Posted by Blogger Name. Category:
America's Cup
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Corporate welfare
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Grant Dalton
,
Steven Joyce
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Team New Zealand
Steven Joyce's decision on giving taxpayer money to Team New Zealand just got a whole lot easier; the Herald reports:
Team New Zealand boss Grant Dalton was on about $2 million a year during the last America's Cup campaign.
Dalton was by far the top earner. The next highest received about $750,000, the Herald has learned.
The figures came from one source and were confirmed by another. It is uncertain whether the $750,000 salary was for skipper Dean Barker.
The salaries have emerged a week after Dalton told a press conference that without an immediate multi-million-dollar cash injection from taxpayers, the syndicate would be "gone by the end of the month".
The Government contributed $36 million to Team NZ's last campaign, which ended in an 8-9 loss to Oracle in the closest America's Cup in history.
It put in a further $5 million after the contest last year and has asked the team to raise more from sponsors before it contributes any more.
The team has said it has raised from sponsors $6 million of the $11 million it needs to take it through to February, when the venue for the 35th Cup will be announced and sponsors will be better able to make investment decisions.
The revelation that Grant Dalton was on a salary of $2 million will dent any remaining sympathy for Team New Zealand. At $38,461 per week ($2,000,000 divided by 52) Dalton was earning more in a week than many New Zealanders earn in a year. And let's say he was averaging 90-hour weeks whilst up in San Francisco; that would still be $427 per hour; ever so slightly more than the Living Wage!
Now we don't deny that Dalton's role was a crucial one in the challenge, and it deserved to be well remunerated, given the responsibilities he carried. But it makes his demands now for taxpayer charity seem very hollow.
The Herald story continues:
Economic Development minister Stephen Joyce told the Herald that most of the money the Government provided after racing ended in San Francisco was for salaries, to enable Team NZ to secure key team members, including crucial designers.
Mr Joyce said he did not know what individuals earned on the previous campaign or now but said design staff was a priority at the moment.
Campbell Live reported last week that it understood Barker was currently the highest-paid sailor, earning similar to a mid-tier All Black — which is about $250,000.
Team NZ chairman Keith Turner said he would not discuss salaries because they were highly commercially sensitive. He acknowledged that public money was involved, but said it was difficult to strike a balance because America's Cup competitions were the most competitive in the world and involved the best teams.
Even releasing salary bands would be giving too much away. "If they had information on salaries, boats, maintenance ... it would hand a huge advantage to rivals, especially to teams starting up," Dr Turner said.
We wonder if Keith Turner's reluctance to discuss salaries was more about the inevitable backlash that would follow the kind of revelation that has been made this morning. The average taxpayer will not take kindly to hearing that he/she has been funding telephone number salaries.
We have no problem whatsoever with seven-figure remuneration provided it is earned, and funded externally. If Grant Dalton does not have the commercial sway and nous to find a way to bridge Team New Zealand's present funding gap from the commercial sector, one would have to question whether he is the right man for the job, or whether he is in the right job.
There should be no more taxpayer funds for Team New Zealand. The only exception would accept is a short-term loan, with commercial rates of interest applying, and penalties for late repayment; just the same as a bank would charge, if an organisation sought bridging finance.
But if Team New Zealand cannot stand on its own feet going forward, Steven Joyce should not feel pressured to keep the team afloat, and there should be no more corporate welfare.
