Always listen to the Fine Print

Spike today takes a closer look at Clover Moore's promise to donate her salary to charity. It appears that the 'cat's out of the bag' and the Lord Mayor has been holding back the Councillor allowance component of her package - about $25,000 per annum or $100,000 over the term of Council. Whilst the decision to create a trust and donate her Mayoral allowance is to be acknowledged as generous - it was in fact forced upon her when the 'two jobs' issue was becoming a negative in her run for the mayoral chains. The donation is a political decision and many people see it as inappropriate that Council resources are used to promote the charity trust in Council publications and media releases.

Fields of Clover
By Joel Gibson and Tim DickNovember 15, 2005

Illustration: Rocco Fazzari see great cartoon here

The term "per cent" is an adverb meaning "in every hundred", so 100 per cent equals everything, as in: all, the lot, the entire historical cast of Neighbours, including Mrs Mangle.
During last year's election campaign, Clover Moore pledged to gift her salary to charity should she win the lord mayoralty. Her website now proclaims: "I receive a salary as a NSW Member of Parliament, and donate 100% of the Lord Mayor's fees for charitable purposes through this Trust."
But 100 per cent of her civic fees is not given to charity. The mayoral salary has two parts: the basic "annual fee" paid to all city councillors ($25,850) and an "additional fee" for the lord mayor ($141,900).
A slice of the second fee goes to her deputy, and the rest goes to the trust. In addition to $110,650 she gets as an MP, she pockets $25,850, meaning she actually donates 83.17 per cent of what she gets from the council.
Was her claim misleading? Hell no, according to Clover, who told us the legislation clearly distinguishes between councillor and mayoral fees, and asked if we weren't missing the point: she is donating half a million dollars to charity over this term. Well, maybe, suppose so. She says she gets no tax benefit for it, either.