The salaries of Brimbank council’s five most senior officers should be fully disclosed, according to the state local government minister.
In an interview with Star Weekly, the minister, Natalie Hutchins, said she “absolutely” supported a City of Melbourne push for greater council transparency that would reveal the wages of council’s five most senior officers in annual reports.
Brimbank council told Star Weekly in June it would not support the idea.
While Ms Hutchins supports Brimbank’s new “comprehensive” councillor code of conduct, released in July, she believes the council comes up short in terms of transparency.
“That’s one of the things our [rate capping policy] Fair Go Rates is going to bring about … to actually have locals question where their rates are going,” she said. “Where they’re being spent, and are they getting value for money.
“That includes everything from the garbage collection to how much the senior staff are being paid within a council.”
Ms Hutchins said the recent announcement of a review of the Local Government Act, which could take up to 18 months to complete, could result in councils having to provide audio recordings of meetings.
“It’s a really positive thing to provide audio for meetings because not everyone in this day and age can get to a council meeting,” she said.
“To be able to listen in or have it streamed is a really positive step for democracy … if you can make it [council meetings] more open and accountable, that’s a great thing.”
She agreed with Brimbank administrator Jane Nathan’s stance – that an attendance vote was the best way to engage the community, despite the fact the council voted to hold its election via post in October next year, saving around $200,000.
“It’s actually good that they’ve had a difference of opinion,” Ms Hutchins said.
“There’s always going to be an argument that we can save money and increase participation if we go down the track of postal voting.
“At the same time, you can say people are more engaged in the process when they turn up to vote.”
In response to Ms Hutchins’ claims, chairman of administrators John Watson said he led a transparent council.
“Brimbank’s annual budget process includes publicly advertising for the community to make submissions before the development of the budget, followed by an additional consultation process when a draft budget has been prepared,” he said.
“Council takes a great deal of pride in ensuring our community is informed on the decisions being made to create a better Brimbank.”
