This was published 5 months ago
Opinion
$114k to attend a Croatian music festival: Is it time for councils to end sister city relationships?
Gary Adshead
JournalistThe City of Cockburn will tonight vote on whether to spend an unbudgeted $114,000 to allow its mayor and three councillors to attend a Croatian music festival during the European summer.
The trip to Split, which has been recommended for council approval, includes spending up to $25,000 on each councillor’s business class flights, plus an accommodation budget of $500 each per night for the week-long trip scheduled for July.
According to the delegation proposal, the group hope to follow Perth-based, Croatian folkloric group Zagreb to Spilt and Korcula Island.
If you happen to live in the City of Cockburn, then you have a vested interest as ratepayers into whether the council gives this trip the green light.
But is anyone in the community actually buying this? A quick look online shows you can get economy flights to Split for around $2600, and there are plenty of hotels with nightly rates of $150.
According to the city’s council agenda for Tuesday night, it is recommended the councillors authorise the delegation despite it not previously forming part of the city’s approved sister city budget.
“The City has provided funding to the Croatian folkloric group to subsidise the travel costs of Cockburn residents participating in the month-long festival program across Croatia,” the proposal read.
“Following the receipt of invitations to visit Split, the Sister City Reference group determined the City shall progress a delegation proposal.”
The invitation referred to was a three-paragraph letter from the mayor of Split, sent to Cockburn Mayor Logan Howlett in November, thanking him for hosting a recent Croatian delegation and telling him he was “always welcome in Split” under an open invitation.
Split in Croatia is one of three sister cities the council has arrangements with, the others being Yueyang in China and Mobile in Alabama
The last outbound City of Cockburn delegation to Split took place in 2008, however Howlett visited the town last year, and a delegation from Split visited Cockburn in October to mark the 25th anniversary of the sister city agreement.
Under policy implications for the proposed trip, there were two dot points listed about how the trip would contribute to the City of Cockburn being a vibrant, healthy, safe and inclusive community.
Under “risk”, it was noted allowing the trip to go ahead could bring about reputational damage, given the community’s expectations on government expenditure.
How can the city justify finding an additional $114,000 for four people to spend a week at a music festival?
It’s nothing but a junket and ratepayers are footing the bill in a time when cost of living pressures continue to bite.
The only way this sort of nonsense extravagance stops is for the people paying for it to say enough is enough.
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