AusPost CEO Ahmed Fahour earned a tidy $5.6m last year, comprising $4.4 pay with a $1.2m bonus, a package which is approximately ten times that of the prime minister.
This salary makes Fahour the highest paid civil servant in Australia, and compares to prime minister Malcom Turnbull, whose salary is $507,338.
A Senate committee has revealed the salaries of executives of Australia Post, after the company refused to publicly disclose the information last year.
In addition to the top salary five other executives earned between $1.3m and $1.8m a year. None of the executives were named. Totalling the eight executives’ remuneration the sum comes close to $18m. One of the executives also claimed a $380,000 retirement benefit.
Australia Post posted a $36m profit last financial year after announcing a $222m loss the year before that.
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AusPost fought to keep the salaries secret but failed with the Senate committee saying there was no fundamental reason why the salaries should not be made public.
Erin Kelly, corporate secretary at Australia Post sent a letter to the Standing Committee on Environment and Communication saying the committee should not post the remuneration due to legislative requirements, commercial confidentiality and public interest immunity claims.
“The public disclosure of executive remuneration would involve the unreasonable disclosure of personal information. The public disclosure of executive remuneration may be prejudicial against those Australia Post and those individuals to which the information relates. Australia Post and or those individuals may become targets for unwarranted media attention. This may lead to brand damage for Australia Post, which, in operating a competitive market, may be significantly detrimental to our business and future profitability.”
Senator James Paterson, chair of the Environment and Communication Legislation Committee wrote a letter to Fahour on February 7 stating, “The committee remains of the view that the answers to the questions in notice should be made publicly available as part of the estimates process. Fundamentally, the committee considers there are no compelling reasons for this particular information about the remuneration of senior executives at Australia Post to be hidden from public scrutiny.”
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Australia Post released a statement defending Fahour’s salary indicating his sum reflect the annual revenue the company receives.
“The remuneration of the executive team, including the Managing Director & Group CEO, is set by the Australia Post Board.
“Mr Fahour's total remuneration package takes into account the size and complexity of the organisation, which has an annual turnover of more than $6 billion. It also reflects the large-scale transformation underway and that more than 73 per cent of its revenue comes from the non-regulated side of the business where it is competing with major global players such as DHL, FedEx and Toll.
“Mr Fahour's remuneration in FY16 included a performance-based short-term bonus in line with Australia Post returning to profit. The previous year he did not receive a bonus.
“Total executive remuneration has not increased since 2014 when the executive last received their full eligible performance bonus. Since 2007 Australia Post has paid more than $6.3b in dividends and taxes to the Federal Government. Australia Post does not receive any taxpayer funding.”
Australia Post stopped publicly declaring its executive salaries after the 2014-15 annual report.
A spokesperson for Australia Post said Fahour was not able to comment on his salary as it is deemed inappropriate.
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