Meet Brisbane’s Olympic leaders paid more than the Premier

Three Brisbane executives leading the planning for the 2032 Games are all paid higher salaries than Premier David Crisafulli - with one raking in almost double.

Brisbane 2032 Organising Committee CEO Cindy Hook at the QUT Business Leaders' Forum.

Three of the executives leading the planning for the Brisbane 2032 Olympics and Paralympics are paid more than Premier David Crisafulli, it has been revealed – but the salaries have been defended as being in line with the Brisbane jobs market.

And its board members – at least those who are not politicians – are paid $50,000 a year for their work, meaning the looming reduction in its numbers will save the organisation $600,000 annually.

According to documents tabled in state parliament, the 26 full-time employees organising Brisbane’s Olympic and Paralympic Games were paid a total of $6.1m in 2023-24 – an average of $173,000 once the salaries to the top three executives are removed.

Those three executives were Chief Executive Officer Cindy Hook, Chief Corporate Services Officer Paula Robinson and Chief Impact Officer Kerry Petersen.

Ms Hook, a long-term business leader who was most recently Deloitte’s Asia Pacific chief executive, was paid $976,000 in 2023-24 – more than the bosses of Queensland Health and Queensland Rail.

Chief Corporate Services Officer Paula Robinson. Picture: Richard Walker

Ms Robinson, a “highly credentialed lawyer”, was paid $673,000 for leading the organisation’s legal, procurement, technology and people responsibilities.

Chief Impact Officer Kerry Petersen meanwhile took home $464,000 – $20,000 more than the $444,463 salary paid to the Premier.

Ms Petersen leads the delivery sustainability, legacy, First Nations and human rights policies and government relations.

She was Annastacia Palaszczuk’s key Games adviser – and travelled to Tokyo with the then-Premier in 2021 when Brisbane won the 2032 Games.

The three executives make more than Premier David Crisafulli.

Previously, Ms Petersen worked to deliver the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games as part of a 32-year career in public sector and major events.

A Brisbane 2032 spokesman said remuneration for every role at the organising committee was based on independent external industry benchmarks from the Brisbane job market.

“To ensure we deliver on the world stage in 2032, we need to attract and retain the world’s best talent,” a spokesman said.

“Our approach to remuneration is modest when benchmarked against industry and taking into consideration the project, but this is an amazing opportunity to work on and be part of, and we are fortunate to have attracted some of the world’s best into every level of our organisation.”

Chief Impact Officer Kerry Petersen. Picture: David Clark.

The number of highly-paid executives increased in recent months with the appointments of Chief Commercial Officer Francois-Xavier Bonnaillie and Chief Sport Officer Kit McConnell.

While the organisation is not taxpayer funded, under the terms of its establishment any financial shortfall within the committee will be covered by the state government.

The operations of the Brisbane 2032 Organising Committee for the Olympic Games is being funded by a $30.2m advance payment from the International Olympic Committee under broadcast rights revenue.

The majority of the organisation’s funding leading into 2032 is expected to be generated from sponsorship, licensing and ticket sales.

Independent board members were paid up to $54,000 for their service in the 2023-24 financial year.

The reduction of the independent directors from 14 to just two should save the organisation about $600,000.

Brisbane 2032 is also receiving free rent for the first 36 months of its occupancy of level 35 in Eagle Street’s Riverside Centre.

Originally published as Meet Brisbane’s Olympic leaders paid more than the Premier