"Refining NZ considers the remuneration package for the CEO to be appropriate for the skill set and experience required to successfully run New Zealand's only refinery, which is both an essential piece of energy structure for the country, and a significant contributor to the Northland economy."
Mr McNeill said the role was critical to refinery business as they were responsible for ensuring the refinery remained competitive against fuel imports, continued to produce about 70 per cent of New Zealand's fuel, provided ongoing employment for about 500 Northlanders. The CEO was also responsible for seeing through the completion of a major $365 million expansion, the Te Mahi Hou project. "The level of remuneration for the current CEO was set by the Refining NZ board in 2013 precisely to ensure that the company was able to attract and retain the right person, someone capable of steering the refinery through what has proven to be extremely difficult market conditions."
Another high earner was Northland Inc chief executive David Wilson, who earned between $120,000 and $150,000 last financial year.
Northpower's highest reported remuneration for 2014 was between $490,000 and $499,999 but the company would not confirm it was for chief executive Mark Gatland.
Top Energy chief executive Russell Shaw's and Northport chief executive Jon Moore's salaries were also requested but not disclosed.
John McGill, chief executive of remuneration consultants Strategic Pay, said several factors influenced what some might see as high pay packages.
"When companies are interviewing people for a chief executive, they are generally in an international environment so they literally have to look around the world for people," he said.
"The dilemma [employers] face is they have to meet that market if they want to attract the right people and so also meet the structure of pay which is common for those jobs - that's where you get into short- and long-term benefits that mean the big packages."
However, even some executives thought they were paid too much, a recent Strategic Pay survey found.
Almost a quarter of the 483 New Zealand executives surveyed thought top-level managers' pay packets were out of kilter with reality.
A quarter of respondents would also take a pay cut if offered other "lifestyle compensation benefits" such as more time with family.
In theory, a leader's salary should reflect the strength of their organisation, Mr McGill said.
"An organisation that's performing poorly but increasing the pay cheques of its top people is running a poor system. In [public relations] terms, it's an awful look."
The ever-growing responsibility and accountability placed on chief executives in the wake of incidents such as Pike River was another salary factor, he said.
And in regional centres such as Northland, a chunk of the top earners generally worked in the public sector, which came with the added complexity of having high local profiles.
When something went wrong you say "well, who's running this show, and why did they let this happen?" he said.
The top council earner in the Advocate survey was Far North District Council chief executive David Edmunds, on $343,344 for the 2014 to 2015 financial year.
Whangarei District Council chief executive Mark Simpson earned $299,000 in the 2013 to 2014 financial year. Mr Simpson's job is being advertised and he's been told he can reapply, despite an Employment Relations Authority ruling found he had unjustly dismissed his personal assistant.
Whangarei Mayor Sheryl Mai's salary for 2014 to 2015 is $130,780, compared to Far North Mayor John Carter's $122,300.
