New report exposes high salaries of Victoria suburban rail loop execs - RACHEL BAXENDALE VICTORIAN POLITICAL REPORTER @rachelbaxendale - DEC 27, 2022
More than 100 staff members working on the Andrews government’s signature Suburban Rail Loop project are on salaries of at least $200,000 a year, including the chief executive, who is paid almost three quarters of a million dollars.
The 104 staff on more than $200,000 — comprising almost 30 per cent of the 352 staff employed by the Suburban Rail Loop Authority — include 47 executives, as well as 46 senior technical specialists and 11 principal scientists.
The government sought special dispensation in 2021 to hire then-senior Queensland public servant Frankie Carroll — originally from Ireland — on a salary of $680,000 to $700,000 — at least $200,000 more than public sector pay bands at the time allowed, and more than $300,000 above Premier Daniel Andrews’ salary of $464,918.
According to the SRLA annual report, tabled in state parliament last week, five other executives are classified as Senior Executive Service Level 3, on salaries of between $384,541 and $511,862.
There are another 24 executives paid at SES-2 Level, of between $267,446 and $348,540, and another 22 at SES-1, at $207,116 to $267,445.
Of the executives, 35 are men and 17 are women, including 24 men and six women at SES-2 level or higher.
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In 2021-22, two executives, including Mr Carroll, were on more than $500,000, another five were on more than $400,000, and another 11 were on more than $300,000.
The Suburban Rail Loop is ultimately intended to run from Cheltenham, in Melbourne’s southeast, to Werribee in the southwest, via Melbourne Airport.
But the full cost is not clear, and the completion date is decades away, with the first stage, from Cheltenham to Box Hill, set to cost $34.5bn and due to be finished by 2035.
The latest SRLA benefits and hospitality register shows Mr Carroll and SRLA board chair James Mackenzie accepted taxpayer-funded Australian Open tennis tickets worth $500 each, gifted to them by Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan on behalf of the Victorian government.
Mr Carroll also accepted an even more lavish $1300 Australian Open ticket from consulting company PwC, while Mr Mackenzie was given a second $500 ticket for a different day of the tournament by the Melbourne Olympic Parks Trust.
Victoria’s Transport Minister Jacinta Allan.
Other perks accepted by board or executive team members included a $250 ticket to PWC’s post-federal budget dinner, and a $250 ticket to the Carlton Football Club President’s Dinner.
Opposition infrastructure spokesman David Southwick said Victorian needed major projects, “but not at any cost”, referencing traffic jams that are currently occurring as a result of the West Gate Tunnel project — which was due to be completed earlier this year but is now not expected to be finished until 2025.
“When families can’t even get over the Westgate for New Year’s, you have to question if these salaries are value for money for a project at least 13 years away,” Mr Southwick said.
An Andrews government spokeswoman said: “Getting the best people on board is essential to getting this infrastructure investment right for the future of Victoria.
“We are competing in both interstate and international markets where project executives are also well remunerated for the skills they have developed over several decades in the industry.”