Supporting the Federal government’s move to guarantee bank deposits and insurance coverage for all Australians is the FAMILY First Party, but is disappointed salaries and pay-outs for ‘fat cats’ have not been addressed in the legislation, Senator Steve Fielding said today.

“The Rudd Government has missed the opportunity to tell all those fat cat executives with outrageous salary packages that it is time to get off the gravy train,” Senator Fielding said. “The train will terminate here. And mind the gap.

“The USA, the UK and France have all been quick to move to rein in excessive executive salary packages and the Rudd government has had enough time to act rather than just talk about it.”

Senator Fielding said he would be pressuring the government to halt the greediness of executive salaries and the practice of golden handshakes.

Family First wants the government to consider changes like:

• Cap Bonuses to company profit
Eg. If company profits are up 1%, bonus payments cannot exceed 1%.

• Cap Salary Packages to company capital increase
Eg. If the capital increase was 1%, bonus payments cannot be above 1%.

• Cap Termination Payments to the lessor of company profit or capital increase
Eg. If the capital increase was 1% and company profits are up 9%, the termination payment cannot be above 1%.

• Transparent CEO salary packages
Eg CEO salary package to be transparent and reported in a standard way on company websites, with changes updated within 7 days.

• CEO Stock Option Plans to be offered equally to all employees
Eg. CEOs should not have stock option plans unless all employees receive the same offer.

Coober Pedy Regional Times