Just spotted this article in this morning's NZ Herald.
In the previous financial year, no chief executive had a salary package worth more than $500,000; in the latest, five were above the half-a-million-dollar mark.
The acting head of the Economic Development Ministry and the head of the Treasury received between $510,000 and $519,999, and the heads of Justice, Foreign Affairs and Health were in the $500,000 to $509,999 bracket.
But the single biggest payout of the year outstripped Mr Hughes. The then head of the Ministry of Economic Development, Geoff Dangerfield, received between $550,000 and $559,000.
The Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs is the lowest payer - its chief executive makes $200,000 to $209,900.
The number of civil servants - excluding chief executives - being paid more than $100,000 a year also increased.
In the 2006-2007 year, 3179 public servants were in six figures; last year that number was up to 3782 - although most were on less than $150,000.
