Newcastle council votes to receive superannuation and two per cent pay rise

Council on Tuesday voted for the lord mayor and councillors to be paid the maximum fee of the Local Government Remuneration Tribunal's annual determination as well as superannuation at the federal rate of 10 per cent for the first time from July 1 this year.

The current maximum rate for Newcastle's classification is $32,680 for all councillors and an additional $101,800 for the lord mayor.

Labor deputy lord mayor Declan Clausen said every other Australian worker was entitled to superannuation and the change could encourage more women to run for council, as men on average retire with 47 per cent more super than women.

Greens councillor Charlotte McCabe said the remuneration helped her contribute properly to the role by not needing to work as much in other employment. Labor councillor Peta Winney-Baartz said the rate of pay versus hours worked had been quoted as 14 cents per hour. Both said their own superannuation had been affected by having to take time away from work during their careers.

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"Remuneration should not be the thing that inspires you to become a councillor," Cr Winney-Baartz said. "But it also shouldn't be what hinders you from putting your hand up."

Lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes said it was unusual that council was forced to make a determination on its own pay when other levels of government had a remuneration tribunal that made the decision.

She moved an addition to the motion that council believed the remuneration tribunal should make the decision due to councils' conflict of interest and said councillors were welcome to not accept the super payment or councillor allowance if they wished.

A submission by the Local Government of NSW organisation to the Local Government Remuneration Tribunal said the maximum mayoral and councillor fees payable to Newcastle council were $48,000 and $75,000 less respectively than Queensland's Redland City Council, which reported $40 million less revenue and employs less full-time employees.

Liberal councillor Callum Pull tried unsuccessfully to move an amendment for council to accept the minimum rate of pay and no superannuation. The current minimum rate for Newcastle is $18,800 for councillors and an additional $39,940 for lord mayor.

Cr Pull said he was moving the amendment as a matter of principle.

"By passing a motion to award ourselves superannuation we are awarding ourselves a 10 per cent pay rise," he said.

"I just think of the optics - when you think of the punters in Wallsend, in Lambton, in Adamstown, in Mayfield I don't think they really want to open up the paper tomorrow and see we've awarded ourselves a 12 per cent pay rise in 2022. I'm just thinking of businesses doing it tough right now."

Fellow Liberal councillor Jenny Barrie said as a former businessperson she understood the importance of super, but said that the role shouldn't be about the money.

"We're not here to be paid a high amount or to get an extra amount," she said.

"We're here to save money and it's an important time to show strength in actually doing something for the community, not for ourselves."

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