Coober Pedy, the opal mining town famous for being built partly underground, is hoping the higher salary can attract a new chief executive for the local government.
SA’s remuneration tribunal, the body which sets the pay for public servants, approved an appeal by the council to increase the salary last week.
The council has been managed by administrators since it went into default in 2019.
In their appeal, the administrators said Coober Pedy’s distance from other cities and the harsh climate were making it difficult to attract someone for the job.
Coober Pedy is 845 kilometres north of Adelaide, a two-hours flight or nearly nine hour’s drive.
In the summer, its average temperature is consistently above 35 degrees.
Coober Pedy is “the most distant South Australian local government area from Adelaide, with unique residential and tourism challenges in a harsh climatic environment,” the council told the remuneration board.
They argued that accommodation and transport costs are essential components of the pay package.
The council said they had been unsuccessful in recruiting a new chief executive, and unless the maximum pay was bumped by $40,000, they were unlikely to be successful.
Coober Pedy had previously advertised the role of chief executive on three different occasions.
Each time, the maximum salary proved to be a sticking point for securing a candidate with the right experience for the job.
The remuneration tribunal granted the beleaguered council’s request to apply a new minimum and maximum pay of $197,600 to $274,437.