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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-10-29 Daily Xml
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Mayoral Travel Allowance

The Hon. S.L. GAME (15:06): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before directing a question to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, representing the Minister for Local Government, about ratepayers funding mayoral trips to Rio de Janeiro.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.L. GAME: Adelaide Lord Mayor, Jane Lomax-Smith, Onkaparinga Mayor, Moira Were, and Mitcham Mayor, Heather Holmes-Ross, will travel to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in early November for a three-day climate change conference. As reported in The Advertiser, Adelaide City Council will fund Mayor Lomax-Smith's trip at a cost of $3,946, while the Local Government Association will pay for the plane tickets and accommodation for Mayor Holmes-Ross and Mayor Were at a combined cost of $8,344.

In addition, any incidental costs incurred on the trip by Mayor Were will be reimbursed by her council. It was subsequently reported in The Advertiser that an Onkaparinga councillor said that, 'Many residents have called for the council to rescind its approval and return its focus to local matters.' My questions to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, representing the Minister for Local Government, are:

1. Can the government and its local government minister explain to the ratepayers, who are funding these trips to Rio de Janeiro, what direct benefit they can expect as a result?

2. If the government fails to commit to investigate this use of ratepayer money, can it explain what would prompt its local government minister to take action?

3. Will the minister demand to see a post-trip report, along with any tangible outcomes?

4. Can the government and its minister advise the LGA's member councils that high-quality videoconferencing is now available and that using such facilities leaves a far smaller carbon footprint than return flights overseas?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (15:08): I thank the honourable member for her question. I will refer it to the relevant minister in the other place and bring back a response.