Responding to the revelation that outgoing Watercare chief executive Raveen Jaduram’s salary reached $815,000, Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance spokesperson Monique Poirier says:

“No wonder the Council were slamming our Town Hall Rich List and saying it was ‘wrong’ – they were actually paying even more!”

“Judaram recently said that the ‘unnecessary’ focus on his salary was one of the reasons for his resignation and a distraction for Watercare. But this news of his $40,000 salary increase was inevitably going to be made public, so by resigning when he did, he’s just avoided the extent of criticism this time round.”

“For the Alliance though, the issue has never really been about Auckland Council's CEOs – it’s the 80-odd underlings taking home more than a Cabinet Minister but whom no one has ever heard of.”

“Watercare is a perfect example, with its record of fat salaries. You could argue it needs to pay big bucks for a top CEO and Chief Engineer. But its eight executive team members are paid around $335,000, with three other staff paid more than $255,000. These are the people that completely mishandled a predictable drought and have failed to deal with the ongoing strategic water issues – the buck stops with them, and yet ratepayers have no way of holding them to account at election time.”

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