![North Burnett Regional Council councillor Robbie Radel. File picture North Burnett Regional Council councillor Robbie Radel. File picture](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/217645017/1df64b17-8c80-433e-b4b5-557e75678f7c.jpg/r0_0_452_678_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
A request for pay equity for local government representatives in smaller councils was knocked on the head at the Local Government Association of Queensland Conference in Gladstone this week.
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A motion and then an amendment asking for an increase in pay for councillors in Category One councils was put forward by the North Burnett Regional Council. Both were soundly defeated.
During debate on the motion, North Burnett Regional councillor Robbie Radel said he was well aware that some of the smaller councils would struggle to fund higher pay for their elected representatives.
He said that was why his council was asking the State Government to fund any increases.
Cr Radel said the point of the motion was that Category One councillors such as those in the North Burnett and probably 95 per cent of the councils that were classed as financially unsustainable started on a base rate of $38,000 per annum.
"Now my question is how many people, who are in the upper echelons and more financially well off councils, would stand for elections knowing they would give away their life for four years, seven days a week, 24 hours a day for $38,000 because that's what a level one councillor is expected to do," he said.
Cr Radel told delegates that to bring Category One councillors to parity that "around the middle mark" was his initial idea.
"But I was made very, very aware that if you ask councillors from the likes of Brisbane, Logan, the Gold Coast and other (higher) level councils to take a pay cut, obviously they're going to reject that and I don't blame them," he said.
"However, I do not believe that the role of a councillor in Brisbane, Logan or the Gold Coast is any more important or any more involved or any more challenging than any other councillor across the state. We all have different issues. We all have big issues.
"I just believe that there needs to be a little bit of equity and fairness right across the board because we do the same job...we all do the same training and none of us are any more qualified as a councillor than others."
In support of Cr Radel, Gladstone City C Kahn Goodluck said he felt the intent of the motion was to get a fair go for the lower category councils.
"Councillors who work equally as hard as every other councillor whether they be in Brisbane, the Gold Coast or right here in Gladstone," he said.
"In fact, I lived on the Gold Coast for many years and...I didn't know who my councillor was.
"I never bumped into them in aisle three at Woolworths, but I guarantee that if you go out to the North Burnett that Robbie Radel can't stop in to the local grocery store and grab a bottle of milk without being bailed up five times.
"My point is that councillors are working equally as hard right across the state and I think that's the intent of the motion and I'm happy to support that."
Ipswich City councillor Paul Tully spoke against the motion as did Burdekin Shire Council mayor Lyn McLaughlin.
![Burdekin Shire Council mayor Lyn McLaughlin. File picture Burdekin Shire Council mayor Lyn McLaughlin. File picture](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/217645017/e5b50286-2c84-4813-bebf-13b8fc47b938.jpg/r0_0_600_671_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Cr McLaughlin said the motion was unrealistic.
"Our budgets are different, our people who we represent are different and our community can't afford to pay councillors in the Burdekin the same as Townsville," she said.
The Local Government Remuneration Commission Annual Report of 2021-22 states a Category One councillor gets paid $57,400 per annum while the Mayor gets paid $114,801. The majority of Queensland's councils are classified Category One.
In Category 8, the highest category, the Gold Coast Mayor gets paid $271,124 per annum while a councillor gets paid $161,799.
Earlier this year, a review was undertaken of Local Government council categorisation. Submissions closed in July and a report is expected to be released this month.