Mayor of Sydney slammed after giving $450k of ratepayers’ money to international aid causes: ‘She should be filling potholes and collecting garbage instead’
Sydney mayor angry after giving $450,000 of taxpayers’ money to international aid causes: ‘She should be filling potholes and collecting rubbish instead’
A high-profile social commentator has criticized Sydney Mayor Clover Moore’s “captain’s call” decision to donate $450,000 of taxpayers’ money to overseas charities as residents of her city battle cost-of-living pressures.
Ms. Moore has donated $200,000 in public funds to international aid causes since January and $50,000 this month alone, council minutes show.
Conservative commentator Prue MacSween claimed that Ms Moore had an ‘exaggerated opinion of herself and her role’ and that she wanted to ‘make a big impression on the world stage’.
‘She looks like Daniel Andrews. “She is still violating her job description — which is supposed to be filling potholes and collecting trash instead of sprouting it,” she said.
The latest census data shows the homelessness rate in Sydney’s CBD is the highest in the country and has risen to worrying levels with more than 3,598 people left without shelter in 2021.
Sydney Mayor Clover Moore has donated almost half a million dollars of taxpayers’ money to overseas charities in the past two years
Liberal councilor Shauna Jarratt accused Moore of being good at finding “loopholes” in the Local Government Act to send aid money internationally.
She insists that council rates should only be used for projects and services where those residents live and that the council should not have the power to send them abroad.
Ms MacSween agreed, saying there are “so many people in town who need a handout.”
“Sydney has thousands of homeless people. Why isn’t this money being spent to help them get over the poverty line and into housing?’
“Spending taxpayers’ money on these virtue signaling projects is obscene.”
“Ms. Moore has been in this position too long and feels she has the right to make a captain’s call and follow her every whim.”
“When will councilors in the city of Sydney stop being sycophants and bring her into line?”
A council spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia the funding represented a small proportion – about 0.03 per cent – of council spending.
“The vast majority of the City of Sydney’s spending is on local issues, either through our own work or through direct in-kind funding to local businesses, events, initiatives and organisations,” the spokesperson said.
Social commentator Prue MacSween said Ms Moore should focus on providing services to Sydney residents and tackling the city’s homelessness problem.
‘(International) donations comply with the Policy for Supporting Charities (of the municipality).’
“The charities and organizations we have donated to include the Australian Red Cross, Country Women’s Association, WIRES, OzHarvest, Food Bank NSW, Secondbite and the Queensland Premier’s Disaster Relief Appeal.
“While the City of Sydney is committed to supporting our communities both in our region and across Australia, we are also committed to supporting international communities in emergency situations.”
Since 2010, the City of Sydney has donated approximately $3.8 million to Australian charities and relief efforts and $1.3 million internationally to health and natural disaster relief efforts.
Ms. Moore has not publicly revealed how much she has donated out of her own pocket.