Mayor Bronwyn Petrie, Cr Roger Turner, Cr Tim Bonner, Cr Gregory Purcell, Cr Peter Petty, Cr Peter Murphy, Cr Kim Rhodes, Cr Owen Bancroft, Deputy Mayor Greg Sauer, and Cr Tom Peters spend endless hours in Tenterfield Shire chambers, talking to residents, taking phone calls, turning up at events and, generally, working to improve Tenterfield Shire.
In the last ordinary meeting of council, the annual renumeration for councillors and the mayor was reviewed. Recently, the Local Government Renumeration Tribunal of the Office of Local Government NSW, handed down an increase in the fees payable to the mayor and councillors at an increase of 3 percent in this financial year.
No doubt councillors were happy to see a little bump in their pay, but it doesn’t equate to the work they put in - it barely equates to inflation. However, the increase applies to both the minimum and maximum allowable rates for councillors.
During the meeting councillors resolved that council note the report from the Tribunal and sets the level of fees payable to all councillors at $13,930 per annum effective from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026. They also set the additional fee payable to Mayor Petrie at $30,390 per annum for the same time period.
By contrast, councillors in the Southern Downs earn more than $60,000 per annum, or about $47,000 more than their colleagues south of the border. Mayor Melissa Hamilton’s package is even higher.
Sources in Tenterfield have raised concerns that it will be difficult to recruit new and aspiring local politicians because of the low rate of renumeration. While serving as a councillor can be seen on either side of the border as a civic gift, the low rate of renumeration and steep hours required may discount many talented budding politicians in NSW.
