$36,000 pay for ICC mana whenua reps

Invercargill City councillors have decided the council’s two mana whenua representatives should each be paid the equal of their own base rate – $34,667.

Pania Coote, of Te Ru¯ nanga o Awarua, and Evelyn Cook, of the Waiho¯ pai Ru¯ naka, were at yesterday’s meeting during which councillors decided how much they should be paid.

The pair have full voting rights on two council committees, but not so at full council meetings, and they were not elected onto the council.

The councillors were given three options by council staff: $34,667, $20,000 or $27,000.

The runaka wanted the pair, who are projected to work 10 hours a month, to be paid the same base rate as a councillor, and that’s what the councillors ultimately decided.

Clark believed $20,000 was appropriate for reasons including they were projected to work 10 hours a month, and he suggested Nga¯ i Tahu could top that up if it wanted to.

However, other councillors disagreed. After a voting process, 10 voted in favour of $34,667 and three – Clark, Peter Kett and Allan Arnold – voted against.