Executive chairman and chief executive of NBN Co Limited Mike Quigley will receive $1.95 million a year for his efforts.
It is very heartening to see the corporation aligning to what we want it to be and having Ron and Mike at senior levels has helped us get that message across
In 2005, then-Alcatel Australia chief Ross Fowler
The package negotiated comes without the often sizeable long-term incentives or equity-based remuneration typical of top chief executive remuneration packages, but it still dwarfs the pay of the politicians and bureaucrats behind his appointment.
Quigley negotiated the deal with the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy and the Department of Finance and Deregulation.
"This package is well within industry standards applicable in both other Government Business Enterprises and the telecommunications sector," Minister for Communications Stephen Conroy's office said in a statement.
Shadow Minister for Communications Nick Minchin has criticised Quigley's pay as evidence of the Labor Government's reckless spending. "This is the type of remuneration afforded to the CEOs of successful, long-established companies, not $2 companies with nothing yet to do," Minchin said in a statement.
The amount puts Quigley's base pay ahead of Optus chief Paul O'Sullivan, whose $2.1 million last financial year included incentives. But it places Quigley on par with Telstra chief David Thodey's fixed remuneration of $2 million.
Thodey, however, has a range of long- and short-term incentives, which yesterday was revealed to have put his remuneration for the year at $3.5 million — around $400,000 less than when he was head of Telstra Enterprise and Government.
Telstra's top executives over the past financial year took home around $36 million, including Sol Trujillo who took just over $9 million. Greg Winn, Telstra's former chief operating officer, who left in January this year, took home over $5.3 million. The total figure for the top 11 executives in Telstra did fall last year from $46 million.
Once again, Headless chooks. Shoot them all.
We nee a serious change of how this suposed Democracy works........ Voice of the people my BUTT!.......