But ministers said the previous fees needed to be lifted to be competitive in attracting talent to the positions, which often oversee billions of dollars of spending and assets. <\/p>\n
One increase that has caught Labour\u2019s eye is that for K\u0101inga Ora board chairman Simon Moutter. <\/p>\n
According to a written parliamentary question (WPQ) response from Bishop to Labour, the minister approved Moutter\u2019s fees increasing from $98,000 to $152,000 (a 55% increase), effective from January this year. Fees for the deputy chair and members also received the same percentage increase. <\/p>\n
Simon Moutter is the chairman of K\u0101inga Ora. Photo \/ Brett Phibbs<\/p>\n
Labour has pointed out that the increase has come despite Moutter saying in 2024 that he expected his agency to shrink as a result of Government policies. <\/p>\n
In a letter to then-chief executive Andrew McKenzie, Moutter wrote of various changes that he believed would have an impact on K\u0101inga Ora. <\/p>\n
These included \u201cmaterial reductions in funding for K\u0101inga Ora\u2019s build programme, an instruction to stay within a specified debt envelope (which will tightly constrain the amount of construction and retrofit work from FY26 onwards), very significant operating cost reductions baked into Budget 2024 and a requirement for the refreshed board to deliver a \u2018turnaround plan\u2019 for financial sustainability by November 2024\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cGiven Government\u2019s commitment to these changes, it seems inevitable that K\u0101inga Ora is going to become a smaller organisation in both scope and scale of the outcomes it is accountable for,\u201d Moutter wrote. <\/p>\n
The Herald asked Bishop about the appropriateness of the pay increase in the context of Moutter\u2019s expectation that the agency would become smaller, and whether the minister believed K\u0101inga Ora had shrunk. <\/p>\n
He responded by saying the increased pay reflected the updated board fee ranges and \u201cthe fact that K\u0101inga Ora board fees had not changed for many years\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe previous K\u0101inga Ora chair fee of $98,000 was set when K\u0101inga Ora was established in 2019 and was based on the fee previously paid to the Housing New Zealand chair. In practice, those fees had remained largely unchanged since 2015. The chair\u2019s fee now sits within the applicable range of the updated Cabinet fees framework.\u201d <\/p>\n
Bishop said Moutter had \u201cled a refreshed K\u0101inga Ora board tasked with delivering a credible turnaround plan to return the agency to financial sustainability\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe board has delivered that plan and K\u0101inga Ora is now making encouraging progress in improving its financial performance and refocusing on its core role as a social housing provider.\u201d <\/p>\n
The agency\u2019s chief people and assurance officer, Tracey Kaio, reiterated that the increases were the minister\u2019s decision in the context of the updated fees ranges. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhile K\u0101inga Ora has become a more focused organisation through its reset, its financial performance has improved significantly, and it continues to own and manage about 78,000 homes across the country, worth around $46 billion.\u201d <\/p>\n
Labour MP Kieran McAnulty has said the pay rises won’t sit well with Kiwis. Photo \/ Mark Mitchell<\/p>\n
But McAnulty said the pay increase wouldn\u2019t \u201csit well with Kiwis\u201d in the current context, mentioning reports of increasing homelessness and what he said was K\u0101inga Ora not delivering on its purpose. <\/p>\n
\u201cThen we find out that the board\u2019s getting a pay increase that\u2019s higher than literally every single person that\u2019s in a K\u0101inga Ora house gets in a year\u201d. <\/p>\n