Disquiet at payrise for boss who bungled Sutton case

Embattled State Services boss Iain Rennie has been awarded a $50,000 pay rise this year, as questions swirl about his performance.

Yesterday the State Services Commission released its annual remuneration report, months later than the same report last year, showing commissioner Rennie’s pay packet swelled by about 9 per cent to $610,000-$619,999 in the year to June 30.

Although Rennie would not be interviewed on the report or his salary, he said in a statement that public sector bosses were paid ‘‘generally less than what they would receive in a similar job in the private sector’’.

Opponents attacked Rennie’s pay, in light of his handling of an inquiry into former Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority chief executive Roger Sutton, who resigned last month after being found to have committed serious misconduct, following allegations of sexual harassment.

Rennie has admitted the handling of the conclusion of the inquiry was a ‘‘mess’’ while State Services Minister Paula Bennett signalled she had a number of concerns and that Rennie would be in danger if he repeated his mistakes.

Yesterday’s report showed Sutton also had a substantial pay rise, with his salary climbing about $30,000 to just under $600,000.

Green Party co-leader Russel Norman said Rennie’s pay should be determined by performance.

‘‘His performance has been put under significant question, so I think the Remuneration Authority should have a performance element to the pay rise,’’ he said.

Yesterday’s report showed that in the year to June 30 total salary and employment costs of public service chief executives were $11.6 million, down $500,000 on the previous year. It was the lowest total since 2008 and the commission said this reflected ‘‘ongoing control’’ of pay, but admitted there were fewer chief executives and one longstanding vacancy.

Adrian Orr, who heads the management of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, was the highest-paid chief executive, with a package of $800,000-$810,000. Stuart McCutcheon, vice-chancellor of the University of Auckland, earned $660,000-$669,999 while Gabriel Makhlouf, secretary to the Treasury, was paid $650,000-$659,999.

The payments are dwarfed by top private sector salaries. David Hisco of ANZ New Zealand is paid $4.1m, Theo Spierings of Fonterra $3.5m and Mark Adamson of Fletcher Building $3.3m.