October 2024
Leading financial reformer Percy Allan dies aged 78
Allan worked under some of the most prominent political figures in NSW, including Labor premiers Neville Wran and Bob Carr, and as a key reformist under Liberal premier Nick Greiner.
September 2024
How to unlock the productivity power of a forgotten sector
There is a renewed push to get better value from the vast array of government services that make up around 20 per cent of the economy.
May 2024
‘Larger than life’: packed memorial farewells Lang Walker
Friday’s two-hour public service for the property developer and Rich Lister, who died in January, was attended by a who’s who of Australian business and politics.
March 2024
Dick Humphry, inventor of shareholder democracy, dies at 85
A man whose habits and approach were set in the “old school”, Richard Humphry nevertheless led a technology-driven revolution in Australia’s financial markets.
November 2023
Sir Lynton Crosby and Mark Textor toast CT’s adulthood
The political operatives celebrated CT Group’s 21st with a Sydney party full of business executives and lobbyists, and two former prime ministers in tow.
June 2023
ICAC never intended to be a ‘morals tribunal’: Sturgess
“What Gladys did was stupid ... it was grossly improper ... but it wasn’t corrupt in the traditional sense of that term,” the former top public servant said.
Why Gladys Berejiklian failed ICAC’s test
The former NSW premier will never agree with the Independent Commission Against Corruption’s finding she engaged in serious corrupt conduct. But the damage is done.
May 2023
Is Labor’s Chris Ketter bound for San Francisco?
Labor is ever-so-slowly “rebalancing” the government’s plum overseas postings to career diplomats, but there are exceptions!
April 2023
The risks (and rewards) of Minns’ public service shake-up
The new Labor government’s redesign of ministries marks a decisive shift back to a more centralised flatter structure, but there are still risks to navigate.
December 2022
Morrison’s multi-ministries could be ‘corrupt conduct’
Former prime minister Scott Morrison’s secretive appointment to multiple ministries may be a breach of public trust.
June 2022
‘Jobs for the boys’ is no longer acceptable
The uproar over the appointment of John Barilaro to a plum New York trade job reveals a higher standard is now being imposed on public-sector integrity.
May 2022
The leaders who answered the Harvard ‘cold call’
Nick Greiner, Tony Berg and Bill Ferris from Harvard Business School’s class of 1970 describe the terror and exhilaration of pitting themselves against the world’s best.
December 2021
We made ‘mistakes’ with ICAC, says former NSW premier Nick Greiner
The architect of the Independent Commission Against Corruption says it has too much power and a new federal version should not include retrospective powers.
Nick Greiner on surviving ICAC and being the ambassador to Wall Street
The former NSW premier fell foul of the commission he created and so knows just how its most recent victim, Gladys Berejiklian, feels.
November 2021
Voters, not ICAC, should judge the business of politics
For all the lurid inquisition before ICAC, it is hard to conclude that Ms Berejiklian is guilty of criminal “corruption” for personal gain as ordinary people define it.
October 2021
Perrottet runs the risk of being a conservative in name only
On spending, lockdowns, climate, education and the public service, the new NSW Premier is captured by his left-leaning cabinet and government officials.
Rule of law, not rule by lawyers
Letting the lawyers and a federal ICAC run all over politics would not restore confidence in the system. It would do the opposite.
Taxpayers lose by pulling ICAC’s teeth
If critics of the anti-corruption watchdog’s powers had their way, confidence in the political process would be the true victim.
Berejiklian’s exit threatens a fragile political consensus
The NSW Premier’s shock departure casts doubt on the coherence of a national cabinet at a time when Australia is facing its greatest peace-time challenge since the Great Depression.
September 2021
New York marks 9/11 in a celebration of resilience
Bagpipes echoed across Manhattan as dozens of ceremonies took place to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, in a celebration of America’s “resilience and unity”.