Friday, 27 Feb 2009

The Greens will move amendments to stop CEO payments of more than $1 million being tax deductible when Parliament resumes, Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown said today.

Senator Brown said Labor should reconnect with public sentiment and workers' interests by acting against the greediest CEO pay deals.

"I cannot understand why a Labor Prime Minister won't at least give shareholders the power to veto multi-million dollar ‘golden parachutes' for CEOs. Mr Rudd should stop talking and do actually do something to tackle excessive CEO payouts," Senator Brown said.

"One Macquarie Bank official took over $80 million when he left. The money doesn't come out of thin air - it is paid for by people through the goods and services they purchase.

"President Obama has shown Kevin Rudd the way and now it's time for MR Rudd to act," Senator Brown said.

Three previous attempts by the Greens in the Senate to curb over-the-top CEO packages were voted down by both Labor and the Coalition.

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