South Perth City Council rejected former councillor Tim Houweling’s proposal to stop providing the mayor with a City vehicle: the motion lost 2–6 on 16 December 2025. A separate motion about dinners, refreshments and the cost of mayoral administrative support was withdrawn, not passed. City minutes show the mayor’s Toyota RAV4 Hybrid cost $2,022 to run in 2024–25, with private-use costs reimbursed.
Did South Perth vote to take away the mayor’s car?
No. On 16 December 2025, the council voted 2–6 against Houweling’s motion to cease providing a vehicle to the mayor from 1 July 2026. An alternative motion to continue providing a vehicle under the City’s Policy P649 also lost 2–6. The minutes record neither motion as adopted. City of South Perth council minutes, 16 December 2025
Houweling was elected to Mill Point Ward for a four-year term after the October 2025 election. He later resigned in June 2026, after eight months in office. ABC News reported that the latest budget’s 5.95% rates increase was cited by departing councillors and that Houweling described the council as fractured and dysfunctional. ABC did not establish that the vehicle or dinner motions caused his resignation. City of South Perth: election result; ABC News: councillor resignations
What happened to the motion about dinners and refreshments?
It was a separate motion from the one about the car, and Houweling withdrew it at the meeting. It proposed that elected members and staff receive dinner only after agenda briefings and council meetings; that open-fridge refreshments at council or committee meetings be limited to water, tea and coffee; and that the CEO review and report the cost and use of secretarial or administrative support for the mayor. The minutes do not record these proposals as adopted. City of South Perth council minutes, 16 December 2025
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How much did the mayor’s car cost ratepayers?
The City’s minutes identify the vehicle as a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid and report $2,022 in running costs for 2024–25, covering fuel, servicing, registration and insurance. Of that total, $1,456 was attributed to private use, invoiced to the mayor and paid; $566 was allocated to City business. The minutes report the use split as 72.4% private and 27.6% City business. These are different measures: the percentage split describes use, while the dollar figures describe allocated running costs. City of South Perth council minutes: 2024–25 vehicle use and costs
The December 2025 PerthNow article said the RAV4 Cruiser was bought in August 2024 for $45,192. It also reported 7,957 kilometres of personal use, 3,028 kilometres of business use and 34 kilometres unclear in the logbook period it cited. Those mileage figures describe that period; they should not be treated as the City’s annual running costs. PerthNow, 11 December 2025
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Why did Houweling want the vehicle removed?
Houweling argued that most events were within a 10-kilometre radius and that a dedicated vehicle was neither necessary nor cost-effective. That was his rationale for the motion, not a council finding. The City report cited Policy P649 as providing a fully maintained local-government vehicle for the mayor’s official duties. The alternative motion described private use as reimbursable and the vehicle as being provided in lieu of mileage claims. PerthNow, 11 December 2025; City of South Perth council minutes, 16 December 2025
Houweling’s reported $17,500 potential saving was his estimate, not an audited saving or an amount adopted by council. The official minutes instead provide the recorded 2024–25 running costs and the reimbursement for private use; they do not establish that ending the vehicle arrangement would have produced $17,500 in savings.
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What is known about the vehicle arrangement now?
The December 2025 minutes establish that both motions on the car lost. The sources cited here do not establish whether the City subsequently changed Policy P649, removed the vehicle or adopted another arrangement. The later status of the policy and vehicle should therefore not be inferred from the vote alone.
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