THE chairman of Australia's largest dairy co-operative has defended Murray Goulburn paying the wife of its chief executive, Stephen O'Rourke, more than $1 million in the past two years for a "support role".
The payments to Michelle O'Rourke were revealed for the first time in Murray Goulburn's 2010 accounts, despite her being on the payroll for 12 years, The Australian Financial Review reports.
Chairman Grant Davies said it was standard practice to employ the chief executive's wife at Murray Goulburn, which also paid the wife of previous chief executive Alf Leysen.
Mr Davies said the board disclosed the payments for the first time this year when it realised there was an "oversight" in disclosure.
The co-op paid Mrs??O'Rourke $331,918 in cash, gifted 419,679 shares and extended an interest-free loan of $200,300 in 2010, according to accounts lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
In 2009, Mrs O'Rourke received $438,203 in cash, held 399,695 shares and an interest-free loan of $200,300 – a payment which the 2010 accounts say was "inadvertently omitted" last year. She is the fourth-highest paid person for 2010 at the dairy co-operative.
