Civil servant’s pay rise too much
The cancer researcher; the aged care worker; the street sweeper; the eye surgeon; the special needs teacher; the missionary working in an orphanage in some far flung country; the emergency nurse in war torn Middle East — what do any of these people get paid? They see it as a vocation, but does that mean their remuneration doesn’t have to stack up?
I just cannot get right in my mind the fact that the New Zealand Superannuation Fund boss Adrian Orr is on an annual salary of over $1 million. That’s an incredible average of nearly $500 per hour – though he may well work more than 40 hours per week as the rest of us do.
My uneasiness comes from when I think about those cleaners or care workers who will be on $15.75 an hour.
Having never met Orr, I certainly would not begin to take anything away from the very advanced money management skills of the person who is entrusted to run this country’s biggest investor. Nobody can deny that the returns are great and this bodes really well for we babyboomers who are quite naturally looking a fair way ahead to some future years of financial security, courtesy of ‘our’ Superannuation Fund.
The stewardship of the people’s pension savings is a position of supreme importance in New Zealand carrying some prestige and status.
And in all of the publicity around the increase, there was never a suggestion that the incumbent was thinking of moving on if the pay increase didn’t eventuate. So why isn’t taking care of people old age funds also a vocation? And what do we mean by a ‘‘public servant’’?
Among the reasons given by the Super Fund Board for this meteoric and immediate increase in pay was the alignment with the remuneration of international peers. But, hang on, this is New Zealand and we are also talking about the public sector.
I have a problem with the state paying massive salaries, especially when they are ‘out of whack’ with that of the Prime Minister or our Chief Justice.
But this is really about the huge difference in remuneration among New Zealanders. While I do not have a problem with the CEO of our Superannuation Fund receiving a reasonable threefigure salary in line with skills, experience and qualifications brought to the role, becoming the highest paid person on the public payroll is not appropriate here.
If you think about it, we need this role just as much as every care worker, teacher aide, driver, cleaner or caretaker. Does it take as much cleverness to manage an underfunded household budget as thirty billion dollars? Once you’ve learned the basics of economics and investment isn’t it pretty much like riding a bike?
So the unbelievable chasm between what these citizens receive each hour (often part-time in unsociable hours) and almost $500 for 60 minutes work is actually obscene.
WRITE TO US
We welcome letters to the editor, 250 words or less preferred. Published at the sole discretion of the editor and they may be edited. Include your address and phone number (not for publication). Send to Taranaki Star, 96 Collins St, 4610 or PO Box 428, Hawera or email to star@dailynews.co.nz. Deadline: Fridays 4pm.