Tassie’s top chiefs rake in $5.4m

Bonus payments come under fire Critics lament lack of women in top jobs

THE heads of Tasmania’s state-owned businesses and government business enterprises are raking in more than $5 million in salaries and perks each year, Mercury analysis reveals.

The chief executives of 14 GBEs and state-owned businesses received total packages of $5.4 million in 2017, which was an increase on the $5 mil- lion they received the previous year.

Of all 14 entities, only two were headed by women.

Tasmania’s highest paid chief executive was Hydro boss Steve Davy on $607,000, followed by TasPorts chief executive Paul Weedon on $548,287 and TT-Line chief Bernard Dwyer on $529,000.

The highest-paid female boss of a state company was Aurora’s Rebecca Kardos on $378,304, with Tasmanian Irrigation’s Nicola Morris not far behind on $347,004.

Tasrail’s Damien White and TasNetworks boss Lance Balcombe were the only two CEOs to receive less in 2016-17 than in the previous year.

KPMG’s Richard Durand, a director in the company’s national human resources group, said the chief executives were not overpaid by national standards.

Mr Durand said Victorian private power utility compan- ies paid their chief executives about 20 to 30 per cent more and had larger bonuses and incentive payments.

Mr Durand said there were also chief executives of private companies in Tasmania earning more than government business enterprise bosses.

Opposition treasury spokesman Scott Bacon said the salaries and bonuses paid to the CEOs of Tasmania’s government-owned businesses were generous.

Mr Bacon said although salaries needed to be competitive with the private sector, they also needed to align with community expectations.

“The bonuses paid to Hydro’s executive were excessive given we are still feeling the effects of an energy

crisis that cost taxpayers around $180 million,” Mr Bacon said.

“On the other hand the executives of TasNetworks didn’t accept any bonuses despite making a substantial profit.

“I think Tasmanians would respect CEO Lance Balcombe’s leadership in that regard.

“How can the Government justify Hydro’s executives receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in bonuses when they refuse to provide power price relief to all pensioners?”

Senior executives at Hydro received wage rises of up to 28 per cent this financial year after no executive bonuses were paid in 2015-16 during the state’s energy crisis.

Greens leader Cassy O’Connor said the “hefty” salary packages and bonuses would come as a shock to the many Tasmanians struggling to put a roof over their head and food on the table.

“We struggle to understand why the heads of GBEs seem to be paid so much more than senior public servants, and indeed the Premier,” Ms O’Connor said.

“All would fit within a broad category of public service, so why the bigger pay and bonuses on top?”

Premier Will Hodgman is paid $290,000 a year and Treasurer Peter Gutwein is paid $242,000.

Ms O’Connor said Tasmania’s GBEs should be doing more to reflect the make-up of society and harness the capacity of women as business leaders.

Mr Bacon said it was disappointing that just two of the 14 CEOs were women. “The Premier pretended he wanted to do something about gender equality but hasn’t backed up his words with any action.”

University of Tasmania corporate governance expert Tom Baxter said having just two female CEOs was not enough.

“The Tasmanian Government has tried to improve gender balance on its boards. But this has not flowed through to GBE and SOC CEOs,” Dr Baxter said.

“The state’s 14 per cent women CEOs is worse than the 16 per cent average in Aus- tralian companies. That contributes to the gender pay gap. It sees an average male-female salary difference of $93,884 at the top level of corporate management in Australia.”

A government spokesman said collectively the CEOs managed businesses with more than $20 billion worth of assets.

“The selection of CEOs and their remuneration is generally handled by independent boards,” he said.