Wellington, Sept 17 NZPA - Telecom's human resources director Trisha McEwan is leaving amid a controversy over the appointment of her brother Kevin Roberts to the board.

The company said Ms McEwan had signalled her intention to leave at a suitable time, long before Mr Roberts was considered as a board member.

The Institute of Directors has questioned why the conflict of interest was not disclosed to shareholders.

Ms McEwan is one of the five highest paid executives at Telecom. The 2008 annual report shows she received a base salary of $480,000, a cash incentive of $448,000, another cash incentive earned in 2008 but to be paid in 2009 of $248,400, a long term incentive of $200,000 and special payments of $324,590.

She will leave in December after six-and-a-half years at the company.

"I want to thank Trisha for the outstanding job she has done at our company through a period of tumultuous change," said chief executive Paul Reynolds.

Ms McEwan said Telecom had made a huge commitment to building leadership capability.

"I am proud to have been part of the HR function which drove those initiatives," she said.

Mr Roberts, who is global head of advertising agency Saatchi and Saatchi, replaces director Patsy Reddy who is retiring at this year's annual meeting after 10 years of service.

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