If there’s one hot button issue that’s guaranteed to fire up the radio switch board it’s golden handshakes, the wheelbarrows full of money destined for company executives when they or somebody else decides their time is up.

There were no shortage of examples this week either, the most publicised being Geoff Dixon’s $10.7 million golden handshake from Qantas. And yet despite the government muscle flexing on the issue and the commissioning of yet another report into the issues there is no reason to think that the gravy train will be coming to a halt any time soon.

You only need to look back at the company announcements of the last few years to see just how well the average CEO has been compensated for their work. But the examples that tend to stick most in the minds of shareholders are the $16.8 million paid to John Ellice-Flint from the oil and gas company Santos and the $8.4 million payout ‘earned’ by Owen Hegarty after leaving Oz Minerals. The Hegarty payment was particulary controversial because shareholders had rejected a similar sized payment just months earlier before it was rushed through.

When shareholders begin to question the size of executive packages the line most routinely trotted out is that they are a reward for a job well done and that Australian companies are engaged in a war to secure the best talent from around the globe. In order to do this they need to pay competitive salaries and make attractive exit payments. Using this logic we can safely assume that the CEOs of now defunct investment banks which caused the global financial crisis must be among the most talented executives in the world. Or something.

Annual reports are a pretty boring documents at the best of times so it’s no surprise that journalists often flip straight to the remuneration report.  This is where the details of Geoff Dixon’s largesse were revealed on Monday. In his entry alongside the usual structure of pay, company shares and performance based bonuses was the addition of a $3 million payment to compensate Dixon for changes to the superannuation laws that left him at a disadvantage. Poor guy. I hope $3 million is enough.

Another executive to get a golden parachute this week was Boral’s Rod Pearse. His pay packet didn’t get anywhere near as much publicity – probably because building materials aren’t as sexy as airlines – but he managed to pip Geoff at the post with a package of $11.5 million. The breakdown of his package included a $4 million non-compete clause, which most people sign for free when they start a job. For Pearse, it was almost like winning first division in Saturday night lotto.

While most punters are focused on the wages of the top dogs (keep an eye out for Fairfax chairman Ron Walker’s imminent departure) often it’s worth having a look at the salaries of the top managers in an organisation as well. Chief Information Officers or CIOs at our top banks frequently command more in base salary than their bosses. The Chief Operations Officer at Telstra, Greg Winn, took home around $14,000 a day after being retained on a exorbitant contract upon leaving the company in February this year.

Roused out of their slumber by imploding financial markets, Kevin Rudd and Wayne Swan gave the business community a stern talking to from behind lectern in Canberra. They also reduced the amount payable to executives without a shareholder vote from seven times base salary to just one times or a million dollars (incidentally John Ellice Flint’s $16.8 million payment was six-and-a-half times).

At the same time they referred the issue to the Productivity Commission and appointed the highly regarded former ACCC chairman Allan Fels as the associate commissioner. They are expected to make their recommendations known any day now.

Whether or not it makes any difference is another matter. At the last Qantas annual general meeting 40% of shareholders voted against the remuneration recommendations. Corporates are quick to cite responsibilities to the shareholder when it comes to bargaining with the unions but not so concerned when it suits them.

In case you’re wondering who the other 60% of shareholders were, they are the institutions. This is the group of managed funds and other large financial groups that routinely get discounted access to new share issues, making them even more money. And it wouldn’t make sense for them to upset the apple cart now would it?