NZTA board defends chairman's salary

The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) board is defending paying chief executive Geoff Dangerfield more than $500,000.

NZTA chairman Brian Roche accepted the salary was very high.

"It's up there, I think, in terms of other public sector [jobs]," he told The Dominion Post newspaper.

"But it's a very, very large job as well."

Land Transport NZ and Transit NZ merged in August last year.

Mr Dangerfield's salary of between $560,000 and $570,000 was higher than the State Services Commissioner (SSC) ($450,000-$460,000), the Commissioner of Police ($490,000-$500,000) and the Solicitor-General ($510,000-$520,000).

His salary was higher than all public sector department heads. There were 222 public service staff earning more than $100,000.

Mr Roche said when the new agency was set up pay packages were run by the SSC and he said many state-owned enterprise bosses were paid more.

Mr Dangerfield was "doing a great job," Mr Roche said.

A SSC spokesman said the salary was set before the recession was really felt in New Zealand.

- NZPA