ACTEW managing director Mark Sullivan is Australia's highest-paid water executive. He earns at least $216,000 more than his counterparts in Sydney and Melbourne.
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The utility boss's $854,000 pay package means that he earns more than double what some water chiefs in other capitals earn, and Mr Sullivan's political bosses want to know why.
But ACTEW chairman John Mackay says his colleague has more responsibilities than running the water utility, and that it is unfair to compare his salary with those of interstate water bosses.
Mr Sullivan's salary package has grown from $637,970 in 2010.
ACTEW is a territory-owned corporation and its two shareholders, Treasurer Andrew Barr and Chief Minister Katy Gallagher, both conceded this week that they had not known how much their chief executive was being paid until the utility told them it had under-reported the figure in an annual report.
The water sector salary package that came closest to Mr Sullivan's was that of Sydney Water's managing director, Kevin Young, who earns about $618,000.
ACTEW said last month that it could be forced to cut jobs and slash spending by $26 million to pay for a proposed $230-per-household reduction in water and sewerage bills ordered by the ACT Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission (ICRC).
Mr Mackay said Mr Sullivan had responsibilities that went way beyond water, including the electricity retailer ActewAGL, a joint venture with the private sector.
''If Mark was simply running a water company, his salary would be preposterous, but he is not,'' Mr Mackay said.
''He's a shareholder in a billion-dollar business (ActewAGL) that extends way beyond the borders of the ACT and was until recently a shareholder in a multi-million telecommunications company (TransACT).''
Mr Barr came under pressure in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday over Mr Sullivan's wage. Opposition Leader Jeremy Hanson asked why it had taken ACTEW, which discovered before last year's election that Mr Sullivan's salary had been under-reported in company documents, to tell the government.
"That's a very good question and one I have asked the chairman of the ACTEW board," the Treasurer said.
"I put the view very firmly to the chair that I felt it was an unacceptable time period between when they became aware and when the shareholders were notified."
Mr Mackay could not be contacted for comment on Thursday.
The Liberals' Treasury spokesman asked the Treasurer if he retained confidence in ACTEW's board and management after cost blowouts to the key Cotter Dam enlargement project and the ICRC's determination.
Mr Barr said a remuneration consultant was hired by ACTEW in 2010 and determined that Mr Sullivan's pay was at industry benchmark level.
"The board sets the salary of the managing director. They have a remuneration committee that looks into these questions," the minister told the Assembly.
"When this issue was raised a few years ago, a benchmarking exercise was undertaken.
"The salary that was published and advised to the shareholders at that time was within the benchmarking range of similar positions in similar public utilities around the country.
"The new information would appear to put the managing director's salary above that range.
"It's understandable and you would anticipate that that market would have moved up.
"The question is, has it moved up to the extent of $230,000 and that's the question the Chief Minister and I are asking."