The Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, draws an annual salary of $522,000. Some would argue that the man is overpaid, given that he has done very little in his nearly 17 months in office.
But this pales into insignificance before the fact that the man who runs Australia Post, Ahmed Fahour, takes home $5.6 million.
For what exactly?
In 2015, Australia Post sent around a cringing missive, telling the residents of this big brown land in effect that it had not seen digital disruption coming and was thus forced to raise its rates in order to keep the organisation going.
{loadposition sam08}The chief of Australia Post at that time, too, was Fahour. Had he devised and adopted some brilliant strategy to turn the organisation around, then perhaps one would not be inclined to judge him too harshly.
By Australian standards, $5.6 million for a Commonwealth bureaucrat is way over the top. The man running the NBN Co gets $3.6 million.
Fahour did nothing while the postal service was buffeted by the digital revolution; he then merely raised prices so he could milk the citizenry to cover for his ineptitude. Oh, and to pay his fat salary and those of his fellow executives too.
The ordinary letter now costs a dollar. And it comes to your mailbox just twice a week. Want your mail a trifle earlier? Then you have to pay on top of that. After all, how can Fahour get his money if you do not fork out?
Fahour was aware that making the figure public would lead to some disquiet. Thus, until it was leaked out today, the salaries of top Australia Post executives were kept off the annual report from 2011 onwards.
Last year Fahour received a $2 million bonus. Public comment led to him donating it to a charity – run by his brother. Good show, in the best Australian tradition.
If the man has any shame, he should hand in his resignation and go. But that's probably too much to expect from him at this stage.