Brian Burston (NSW, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on Senator Hanson's bill, the Communications Legislation Amendment (Executive Remuneration) Bill. The purpose of this bill is to amend the Australian Postal Corporation Act 1989 and the National Broadband Network Companies Act 2011 to remove the ability of the respective boards to set remuneration and to give that authority to Remuneration Tribunal by amending the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973.

It is my understanding that the Remuneration Tribunal already sets remuneration for most of the other government business enterprises, such as the Australian Rail Track Corporation, which is responsible for some 10,000km of interstate rail; the Australian Submarine Corporation, which is responsible for naval shipbuilding and the proposed spend of $50 billion on new submarines; Defence Housing Australia; and the Moorebank Intermodal Company, which is responsible for the major infrastructure hubs in Sydney. If the Remuneration Tribunal can handle the remuneration of the Prime Minister, members of parliament, the judiciary and others managing government businesses, then it can handle the remuneration for the most senior officers at Australia Post and NBN.

While I'm on the subject of the Remuneration Tribunal, I would like to take the opportunity to remind the Senate that in March this year only senators Bernardi, Leyonhjelm and Lambie and the One Nation senators voted to forgo pay rises set by the government until the federal government delivered a budget surplus. It seems there is not a more unifying issue in this place for senators than their own hip pocket—maybe a parliamentary dual citizenship audit is a close second, but I digress.

No-one in this place could reasonably argue that the annual remuneration of almost $6 million for the previous managing director of Australia Post, Mr Ahmed Fahour, was out of community step and expectations, especially when you compare it to the United States, where the postal service employs over 600,000 staff and delivers more than 660 million pieces of mail a day, yet its CEO gets a package worth A$1.2 million.

The flow-on effect to taxpayers of such an excessive remuneration is significant. It makes payments of between $1.3 million and $1.8 million to a number of other executives seem reasonable. That further reduces the dividend back to the taxpayer. This in turn reduces the ability of Australia Post to absorb some of the increasing costs of delivering the mail, making posting letters and other mail more expensive. It is also a slap in the face to the real workers at Australia Post: the staff, the contractors and the owners of licensed and franchised post offices, who deliver such a valuable service to our community.

On 24 February 2017, after significant pressure from One Nation and an outcry from the Australian community, the government announced that it would bring the position of Managing Director of Australia Post within the regime administered by the Remuneration Tribunal, but it said nothing about the CEO of NBN. I note that the new Managing Director of Australia Post, Ms Christine Holgate, who starts her new role in October, has had her salary set in accordance with the parameters set by the Commonwealth Remuneration Tribunal and, as such, will receive a base salary of $1.379 million a year, with the potential to earn 100 per cent of that as a bonus. While I personally think that is still excessive compared to the remuneration of the US Postal Service CEO, it is still a step in the right direction.

This bill also brings the CEO of NBN Co within the framework of the Remuneration Tribunal, and I will speak on the board of the NBN Co and its payment of $3.6 million to the chief executive officer at a later date. I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.