BIG SALARY INCREASE

Taranaki Daily News, 28 August 1930, Page 7

BIG SALARY INCREASE

SYDNEY CITY OFFICIAL. FROM £2OOO TO £3OOO A YEAR A meeting of the Electricity Committee of the Sydney City Council recently decided to recommend the City Council to increase the salary of the general manager of the electricity undertaking, Mr. Forbes Mackay, from £2OOO to £3OOO a year. A minute from the Lord Mayor pointed out that in August, 1025, the council unanimously agreed that in view of the work and responsibility involved in the erection of the new Bunnerong power station Mr. Mackay should bo paid £l5OO a year in addition to his salary of £2OOO, as from July 1 of that year, and while he was absent from Australia on business abroad. Subsequently upon'Mr. Mackay’s return to Australia this; allowance was reduced to £lOOO a year. The Lord Mayor added that by the direction of the City Commissioners the *lOOO allowance was paid up to June

30 last only, and he recommended’ that “in view of the gigantic size of the undertaking and the fact that in the past councils had agreed that a fair remuneration was £3OOO a year during the construction of Bunnerong,” the salary should be fixed at £3OOO a year from June 30 last. The vice-chairman of the committee, . Mr. Walder, said that the- responsibility of running the power house was in- . finitely greater than its supervision during construction. I Labour aidermen opposed an increase, declaring that the proposal was unfair in view of the council’s decision earlier [ in the day to reduce the wages of couni. cil employees generally. , Mr. Shannon flourished a paper which, ■ ho said, contained an invitation to variI ous heads of the electricity department to submit recommendations for reductions in their staffs. “The moment that you raise the general manager’s salary to £3000,” he added, ‘‘you are going to create the anomaly of an officer receiving a bigger salary than the town clerk, who is the official head . of the service." . , Mr. O’Dea questioned the wisdom o'

voting an increase in salary to anyone at the present time. Mr. McElhone said it was not a question whether Mr. Mackay was worth the money or not. It was one that concerned the office itself. He thought it worth £3OOO a year. On a purely party division the Lord Mayor’s minute was agreed to.