Tangata whenua representatives helping Tauranga City Council in making key decisions will now be paid up to $150 an hour for their efforts.
The council's Policy Committee met on Tuesday to discuss a review of the External Representatives' Remuneration Policy - Issues and Options. The meeting specifically addressed how muchto pay local Māori appointed to council committees and projects.
Elected members voted unanimously to recommended remuneration rates that included a set meeting fee of $270 per meeting, inclusive of any pre or post-meeting work, for tangata whenua representatives appointed to committees or Te Rangapū Mana Whenua o Tauranga Moana. The rate is a $100 increase from what it had been.
Tauranga council manager of strategic Māori engagement Carlo Ellis. Photo / File
The council also agreed that any tangata whenua appointed to advise on council projects would be remunerated at a rate of $150 per hour via an agreed contract with specified responsibilities and deliverables. No mileage or travel time allowances would be included.
Policy analyst Emma Joyce told council the rate at which tangata whenua representatives were paid for their time and effort in helping the council had been set since 2009.
"But the rate of the $170 meeting fee has existed since early 2000s, so we think it's appropriate to review some of those."
Joyce told elected members the remuneration rates were based on Cabinet fees, which is what the Government used when it appointed people to similar roles and was "not significantly less than what we would pay the chair of the Finance Audit and Risk Committee".
The rates were comparable with what other New Zealand councils were paying, she said.
Tauranga City Council Policy Committee chairman Steve Morris says it's only fair tangata whenua representatives are paid accordingly for their work. Photo / File
Tauranga council manager of strategic Māori engagement Carlo Ellis said it had been a "long wait" for the review and it was good to have the rates independently assessed.
Councillor John Robson said he felt the $270 meeting rate was "extraordinarily good value" but the council could do better.
Robson told the council the best way to work out what someone was owed for attending a meeting was to calculate the time of the meeting, using the example of four hours for city council meetings, add that on again for pre-meeting work and again for post-meeting work also. This gave the true time of someone's work on a meeting, he said.
Using the four-hour example, Robson said the rate of $270 worked out to offer about $22.50 per hour "which is around about minimum wage".
Minimum wage is $18.90 per hour.
"Really, you know, the fact we've taken this long to do so little should be a source of some concern for those people ... this is just, for me, a starter for $270. There is a bigger and broader discussion to happen here. But let's do more than just tick the box and move on ... We need to look inside to understand it and get our heads around what it is we're asking for. Not just from tangata whenua and how they should be remunerated for that contribution."
Councillors Heidi Hughes and Larry Baldock agreed.
Tauranga City councillor John Robson said more needs to be done to best recognise how much tangata whenua representation is paid at the council. Photo / File
Baldock said: "The amount of involvement that our tangata whenua reps have is so broad, it's more than just a meeting per se. If you look at the comparison to what we pay consultants, we are probably overpaying them and underpaying [tangata whenua]."
Committee chairman Steve Morris said it was "only fair" that if the council was imposing on tangata whenua for their input, they were remunerated for their time and engagement "because we need it to make decisions to move forward as a city".
Remuneration of community representatives will be considered at a later date, following completion of a different review.
