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The Trough Runneth Over...



From that man again - Ean (Legend) Higgins...

Dear Angus...err..Please Explain??

Angus Houston pushed to clarify $4m salary blowout

• by: EAN HIGGINS
  
• From: The Australian
  
• June 15, 2015 12:00AM
  

Reporter
Sydney




Airserv­ices Australia chairman Angus Houston is under pressure to explain a $4m remuneration blowout. Picture: Gary Ramage Source: News Corp Australia

The salary pool of fewer than a dozen top executives at Air­serv­ices Australia rose by more than 40 per cent last financial year to nearly $4 million, applying pressure on the organisation’s chairman, Angus Houston, to explain the blowout.  

The Australian can also reveal that the remuneration package of Airservices chief executive Margaret Staib, who came under pressure in Senate estimates hearings last year over her lack of detail concerning a $20,000 alleged credit­-card fraud by one of her staff, is $600,000.

Sir Angus and Ms Staib have been the targets of a renewed campaign by businessman and aviator Dick Smith over the failure of Airservices to extend its air traffic control and radio officer service when it has the capacity to do so. Mr Smith claims that Airservices, which is government owned but financed by charges on the aviation industry, lacks the financ­ial rigour of the private sector because, with careers purely in the air force as senior officers, neither­ ­Sir Angus nor Ms Staib have real-world business experience.

Bonuses for Airservices senior executives soared by nearly 60 per cent last financial year.

Mr Smith claims the bonus system encourages Airservices executives to maximise industry charges and minimise expendit­ure on safety measures, to improve the bottom line and boost their take-home pay, claims denie­d by the organisation, which insists safety is primary.

“How can you have bonuses in a monopoly?” Mr Smith said.

The Australian is not suggesting that Sir Angus or Ms Staib have acted inappropriately.
Airservices financial records show that in 2012-13 the organisation paid $2.2m in salaries to its senior executives and $495,000 in bonuses.

In 2013-14, the executive remun­eration pool skyrocketed to $3.1m in salaries, with $778,000 in performance bonuses.

The Australian put questions on the figures to Airservices which were handled by spokesman Graham Robinson, but the responses, according to corporate accountant John Leece from chartered accountants Boroughs Australia, did not add up.

In a statement to The Australian, Airservices said while there were 10 executives in the 2012-13 figures, including two who worked less than six months in that year, the 2013-14 figures covered 11 executives, only one of whom worked less than six months.

“Executive remuneration increase from 2012-13 to 2013-14 was an average of 2.25 per cent,” Airservices said.

“Airservices implemented an executive pay freeze for the current year.”

But even taking into account the particular factors Airservices listed, the average total remuneration package rose by over 20 per, and Mr Leece said it was impossible to reconcile that with the 2.25 per cent claimed.

“It was a nonsense,” Mr Leece said. “I took out 1.5 people — I was trying to give them the benefit of the doubt.

“On a per-head basis it is a major increase, and to say it’s not is just not right at all.

“You can look at the bonus ­increase alone, which is considerable, for only a few people.”

Mr Leece noted that Air­services refused to answer several questions from The Australian which could have sorted out the inconsistencies, such as how much the additional employee got paid, and the highest individual salary percentage increase.

Sir Angus was unavailable for comment.

Errr...no comment P2