Fed: Howard says big salaries a global reality

AAP General News (Australia)
08-13-2004
Fed: Howard says big salaries a global reality

BRISBANE, Aug 13 AAP - Prime Minister John Howard said today big salary packages for
company executives was a global reality and here to stay.

Mr Howard, commenting on reports the National Australia Bank (NAB) had appointed three
new executives and was likely to spend $70 million in salaries over the coming four years,
said it was all relative.

"It does seem an enormous amount," he told radio 4BC in Brisbane.

"But on the other hand, you have to recognise that when you are dealing with very large
companies and you are in a globalised world economy, you have to pay what is needed to
get the right people.

"Once you start introducing rules on these things and you start losing people to similar
sized companies in other parts of the world and then the bank doesn't perform as well
and then the shareholders complain and the board says `Well, we weren't allowed to pay
what was needed to get the right men to run the company', you are back to square one."

AAP rad/sc/cdh/bwl n

KEYWORD: NAB HOWARD

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