Mornington Peninsula Shire councillors have given themselves the right to stay in five-star accommodation.
An amendment to the Councillor Expenses Reimbursement, Resources and Facilities Policy adopted at the Tuesday 23 October council meeting allows councillors to be reimbursed for “accommodation at a five star venue when they are also attending a conference or event in their official capacity at the same five star venue”.
A report by senior policy advisor Anthea Hastie said it was “important that the councillor role attracts and retains a wide cross section of people and the policy recognises individual needs and circumstance”.
The policy being amended was adopted on 24 July and will be reviewed by council at the next municipal election, October 2020.
Ms Hastie said the policy change “will allow councillors to be provided with appropriate reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses performing their duties as a councillor”.
First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 30 October 2018
