Bid to stop Commonwealth Games bonus payments

THE State Government has moved to see if it can strip Gold Coast Commonwealth Games boss Mark Peters of a hefty bonus because of the event’s shambolic closing ceremony.

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THE State Government has called in lawyers to see if it can strip Gold Coast Commonwealth Games boss Mark Peters of a hefty bonus because of the event’s disastrous closing ceremony.

Five top Games executives including Mr Peters stand to pocket bonuses totalling more than $650,000 just for staying in the job.

Kate Jones, inset left, has sought legal advice to see if Mark Peters, inset right, should receive his full payout.

But in a dramatic move before Mr Peters finishes in the job this week, The Sunday Mail has learned that Games Minister Kate Jones has sought legal advice to determine if he should receive his full payout because of the shambolic closing ceremony where athletes were embarrassingly left out.

Peter Beattie tweeted in defence of the pay.

The intervention follows bitter tensions between the Palaszczuk Government and Games organising committee headed by former premier Peter Beattie, who has publicly defended the bonuses for Mr Peters and other executives.

The friction saw Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk sensationally snubbed for a speaking role at the opening ceremony and Mr Beattie blamed for an M1 congestion scare campaign which left the Gold Coast a virtual ghost town during the early part of the Games in April.

So-called “retention payments’’ for Mr Peters and senior colleagues were introduced in 2013-14 by the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games Corporation board, and rubber-stamped by the-then Newman Government, in a move aimed at stopping key executives from leaving before the Games.

They are calculated on 10 per cent of each executive’s annual salary for every year of service.

Mr Peters, who was appointed Games boss by the Bligh Government in 2012, has earned more than $3 million in the role up and is set to collect more than $300,000 in retention payments when he finishes his contract this week.

But Ms Jones has now moved to try to dock his final payout.

She and the Government were furious after athletes were left out of the ceremony broadcast, sparking a massive public backlash and international ridicule. The ceremony was also criticised for self-indulgent speeches and lacklustre entertainment.

Ms Palaszczuk said those responsible should “hang their heads in shame” and Mr Beattie was forced to issue a public apology.

Games commentator Johanna Griggs, of host broadcaster Channel 7, also tore strips off organisers for the embarrassing athlete snub.

Ms Jones is understood to have sought legal advice from a top Brisbane employment law barrister about whether Mr Peters had hit key performance indicators required to receive his full retention payment.

Sources said the Minister had also asked for an opinion as to whether she had any power to veto the huge payout.

However, it is understood she may be hamstrung by Mr Peters’ contract.

When News Corp revealed details of the bonuses in April after the Games, Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate slammed the deal as “staggering” and said it would not pass the “pub test”.

“In fact, you could get the whole pub drunk on just one of the bonus payouts,” he said at the time.

Mr Beattie has defended the executive payouts, saying they are not bonuses but “handcuffs” to ensure Games bosses stayed in the job to delivered Queensland’s biggest-ever event.