Chief of Defence Force Lieutenant General Tim Keating finished up his role in 2018 as the highest paid member of the defence force.

One in five New Zealand Defence Force staff are on more than $100,000 a year after hundreds received hefty pay increases last year, prompting the Defence Minister Ron Mark to ask for a 'please explain'.

And 14 per cent of those senior staff now also earn more than $200,000 annually, according to the Defence Force's annual report.

Minister of Defence Ron Mark has asked Chief of Defence Force Air Vice-Marshal Kevin Short to investigate after the overall number of personnel on six-figures increased from 1,906 in 2017 to 2,256 in 2018.

"My expectation is that the organisation is not, and does not, become top heavy, and maximum resources are directed to personnel on the front line," Mark said.

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Mark said making sure defence force personnel, particularly those at the front line, were paid fairly for what they did was important.

"There are very long stints away from home, tough training conditions and hardships that differ greatly from those of the civilian world."

MURRAY WILSON/STUFF Minister of Defence Ron Mark says his expectation is the defence force does not become top heavy with senior staff. (File photo)

During his time in the opposition, Mark was vocal about fixing pay imbalances as there was an apparent increase in the number of senior positions, which he felt might have been at the expense of frontline units.

Mark said Short was expected to report back to him later in the year after undertaking the requested wage assessment.

Chief of Defence Force Lieutenant General Tim Keating finished up his role in 2018 as the highest paid member of the defence force, earning a salary of between $670,000 to $679,999.

In a statement, the NZDF said they operated a remuneration framework, which had a primary objective to enable the recruitment and retention of the right people with the right skills.

New roles with salaries above $200,000 were specialist leadership roles within areas such as defence estate and infrastructure, legal services and information security, and some dental and medical roles.

There has also been a 10 per cent decrease in the number of NZDF staff who earn less than $60,000 per year.

A Defence Force spokesperson said this was largely due to the move to raise all civilian employees to the living wage.

The pay increases had resulted in a rise in the overall wage bill from $945 million in 2017 to $1 billion in 2018.

New recruits earned between $30,000 and $40,000 per annum while completing their 16-week basic training course while regular force members were paid above living wage on completion of basic training and part-way through Officer Cadet Training.

On January 13, Stuff revealed how the Defence Force's multi-billion dollar property estate was crumbling and in dire need of updating.

REGULAR FORCE SOLDIERS

Recruit $37,284

Private $47,224 - $87,118

Lance Corporal $51,180 - $93,641

Corporal $57,122 - $100,952

Sergeant $64,056 - $108,788

Staff Sergeant $72,897 - $117,104

Warrant Officer $82,820 - $137,536

REGULAR FORCE OFFICERS

Officer Cadet Training $39,764-$58,625

Second Lieutenant $57,122 - $93,641

Lieutenant $68,143 - $117,104

Captain $82,820 - $137,536

Major $95,146 - $160,489

Lieutenant Colonel $115,585-$189,691

Colonel $171,135 - $232,097

Brigadier $220,429 - $292,961