NZ First leader Winston Peters says the payments to Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings show why there needs to be a "say-on-pay" law, which would give shareholders the right to hold executives to account.

However Strategic Pay chief executive John McGill, who analyses executive pay, said his pay needed to be compared with compensation for overseas CEOs because there was no other company in New Zealand as big as Fonterra.

"Is this corporate New Zealand? Fat cat payouts for doing their day job," Peters said in a statement.

GETTY Fonterra CEO Theo Spierings was under fire two years ago when it was revealed he earned $5m, and his pay has since jumped.

"Here's a boss who is paid $2.46m but who forwent a $1.83m bonus during one of Fonterra's worst ever payout years. Now, during what is an average season, he has not only won that bonus back but secured a $3.85m cherry on top with another $170,000 for superannuation.

"Shareholders need to be reminded that their payout of $6.52 per kilogram of milksolids this season, is well under what they got in real terms for the final two seasons before Mr Spierings came onto the management scene."

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Spierings is not the only big earner in New Zealand's largest company, with 25 other executives receiving over $1m for their efforts. Of those, five left the company during the year.

Spierings' total package appears to put him in the number one slot among New Zealand CEOs.

Former Sky City CEO Nigel Morrison received $6.4m in 2016, but that was made up of a base salary plus dividends and leave entitlements, while former Fletcher Building CEO Mark Adamson was given $4.7m.

In 2015, there was an outcry until Spierings finally requested the freeze for the 2015-16 year, amid losses of more than 700 staff. However, this year he was being rewarded for big gains in the added value part of Fonterra's business.

In a New Zealand context, Spierings is extremely well paid, but judged against the CEO packages of similar multi-nationals, he is not at the highest end.

Last year Fonterra had a turnover of $19.2 billion. The world's largest dairy company, Nestle, had a turnover of $33b, and in 2916 its CEO received $15.9m. .

Danone's turnover was $25.1b and its CEO Emmanuel Faber earned $7.8m.

McGill said if CEOs did not perform they often fell on their sword, as happened to Adamson recently when Fletchers posted a poor return.

Otago University accounting lecturer Helen Roberts said when compared to the country's median wage, our top bosses are earning cash compensation about 15 times the typical worker's pay packet.

"If you look at $8.3m and say a worker's median income this year is $50,000, he's earning about 166 times more."

On the other hand, the size of the company was a factor.

"You want to employ someone with the skill set that can manage the assets they are being entrusted with, and size is an important factor in determining the base remuneration," Roberts said.

The "say-on-pay" movement has enjoyed some success overseas. In April, BP cut its chief's pay by 40 per cent to $11.6m to avoid shareholder revolt, and last year shareholders of the Commercial Bank of Australia forced a backdown over CEO Ian Narev's pay deal.

Fonterra on Monday released its latest annual report, posting an after-tax profit of $745 million, down 11 per cent on last year.

In its annual report, Fonterra said it used two independent advisors who looked at 24 listed Australian companies of similar size and complexity to provide a benchmark.

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