The 41 percent pay hike for West
Coast regional councillors will further erode taxpayers’
trust in the Remuneration Authority, says the New Zealand
Taxpayers’ Union.
Taxpayers’
Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “Pay rates for
councillors should broadly reflect the pressures on
ratepayers. So how can a 41 percent pay hike be justified?
How many ratepayers can expect salary boosts of this
size?”
“The Remuneration Authority is living in
another world. The justification that councillor salaries
should be compared to MP salaries is using one stupidity to
justify another. Taxpayers have made their views on MP
salaries clear year after year: it’s time for some
austerity.”
“Remember, Chris Hipkins last year put the Remuneration Authority
in charge of MPs’ salaries. It makes a joke of any
suggestion that the Government wants to stop the salary
hikes.”
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