NAB’s jack of all trades delivers polished royal commission performance

NAB’s Andrew Hagger leaves the Federal Court in Melbourne earlier today. (AAP Image/Stefan Postles)

After all the fuss made about Andrew Hagger’s music skills, who knew the $3.5 million man running NAB’s wealth division could act too?

Throw in Hagger’s food writing skills and Andrew “$6.6 million” Thorburn has himself a triple threat.

No wonder Hagger, 51, fancies himself as the next in line to run the $79 billion Docklands-marooned Big Four.

The acting revelation was unearthed in the second hour of counsel assisting Rowena “Shock and” Orr’s tete-a-tete with Hagger at Kenneth Hayne’s Royal Commission.

Orr wanted to know if Hagger, the head of NAB’s scandalous wealth division, had his pay docked by Ken Henry’s board as a result of the team’s widespread habit of falsely witnessing forms signed by its ill-advised clients.

“Yes,” answered Hagger.

“What was the deduction?” asked Orr.

“I’d have to do the maths … I probably need a calculator …” answered Hagger, revealing his hitherto unknown talent as a pinstriped thespian.

After a pause worthy of, if not an Oscar, at least a nomination at the next award night for NAB’s Drama and Light Opera Club, Hagger offered an answer.

“I think it might be $60,000,” said Hagger.

That’s a sum just below the median full-time income in Australia.

But to be fair to the handsomely pocket-squared Hagger, that tickle on the wrist by chairman Henry, Phil Chronican, Geraldine McBride and their fellow forgiving NAB boardmates hardly up-ended the wealth boss’s remuneration.

The $60,000 pay cut works out as 1.7 per cent of the $3.5m that Henry’s board last year awarded Hagger. Fair enough too: the wealth boss’s blue Maserati GranTurismo didn’t buy itself.

All up, chairman Henry and his munificent NAB boardmates remunerated Thorburn, Hagger and the rest of the executive team $34.5m to run the government-supported banking utility and its misbehaving wealth arm.

The GFC may be ten years in the past, but clearly you don’t need to be a hairy-nosed wombat to receive a bit of generosity from the former Treasury secretary.

And what was Henry paid by NAB’s kindly shareholders for the part-time gig? A relatively modest $790,000.

Read the full Margin Call column tomorrow in print and online.