FLIGHT CLUB
Hobart City Council outspends Melbourne City on travel Multiple aldermen take more overseas trips than Premier
HOBART’S top aldermen took more overseas trips in the past three years than Premier Will Hodgman or Melbourne’s most recent lord mayor, the city council’s spending reveals.
And the Hobart City Council spent more than the Melbourne City Council on travel and conference expenses for its aldermen during the period despite the Victorian capital council’s budget being nearly five times the size.
New analysis of Hobart’s spending has revealed that from January 2015 to December 2017, aldermen spent $472,951 on expenses, excluding their annual aldermanic allowance. The total included $370,567 for travel, conferences, events and personal development.
Hobart Lord Mayor Sue Hickey, pictured, took at least five overseas trips between January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2017.
Back in 2015, the Mercury and the Sunday Tasmanian did a similar audit as part of our Your Right to Know campaign. For the period from January 2012 to December 2014, Hobart City Council’s aldermen expenses totalled almost $350,000. That revelation prompted council reforms with a more stringent system for expense claims, which sliced about $60,000 in general expenses from its costs.
This was through tighter controls on what aldermen could claim and spend for council business.
Despite that reduction, spending on travel and conferences at the council blew out by almost $190,000 with the trips made overseas by Hobart aldermen rising from nine (January 2012 to December 2014) to 26 (January 2015 to December 2017).
This latest figure is comparable to the number of trips made by City of Melbourne councillors during the same period. That council’s travel register listed 28 ratepayerfunded overseas trips.
However, the City of Melbourne’s total spend on interstate and international travel and related activities over the past three years was $162,484 — well behind Hobart’s final figure.
This is despite Hobart’s budget — $129 million — being significantly less than Melbourne’s $557 million.
The Sunday Tasmanian at the weekend revealed Hobart aldermen made overseas trips to countries including England, China, Japan, Hungary and East Timor during a period in which the council’s expenses for elected members ballooned to more than $470,000.
Analysis of the period January 2015 to December 2017 shows Hobart City Council had $472,951 in total expenses for aldermen.
Ald Hickey, who will soon take up a place in the State Government, and chair of the council’s City Planning Committee Jeff Briscoe both took at least five overseas trips at the council expense from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2017.
Ald Hickey went to China twice — once on a 12-day tour to forge ties with some of its sister cities and another representing council as part of a delegation to Singapore for a World Cities Summit where her airfares were paid for by the event organisers.
The Lord Mayor also travelled twice to Japan for delegations to Hobart’s sister city Yaizu as well as to London, Germany and Italy for a global conference, European study tour and to visit Italian sister city L’Aquila.
Ald Briscoe, who was Ald Hickey’s running mate in 2014, went to Yaizu twice, Hungary for a University Cities conference and study tour, to China as part of a Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra tour and to Poland for a European Union World Cities project.
Melbourne’s former Lord Mayor Robert Doyle took four overseas trips, as did Mr Hodgman from January 2015 to December 2017.
The Mercury compared Hobart with Melbourne because the Victorian capital was the only other capital city council with a publicly available travel register for the past three years.
Mr Hodgman went on three delegations to China and one to India and Sri Lanka.
The Mercury did not include another trip Ald Hickey made to China at the request of Business Events Tasmania to assist in attracting an international conference to Hobart because it was paid for by Business Events.
The trips by Hobart aldermen complied with the council’s travel policies and the Mercury is not suggesting that any of them were unlawful.
Ald Hickey said as Lord Mayor she had received numerous requests to go overseas to represent the city.
“My role as Lord Mayor involves a reasonable amount of travel to represent Hobart in various forms,” she said.
“Given my own personal circumstances, any decision to leave Hobart is not something I undertake lightly, but I do take my responsibilities exceptionally seriously.
“Anyone who has undertaken travel for business purposes would understand that it is hardly glamorous, involving significant hours of lengthy meetings, hectic and exhaustive schedules and sitting around in airports.”
Ald Briscoe agreed. He said he had to take unpaid leave from his job as a high school teacher to represent council on the trips.
“They aren’t a holiday I can assure that,” he said.
“I actually have to forgo being paid in my day job to represent council on these trips. I’m not going on any this year.”
Ald Briscoe said in many countries, the lord mayor position was considered more prestigious than that of the premier.
“When the Lord Mayor travels she brings benefits and opportunities to Tasmania,” he said.
Hobart alderman Marti Zucco said there was no defence for the blowout in costs.
“The ratepayers have been led to believe that the HCC costs have been reined in when in fact, the opposite is the case,” he said.
“It’s time this was properly and independently investigated.”
HREE years ago reports in the Mercury and Sunday Tasmanian shone the spotlight on expenses incurred by Hobart City Council aldermen.
They revealed more than $350,000 spent over a three-year period on everything from overseas travel and entertainment expenses to mobile phone bills and even a hat stand.
At the time newly elected mayor Sue Hickey said she was “flabbergasted” by some of the expenses claimed and she vowed to make changes to make sure aldermen were more accountable.
Alderman Hickey quickly moved to change the “self-certification” system used to justify the expenses to a more rigorous and transparent process.
Spending needed to be approved by the Lord Mayor herself and the council’s general manager Nick Heath. Monthly allowances and expenses have been published on the council’s website since July 2016.
At the time we applauded the change and we still do.
Ratepayers have a right to know who is spending their money and on what.
Not surprisingly, in the two years following the changes, aldermanic expenses have dropped by $60,000. But it seems what the good aldermen giveth, the good aldermen taketh away.
While day-to-day expenses have fallen, the amount spent on travel and conferences has increased dramatically.
From January 2015 to December 2017 more than $370,000 has been spent — up from $185,795 in the previous three-year period.
While day-to-day expenses have fallen, the amount spent on travel and conferences has increased dramatically
Aldermen have taken 26 trips to locations including England, Germany and Hungary at the request of the University of Tasmania, three trips to China for a Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra tour and other travel to Japan, Italy, Poland Singapore, Canada and the US.
Most of the aldermen travelled business class, as is allowed under the council policy.
No one is suggesting these trips were in any way unlawful. In fact every trip was approved by the council and complied with the council’s policies. The expenses have been publicly available on the Town Hall’s website. But questions still remain. Revelations in today’s paper show that Hobart City Council aldermen have spent more on travel and conferences than those at the City of Melbourne — a council with a budget of $557 million. The Hobart City Council has a budget of about $129 million.
While all the trips were approved, were they all necessary?
Yes we need to be prepared for big changes under a Hobart City Deal involving the University of Tasmania and fostering and maintaining our sister city relationships is also important.
But do we have to send three aldermen on some of these trips? Where are the benefits?
Ratepayers need to be shown that these trips have a visible and long-term benefit for the city and aren’t just cosy junkets enjoyed by the privileged few.