Young Frenchs Forest councillor defends 31K expenses

Ethan Hrnjak, one of the youngest councillors in NSW, was on a lunch break from his office job at KFC when he spoke to the Lorikeet.

It’s rare for councillors to make the mainstream press, but Hrnjak — who represents Frenchs Forest Ward on Northern Beaches Council, and studies at Macquarie University — managed it this week, when his council expenses were put under the spotlight.

In nine months, the 22-year-old councillor has racked up $31,866 in expenses, and in recent days he has faced criticism from fellow councillors and local libertarians, and piqued the interest of The Daily Telegraph.

Northern Beaches Councillor Vincent De Luca stated that in light of the local government area’s 25.2 percent rate rise, councillors “need to be tightening [their] belts and showing restraint”.

Councillors’ expenses can relate to anything from babysitting during meetings to travel, conferences, accommodation and education. 

Hrnjak argued that his expenses were a prudent investment of ratepayer funds, due to the bulk of them going towards education. 

He provided a breakdown to the Lorikeet that stated $17,632 of his overall expenses were related to professional development and attending seminars and conferences.

“I would expect ratepayers would want their councillors to be continuing to develop themselves professionally,” he told the Lorikeet. “The most common criticism I get is that I'm too young and inexperienced. So I said, ‘Alright, well, I'm going to throw myself into some professional development’.”

The Northern Beaches Council CEO has to approve all professional development applications from councillors.

Hrnjak said that among his expenses were the fees for a four-year course at the Australian Institute of Company Directors. 

He said that while other councillors might be retired or independently wealthy, he needed to be able to juggle work, study and civic representation by utilising some of the expenses available to councillors.

“There has to be something that enables them to give up that time and, for me, that's being able to claim expenses that otherwise I couldn't afford out of pocket,” he told the Lorikeet. 

He said it was one way of ensuring a diverse range of councillors, which is what “people in the community want”.

Image: Greens on Council