Outgoing ActewAGL and ACTEW Water chairman John Mackay remains unapologetic about how much the companies' top executives are paid and the largesse shown to staff, corporate organisations and charities by the power and water utilities.
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He has also revealed the deaths of two of his younger brothers from AIDS within six weeks of each other in the late 1980s heightened his sense of compassion.
He also believes getting the Cotter Dam expanded at a cost of about $410 million in the face of flooding and delays is a ''genius'' result.
After a 15-year association as the boss or chairman of ActewAGL and ACTEW, Mr Mackay's resignation takes effect on June 30. ACTEW and ActewAGL deputy chairman Michael Easson will take over as acting chairman of both organisations.
In a wide-ranging interview, Mr Mackay said he tried to create a family atmosphere among the ActewAGL staff, whether that was treating them to an extravagant end of financial year awards night that was ''like a night at the Logies'' or giving them financial help when they needed it.
''If someone was in trouble, I would try to fix it and there's dozens of them,'' he said.
''So, the first person who came through my door and said one of our employees has just died, I said, 'Take 10,000 bucks around to their family immediately'. And that was the approach I took. Some kid had leukaemia and they had some cure in Germany or something, I said, 'Just tell them [to go]'. So I've tried to be a really, really great boss and have happy staff and productive staff. I think if people are happy and they know you care about them they respond a lot better.''
Mr Mackay also said he did not believe ACTEW Water managing director Mark Sullivan had been paid too much on a salary of $855,000, as he was in charge of a major organisation and would have been on a similar amount in his previous life as secretary of a federal government department. Mr Sullivan has since agreed to take a $140,000 pay cut under pressure after his salary was under-reported by $234,000.
''If you want to get A-grade people, you can't get them by paying C-grade wages,'' Mr Mackay said.
''You could get someone to run Mark's job for half the price and you'd get half the result, I can tell you. I've seen Mark time after time make huge differences because he' s such a fantastic leader and such a fantastic negotiator.
''I've seen him do some terrific deals that would make his salary insignificant. He's saved us tens and tens of millions of dollars.''
Mr Mackay maintains it is a ''genius'' result for the Cotter Dam extension to be built at a cost of about $410 million, about 12 per cent more than the original estimate of $363 million, after two serious floods. He maintains earlier estimates from 2007 of a $153 million cost were never seriously considered.
''The mistake we made there was not correcting [the figure] when it got out because it was a silly number and it bore no relationship. The fact of the matter was the day we decided to build the dam, that figure was not in our mind, $363 million was in our
mind, that's what we approved,'' he said. Mr Mackay said when Canberrans realised they had water security, the cost of the dam expansion would be forgotten.
''I think in time to come, we'll all be very proud of and very thankful for [the dam],'' he said.
Similarly, Mr Mackay said he believed ActewAGL chief executive Michael Costello was not being paid too much and defended the decision not to reveal his salary publicly. Of reports Mr Costello was on $1 million, Mr Mackay said ''I have no comment on that''.
''We're required to report certain things and we're not required to report other stuff. So, we report what we're required to report and we leave it at that,'' he said.
''And it's not Michael's decision, it's not ACTEW's decision, it's the board of ActewAGL - it's the decision of Jemena, a huge company owned by Singapore Power; AGL, one of the largest companies in Australia, and ACTEW. They decide what will be limited and what will be put out. So, I don't apologise for that.''
ActewAGL says it spends $2 million annually on marketing and sponsorship. ACTEW Water spends about $500,000 a year on sponsorship and grants.
Mr Mackay said money spent on corporate sponsorship and charity ventures made good business sense. ''We do it because it's a damn good thing in a straight-out commercial sense,'' he said.
''So, we almost never say we'll sponsor something unless the deal is, 'You will sign up with us for a long time'. And why do we do so much better than any other utility in Australia? I think it's because people feel ACTEW and ActewAGL is part of us and they support our football team and they support our you-name-it, so they sign up with us.''
Nevertheless, the amount spent on corporate largesse and sponsorship did niggle in the community where there was a perception ACTEW Water and ActewAGL were being loose with money at a time when utility costs were on the rise.
Mr Mackay maintains doing the deals and playing the game has ultimately delivered the ACT government billions of dollars in dividends and Canberrans the cheapest power in Australia.
"I wonder why it wouldn't occur to them their power it something like $1400 a year less expensive than Queanbeyan's? We must be doing something right,'' he said.
In Forum, John Mackay speaks about the deaths of his brothers, his achievements, his regrets and why he and Jon Stanhope used to fight over the arboretum.