ANZ NZ’s Scott St John earns a combined $782,000 for linked roles, but Fonterra’s Peter McBride takes the higher fee for the domestic chairmanship alone.
The world of New Zealand corporate finance has a new top-earner, with Scott St John, Chairman of ANZ New Zealand, being identified as the country’s best-paid board member whose figures are publicly disclosed. St John’s combined earnings for the last fiscal year reached approximately $782,000. This substantial remuneration package covers his primary position chairing the bank’s New Zealand operations and his secondary, but linked, role as a director on the board of the Australian parent entity, ANZ Group, a common practice across major trans-Tasman banking institutions.
Crucially for the international dairy community, St John’s combined pay must be differentiated from the fees for the New Zealand-based chairmanship role alone. According to analysis by remuneration consultancy Strategic Pay, on the fees for the NZ chairmanship only, St John’s pay of $385,000 is actually pipped by Peter McBride, the chairman of the immense dairy cooperative Fonterra Co-operative Group. McBride commands a higher fee for his domestic role, earning $493,925, indicating the high market value placed on leading the dairy giant.
This integrated pay structure, where the New Zealand chair also sits on the parent board, is a standard feature among the major Australian banks with local subsidiaries. For instance, BNZ chairman Warwick Hunt is also a director of parent firm National Australia Bank (NAB). Hunt earned A$330,000 ($381,000) for the BNZ role and an additional A$182,489 ($211,000) for his NAB directorship spanning 10 months, demonstrating a similar dual-role model across the financial sector.
Detailed disclosures from ANZ Group’s 2025 Annual Report show St John was paid $385,000 for the ANZ NZ chairmanship and a further A$344,648, equivalent to $397,800, for his position as a director of the Australian parent company. This linked structure means St John mirrors the path of his predecessor, Sir John Key, who also joined the ANZ Group board concurrently with taking the New Zealand chairmanship.
An ANZ NZ spokesman clarified a technical point regarding remuneration, stating that the pay for the local chairmanship has not been formally reduced since Key held the position ($422,050). The slight numerical difference is largely accounted for by GST, which was paid on top of the fees to the previous chair—who provided his directorship through a company—but is not applicable to St John, illustrating the nuances in how top-tier board remuneration is structured and disclosed.
Source: Gain a complete understanding of New Zealand’s top board salaries, including the dairy sector’s position, from The NZ Herald.
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