On Tuesday, the council will set its remuneration for the upcoming term, and pay rises are on the cards for both elected members and representatives.
But with a base rate of $54,347 proposed for councillors, mana whenua appointees are on track to receive just $49,275 — the minimum amount the council is allowed to pay councillors.
"I would have perhaps expected that after four years we have proved our value, and that differential wasn’t there.
"But at the same time, councillors will decide what councillors will decide."
Mrs Cook said she believed a reason for the lower pay was that representatives were not given full voting rights, meaning they did not carry the same legal liability as councillors.
Whether that meant they were worth $5000 less a year was moot, she said.
"We still go to the council meetings, for the most part. We still articulate; we still advocate; we just can’t vote."
Mrs Cook also pointed out the role came with extra work, which was not reimbursed, such as discussions for Te Unua Museum of Southland, and not all councillors had taken on extra duties.
"And I mean, that’s fine, because everybody has their own lives and their own workloads, and I’m not going to say that nobody deserves more than somebody else, really.
"But what I am saying is that nobody deserves less."
The role took about 10-20 hours’ work a week and money was not a driver, she said.
Mayor Tom Campbell has defended the proposed pay for mana whenua representatives, saying it was the rate recommended by the government for councillors.
The proposed amount for councillors was higher because they had other roles such as being chairs of subcommittees and the representatives did not have those additional responsibilities, he said.
A report prepared for the upcoming meeting showed mana whenua pay was not adjusted over the past term to account for inflation or economic changes, meaning it had been stuck at $38,642 — a matter which irked local rūnaka.
The report also noted it was possible to pay the representatives the same amount as a councillor with no additional responsibilities, or $54,347.
Remuneration was determined by elected members, who decided how to divvy up an annual pool of $739,120; that figure did not include mana whenua appointees, the Bluff Community Board or the mayor’s salary.
The proposed base rate for councillors is a jump of more than $8000 to start the term, up from $45,717.
The mayor’s salary has also increased from $160,698 to $165,687, while the deputy mayor’s salary is on track to jump from $68,321 to $81,521.
Chair positions will also likely increase by more than $10,000.
— Matthew Rosenberg, Local democracy reporter
— LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
