WA Health Minister Kim Hames has given Peter Flett the position of director-general of the Department of Health, along with a salary package of $540,000.
“He has been the acting director-general of the Department of Health since February 2008 and has more than 30 years of Australian health service experience, giving him a comprehensive understanding of the challenges facing the Western Australian health system,” Dr Hames said.
Dr Flett’s appointment followed a nationwide recruitment process to fill the role left by Neale Fong, who was forced to quit after the Corruption and Crime Commission exposed his unauthorised dealings with lobbyist Brian Burke.
Dr Hames, who had repeatedly taken aim at Dr Fong’s $650,000 contract, confirmed the new health boss’s salary would be around $540,000, including superannuation and a car.
“We were critical always when we were in opposition about what Neale Fong was being paid,” he told ABC.
“It was the highest public sector salary in Australia. It was double I think of what the Prime Minister was getting, and in my view it wasn’t appropriate.”
According to a Fairfax report, Dr Hames said Dr Flett’s salary and position would not automatically be questioned if he failed to meet some of his key performance indicators.
This is despite the fact that Dr Hames was a strong critic of Dr Flett’s predecessor Dr Fong and then health minister Jim McGinty, arguing the performance of the director-general was not held accountable.
The Nursing Federation‘s Mark Olson said the moderately shrunken salary package was still too high, well above that of other Australian states.
“I would hate to think we’re using Dr Fong’s salary as the benchmark in the public health system,” he told ABC.
“I think that the appropriate level of salary for the director-general in WA should be around the three to $350,000 a year, and that would be in line with other states in Australia.”
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