Council adopts Home Security System allowance

Kira Carrington, Local Democracy Reporting

Councillors voted to adopt a home security system allowance for the first time, though no councillor indicated they planned on claiming it as of yet.

In June, the Remuneration Authority announced an allowance of up to $4500 would be available for the installation of a home security system, plus $1000 per year for maintenance, if a councillor’s safety was deemed at risk.

The allowance was created following a sharp rise in threats and harassment towards elected officials around the country, former Local Govenment New Zealand chief executive Susan Freeman-Greene said in June.

Croad said councillors should be able to claim that allowance. He noted that last triennium several councillors, including the mayor, had their home addresses published online by “a particular group”.

“It’s not something that I will be asking for. I feel no threat at this point in time,” he said, however he felt it was good to have it available “should the incidents arise”.

Councillor Sally Arbuckle said that as wife of New Zealand First list MP Jamie Arbuckle she had already received a home security allowance from central government.

She was fully in support of security measures being available to local officials too, she said.

“I [would] just like to [say] how disappointed I am that we've got to this point, in our communities, that we have to put these in place for our safety,” Arbuckle said.