The country’s politicians envy Australia’s big business bosses. But they don’t respect them – and they certainly don’t fear them. That’s true regardless of whether the politician is Labor or Liberal.

At the Business Council of Australia annual dinner this week in Sydney those sitting at the same table as the prime minister included Wesfarmers chief executive Rob Scott, Commonwealth Bank CEO Matt Comyn, and Telstra CEO Vicki Brady. The 2022-23 reported annual salary of those CEOs was $8 million, $7 million, and $5 million, respectively. Anthony Albanese is paid $600,000 a year.