[Peetwo]

P7: Snipe for tonight, irresistible.


Hey, P2: – one of your favourite journalists is under fire from a UP troll.  Seems his reporting is to be denigrated by the resident experts, inaccurate, according to ASA who have decorously not screamed this from the roof tops.  It is worth looking at the track record of the ‘slagger’; 616 post in 12 years – content? - well, do your own home work.  Still it’s only on the UP, so no one in the real world gives a toss.  Higgins could and probably would, if the mood moved him, box his silly ears.  Where do they get these people, those who cannot write a letter to the editor of the Australian, or even a UP o’gram to concisely point out the alleged ‘flaws’ and force a retraction.  UP trolls, not only dopey, but gutless.

QSK's intimate knowledge of the inner workings of ASA (& especially the Executive) always did strike me as 'passing strange'?? Now the QSK assertion of journalistic embellishment, on the level of trough gorging going on by the ASA Executive Management team, seems to have fallen on deaf MMSM ears..err..that man Higgins again... :
  

Senators agog at $800,000 air bonuses for Airservices Australia  

• by: EAN HIGGINS
  
• From: The Australian
  
• June 19, 2015 12:00AM
  

Reporter
Sydney


Labor and Coalition senators have voiced concerns about a spike in the salary and bonus pool for senior executives at Airservices Australia, with one calling for an independent audit.  

The move follows revelations in The Australian this week that fewer than a dozen executives had their salary pool expanded by more than 40 per cent last finan­cial year to nearly $4 million, and within that the bonus pool increased by 60 per cent to nearly $800,000.

The senators also expressed concern at a decision by Airservices to not report a credit card travel rort fraud to police, despite being warned last year that failure to do so could constitute a criminal offence.

Airservices claims the massive rises in the senior executive salary pool between 2012-13 and 2013-14 reflected changes to the composition of the executive team, and an evening-out of an earlier dip in remuneration. 

Airservices initially claimed the average rise in “remuneration” was 2.25 per cent, but under further questioning yesterday admitted this only covered base salary.

With the rise in bonuses, it now claims total average remuneration rose by 5.2 per cent.
Airservices has refused to provide a full breakdown of the executive salary and bonus increases to allow its claims to be tested.

It has also not confirmed or denied inside information reaching The Australian that several senior executives who are not based at Airservices headquarters in Canberra are on travel allowances beyond their salaries of the order of $90,000.

But a spokesman said: “Airservices is a national organisation with significant operations in all capital cities.”

Labor senator Glenn Sterle called for an independent audit, saying: “Someone has to be ­accountable.”

His colleague Alex Gallacher said Airservices had a mono­poly on provision of air traffic control across the nation. “To get a bonus in all this is extraordinary,” Senator Gallacher said.

At a Senate estimates hearing in October, committee members expressed concern when Airservices chief executive Margaret Staib said a credit card fraud perpetrated by a middle manager, which she put at $10,000 to $20,000, had not been reported to law enforcement authorities.

{Hmm...Ferryman & Gobbles I wonder, does this expand the pool of candidates for the author of the Heff's 'Dipshit' letter??}

Is it any wonder the Senate RRAT Committee have kept this - Performance of Airservices Australia - listed as ongoing.

However back to the main drawcard because that was only an appetiser from that man Higgins - Houston we have a problem   

Coming to the AuntyPru thread - Things that go bump in the night very soon, so stay tuned...

[*]MTF...you bet! P2

[*]Here is a link for the ASA letter to the Oz - Response to The Australian

Dear Editor,


Your articles today ‘Air salaries up and Houston pushed to clarify $4m blowout’ (Monday 15 June 2015) and headlines contained serious inaccuracies in reference to executive remuneration.

Any assertion that salaries for Airservices senior executives rose by more than 40 per cent is not correct and your journalist was advised of this prior to publication. It is also incorrect to suggest there was a “$4m blowout” in executive salaries.

As we advised, the average remuneration increase for our senior executives was 2.25 per cent between 2012-13 and 2013-14.

We also advised prior to publication that during the two-year period in question, there were several changes to the composition of the Executive and it is not accurate to do a simple dollar comparison from year to year. This includes partial year data for new members of the Executive in 2012-13, while the 2013-14 remuneration data includes one-off entitlements such as accrued leave and long service leave paid to a departing long-serving member of staff in 2013-14.

Reporting in this way is false and misleading and we request a correction be published as soon as possible.

Airservices reports all executive salaries in line with government legislation through our Annual Reports. Airservices has demonstrated its commitment to financial restraint by implementing an Executive pay freeze for the 2014-15 financial year, which is still in place for the upcoming 2015-16 financial year. This wage restraint extends to all members of the senior leadership team who report to the Executive.
Yours sincerely,
 
Mairi Barton
Executive General Manager
Corporate and Industry Affairs

[*]