16,816; and Cr Fran O’Callaghan made no claims.

In total, the councillors’ expenses, totalled $245,379.

Originally published as Townsville City Council annual report reveals how much councillors, executives paid