New Zealand Fire Service board members have received 79% pay increases while the organization remains locked in an industrial dispute with firefighters over wages, The Post reports.

You couldn't script better political optics if you tried. While firefighters are fighting for cost-of-living adjustments, the board overseeing their employer is quietly boosting its own compensation by nearly 80%.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) board members now earn up to $72,000 annually, up from $40,000 previously. The board chair's fees have increased from $80,000 to $143,000 - a similarly eye-watering jump.

The timing is breathtaking. FENZ has been in pay negotiations with the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union for months, with firefighters seeking increases to match inflation and cost-of-living pressures. Those negotiations have stalled, with the union accusing FENZ management of offering inadequate pay rises while pleading budget constraints.

Now it emerges that while telling firefighters there's no money for decent pay rises, the board found plenty of money to nearly double its own fees.

FENZ defended the increases, saying board remuneration hadn't been reviewed in several years and needed to align with "market rates" for similar governance roles. A spokesperson said the decision was made by the Remuneration Authority, an independent body that sets pay for public sector boards and executives.

That's technically true, but it misses the point entirely. The optics are disastrous, and someone at FENZ should have had the political sense to say, "Maybe we hold off on this until we've settled the firefighters' pay dispute."

The union response was scathing. Wattie Watson, national secretary of the Professional Firefighters Union, called the pay rises "insulting" and "tone-deaf." "Our members are risking their lives every day, and they're being told there's no money. But there's always money for the people at the top."