The Remuneration Authority is responsible for determining the salaries of senior public servants, judges, central and local government elected representatives and a swag of other individuals based on their official roles. Have a look at the legislation – it’s quite fascinating.
The important thing about the Authority is how it operates – essentially as a self-rewarding ratchet scheme.
To whit: periodically, the Authority sets the salaries of those it is legislatively required to do. After a suitable and seemly interval, the combined Chambers of Commerce take formal notice of increases in the salaries of senior public servants – and in the normal processes of remunerative self-righteous desire to be properly rewarded, for their labours, start making noises suggesting they (and their CEOs) need an equivalent increase so that they are not left behind – and in the normal process of keeping up with the Joneses as well as of progress, in due course, the private industry CEOs find themselves appropriately in receipt of increased salaries.
After a further seemly interval, the Authority decides it needs to again revisit the salaries of senior public servants etcetera, and in doing so, very properly, researches the salaries of private industry CEOs and finds, goodness me, that they have increased. In the minds of those responsible for the Authority’s internal workings it is clearly important that senior public servants should not be left behind, in terms of salaries, from those of the CEOs in private industry.
At this point go back to the beginning of this brief message and repeat the process ad infinitum.
The Highest Salaries Merry-Go-Round
Oct 23, 2016
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Income Equality Aotearoa New Zealand Inc is a national volunteer organisation trying to tackle the wealth inequality and the social problems that it causes. We want a fairer and more equal New Zealand, for all.
