Related News
Australia’s top civil servant resigns after US$4m pay row
Print Edition
AUSTRALIA’S highest-paid public servant announced his resignation, two weeks after a revelation that he made A$5.6 million (US$4.3 million) last year sparked a public furor and created a political headache for the government.
Australia Post managing director Ahmed Fahour said he was quitting the national mail service on the same day the government-owned corporation posted a profit of A$131 million for the six months through December. The figure was a big jump from the A$16 million profit the corporation made in the same half a year earlier.
The Lebanese-born former banker, 50, said he was leaving because Australia Post had transformed from a traditional mail service to a parcel and e-commerce business during his seven years at the helm.
His resignation was not caused by the widespread public outrage at his high salary, he said.
“Clearly, this has been a very difficult and emotional decision for me and my family. But I’ve come to the conclusion that the timing is right. As the half-year results show, the transformation has worked,” Fahour said.
Fahour said he would leave Australia Post in July after his successor is named.
The government later announced that an independent tribunal that decides the salaries of lawmakers, judges and government department bosses will be given power to rule on how much Fahour’s replacement is worth.
While the Australia Post board of directors will continue to decide the managing director’s salary package, it will now have to persuade the Remuneration Tribunal that the pay is consistent with what other senior public servants are paid.
Earlier this month, a Senate committee revealed Fahour’s pay despite objections from Australia Post that making it public could damage the corporation’s brand.
His A$4.4 million salary plus an A$1.2 million bonus in the last fiscal year (July-June) was more than 10 times the prime minister’s salary of A$507,000.
By contrast, US Postal Service Chief Executive and Postmaster General Megan Brennan’s salary was US$286,137 last year. Fahour said that Australia Post should not be compared to the loss-making US Postal Service.
“They are a letters company and, by the way, they lose US$20 billion a year and have done so now for a number of years,” Fahour said.
“That’s not the right comparison.”
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
