CEOs weren’t paid to attend, but this is what their time was worth

Wikramanayake, the third-highest paid boss of an ASX-listed company, is not the only high-powered executive who appeared at the roundtable.

Matt Comyn, chief executive of Commonwealth Bank, attended all three days of the roundtable. With a salary of nearly $2.9 million, Comyn’s three-day appearance is worth about $22,000 based on his position as the boss of the country’s biggest bank.

Geraldine Slattery, Australia president of BHP, the second-largest ASX-listed company after Commonwealth Bank, rakes in about $1.7 million a year. Based on this salary, Slattery’s one-day appearance is worth about $4640. She appeared in place of Mike Henry, the company’s CEO, who was invited but unable to attend.

Tech billionaire Scott Farquhar, co-founder of Atlassian and chief executive of the Tech Council of Australia, has an undisclosed salary. But his time is clearly valuable, with a net worth of about $17 billion largely made up of shares in the software company that he left as co-CEO last year.

The $4.1 trillion superannuation sector was also represented at the table.

Paul Schroder, boss of AustralianSuper, earns nearly $1.6 million, meaning his one-day visit could be valued at about $4300.

While business bosses were the top earners at the roundtable, the nation’s highest-paid public servants were also in attendance.

Steven Kennedy, secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, is the highest-paid public servant in Australia, earning more than $1 million, or about $8500 across three days.

Recently appointed Treasury Secretary Jenny Wilkinson earns a similar salary at just over $1 million a year.

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Gina Cass-Gottlieb, chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, earns nearly $880,000, while Productivity Commission chair Danielle Wood earns about $690,000. With both appearing across all three days of the summit, their appearance could be valued at about $13,000.

There are also roundtable attendees whose incomes are more difficult to pinpoint.

BCA chief Black is probably earning a figure on par with Canberra’s top departmental positions, possibly eclipsing $900,000, according to a report by the Financial Review in 2023.

While the salaries of elected officials at the Australian Council of Trade Unions are not disclosed, its leader, Sally McManus, said in 2020 she earned about $190,000 a year, including a car allowance. She would be on more than $200,000 a year now.