Government entities such as Australia Post - which the Turnbull government is now demanding be more transparent - were explicitly told they could keep senior executive salaries secret under watered-down rules issued by the Coalition two years ago.
Spurred by public anger at Australia Post chief executive Ahmed Fahour's $5.6 million salary, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann announced on Saturday he had written to the heads of seven government business enterprises demanding they reveal their executive remuneration packages.
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Turnbull slams excessive CEO pay
Malcolm Turnbull has taken his criticism of Australia Post boss Ahmed Fahour's $5.6 million pay packet, a step further. Courtesy 3AW.
Liberal Senator James Paterson, who forced Australia Post to disclose Mr Fahour's salary to a Senate committee earlier this month, said it was "not appropriate" for the postal service to shield Mr Fahour's salary from public scrutiny and that taxpayers have a right to such information.
But it was new rules introduced by the Abbott government as part of its much-hyped red tape repeal "bonfire" that gave the green light to Australia Post and other entities to strip out the detail of senior executive remuneration from their annual reports from 2015.
The rules set out new minimum requirements for the disclosure of senior executive and director remuneration for government bodies. The rules said government bodies were expected "to report the cost to the Commonwealth of employing senior management personnel for the reporting period, as opposed to reporting the individual benefits received by those persons".
Previous rules made it clear government entities were expected to publish tables disclosing the reportable salary, bonuses, superannuation and other allowances paid to their executives.
The change prompted Australia Post and statutory bodies such as the ABC and the CSIRO to dramatically reduce the information about executive salaries published in their annual reports.
In its 2014 annual report, Australia Post disclosed that eight of its executives were paid over $315,000 and that one of its executives (believed to be Mr Fahour) received a total salary package of $4.6 million.
In its 2015 annual report the company disclosed only that its nine executives and eight board directors were paid a total of $13.5 million that year.
In a letter sent to Senator Paterson's Senate committee in January, Australia Post made clear it had stopped reporting breakdowns of individual salaries because of the government's new rules.
"Australia Post's requirements for the reporting of senior management personnel remuneration were altered in 2015," the company said while outlining its case for Mr Fahour's salary to remain secret.
Other government bodies have taken advantage of the new rules to withhold information about how much its senior executives are paid.
The CSIRO's 2014 annual report showed that chief executive Megan Clark received a total salary of $822,400. Its latest annual report shows only the total remuneration for senior executives.
Public broadcasters ABC and SBS have taken the same approach.
Despite the new rules, the company running the National Broadband Network has continued to provide a detailed breakdown of executive salaries in line with ASX-listed companies.
A spokeswoman for Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said he had asked Australia Post and other government-owned businesses such as Defence Housing Australia to do the same.
She said the new rule introduced by the government in 2015 brought requirements "into alignment with changes occurring in the Australian Accounting Standards".
"The changes do not prevent these organisations from reporting executive salaries," she said.
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