Rockhampton Regional Council rejects proposal for councillor wage increase

A Rockhampton councillor seeking a wage increase said “all working Australians” deserve a pay rise in line with inflation, claiming councillors were short $32k.

Rockhampton Region Mayor Tony Williams.

Rockhampton Regional Council has voted down a motion to call for a Queensland council body to raise pay in line with inflation which claimed a shortfall of $32,000 since 2020.

Councillor Shane Latcham argued at Tuesday’s council meeting that a proposed CPI-linked pay rise for all councillors in mid 2025 would only cost each ratepayer less than 10 cents each.

“Surely we’re worth more than 10 cents?” he said during debate.

But Cr Latcham’s motion to increase councillor remuneration to 3.4 per cent per cent in line with the CPI (Consumer Price Index or inflation rate) instead of the current 2.5 per cent was defeated 6 votes to 2.

Rockhampton Regional Councillor Shane Latcham.

Mayor Tony Williams, who would have also benefited from the increase, said the independent Local Government Remuneration Tribunal sets the pay rise every year and he had confidence in the process.

The current Rockhampton councillor base remuneration from July 2024 is $99,090 (not including car allowances, travel expenses etc) while the mayor’s wage is $171,156.

“There are other councils where people take on the role (as councillor) as a community service without any remuneration,” he said.

“I think in a current climate of cost of living (crisis) and inflation, the public would see this as a slap in the face if we were to support it.”

Cr Latcham had argued earlier that the 2.5 per cent pay rise for all Queensland councillors for 2025-26 was the fifth consecutive year that their remuneration increase had come in under the CPI rate.

He said that from July 2020 to June 2025, remuneration for a Rockhampton Regional Council Councillor had increased by 10.5 per cent, compared to CPI (Consumer Price Index) of 23.3%.

“In real terms, this is a cumulative payment reduction of $32,767 over that five-year period to maintain neutral cost of living,” he said.

“I believe all working Australians deserve to be paid at the cost-of-living increase.

“The (pay) increase to minimum CPI or cost of living standards would translate to less than 10 cents per year per rate payer in the region if it was to be approved.

“This is for all Queensland councillors and I ask for your support for it to be debated at the Local Government Association of Queensland Conference later this year.”

Cr Elliot Hilse supported the motion, and said all Australians deserved a CPI aligned pay increase regardless of their job.

Rockhampton Regional Councillor Marika Taylor.

Cr Marika Taylor said the proposed pay increase did not sit well with her.

“I think our remuneration is sufficient,” she said.

“I have worked in other government areas and (pay rises) are not always with CPI. I think the 2.5 per cent is suffice. We do have other advantages that are afford us to perform our roles, so for this reason I don’t support this.”

Queensland Plumbers Union Regional Organiser Chris McJannett backed Cr Latcham’s call for a “CPI safety net for wages” going forward, and asked for it to be consistently applied to its members.

“It is exactly what we believe is necessary in Council and government EBAs being negotiated this year,” he said.

Originally published as Rockhampton Regional Council rejects proposal for councillor wage increase