The man in charge of the national broadband network says he will forgo annual bonuses worth more than $300,000 because of personal objections to short-term incentive schemes.

Mike Quigley told BusinessDay he had philosophical problems with the idea that a bonus would make him work harder and he would never accept one as chief executive of NBN Co.

Mike Quigley doesn't see the value of annual bonuses. Credit:Louie Douvis

"I came to an agreement with the board that I would not participate in the bonus scheme. That's my personal decision. My motivation for taking this job was to get this network built," he explained.

Mr Quigley donated his first $2 million salary to medical research. Last year he took home $1.9 million but did not take part in NBN Co's executive bonus scheme, forfeiting a potential $314,000 bonus.

The former chief financial officer, Jean-Pascal Beaufret, forfeited a $163,000 bonus, but six managers did accept performance bonuses.

However, Mr Quigley said he did not object to other senior managers accepting the bonuses set by the NBN Co board.

Other government business enterprises also run bonus programs, with the managing director of Australia Post, Ahmed Fahour, taking home a $1.1 million bonus as part of a package worth $2.89 million. And Medibank Private's managing director George Savvides took a $428,000 bonus as part of a $1.27 million package last year.