By Anne Hyland
A few decades ago, a revolution arrived in corporate Australia. Companies were asked to include into their decision-making the risks posed by environmental factors, social issues and corporate governance, or what simply became known as ESG. The term first appeared in 2004.
Like all revolutions, it generated a strong reaction, but was widely adopted. Now there are growing signs of a pushback.
In the United States, there’s a full-blown backlash thanks to the return of President Donald Trump, who has ordered that federal government diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, which fall under the social aspect of ESG, be dismantled. Such programs promote equal opportunities for women and underrepresented groups.
President Donald Trump has ordered to dismantle federal government diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.Credit: Bloomberg
In his inaugural address, Trump claimed his goal was to forge a “society that is colour-blind and merit-based”. Trump has also targeted corporate America, stating that companies that pursued DEI schemes would lose federal government contracts. A number of major US corporations, including Amazon, Walmart, McDonald’s, Meta Platforms, Boeing and Ford, have announced plans to scrap or reduce their DEI initiatives.
Tesla’s chief executive Elon Musk, also the world’s richest man and a Trump-whisperer, has made his position clear by declaring that “DEI must die”.
However, some large US companies such as Costco, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Uber have refused to bow to the pressure and remain committed to keeping DEI schemes.
Trump-whisperer and Tesla chief executive, Elon Musk, has declared that diversity, inclusion and equity schemes implemented in the US, must “die”.Credit: AP
Trump’s proposed changes are fracturing the US and have renewed debate about ESG measures in Australia, and whether the movement has gone too far.
For example, a push to broaden diversity reporting rules for Australia’s listed companies, which would require directors to report on criteria beyond gender, such as sexuality, age and disabilities, has faced opposition, dividing business representatives on the ASX Corporate Governance Council, according to The Australian Financial Review, and boards and chief executives more broadly.
“I don’t think that it’s necessary to have that enshrined in the ASX corporate governance principles,” said Mike Wilkins, the chair of Medibank Private and QBE Insurance Group, and also a director of Westfield shopping centre owner Scentre.
“Most organisations report what they think are the sensible statistics that are important to their stakeholders, and that includes their shareholders and their staff. What we do need to make sure is that there’s not overreach in terms of further reporting requirements.”
Mike Wilkins, the chair of Medibank Private and QBE Insurance Group, is against introducing diversity reporting for ASX-listed companies. Credit: Peter Rae
His views are shared by Graham Turner, the chief executive of travel group Flight Centre. “We would prefer it wasn’t mandated,” he said, adding that his company has for more than a decade had a diversity, equity and inclusion policy, which fits with Flight Centre’s core values and culture.
However, Turner doesn’t believe the excesses of Trump’s actions, which have been to declare that the US will only recognise two genders or to try and ban DEI schemes, will be mirrored here.
The US president, since resuming office, has also pulled his country out of the Paris Agreement, an international pact among 196 countries to halt global warming, which has also created challenges for corporate America and its climate-change goals, which fall under ESG commitments. However, Turner believes there were already doubts before Trump’s decision about some of the commitments by companies globally, including in the US and Australia, to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
“A lot of companies are putting their goals out there, but are they realisable? It’s very questionable,” he said.
“The purpose of diversity and inclusion is to give everybody a fair go and to pick people on the basis of their capability, not gender.”
Tony Shepherd, a former Business Council of Australia president
Tony Shepherd, a former president of the Business Council of Australia, declared that ESG was a “nightmare” for Australian businesses, and wasted the time of company boards, and also shareholder money. He said all organisations had an obligation to meet social, environmental and corporate governance requirements, but that should be part of a company’s everyday activities and its obligations to customers, staff and shareholders.
“These are fundamental things that everybody on the board should be aware of and supportive of, and they don’t need lecturing on it,” Shepherd said.
He was also against targets or quotas for the number of women in senior executive ranks and boards.
“You must give them the opportunity, but you can’t just say because we haven’t got the right ratio, we’re going to have to appoint a woman, even if they’re not the best person available for the job. That’s demeaning,” Shepherd said.
Tony Shepherd (left), a former Business Council of Australia president, and Graham Turner, Flight Centre’s chief executive.Credit: The Sydney Morning Herald
“I’ve worked with many women over many years who have got their positions not because of targets but because they’re excellent. The purpose of diversity and inclusion is to give everybody a fair go and to pick people on the basis of their capability, not gender.”
In Australia, targets have been in place to increase the number of women in the executive ranks and on boards of Australian listed companies, with proponents long arguing that by increasing the pool of talent, experience and background from which executives and directors are drawn, it would improve companies’ decision-making and their profitability.
Those targets have resulted in the female representation on ASX300 boards increasing to 37.5 per cent, according to an Australian Council of Superannuation Investors report.
Industry super funds, such as HESTA, which manages $91 billion for more than one million members in health and community services, have pressured the chairs and chief executives of ASX300 companies it’s invested in to commit to ensuring 40 per cent of their staff are women. It also has a policy to consider voting against directors if less than 30 per cent of a board is female, and against chairs of companies that employ single-gender executive teams.
Mary Wooldridge, chief executive of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, said the evidence was there that targets resulted in more equal and balanced leadership teams and boards, and improved company profitability and productivity.
“Some work that our research partner, the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre, did in 2020 showed that there is a causal relationship between more women on boards and more women in senior leadership and company productivity, profitability and value, for those companies that are listed.”
Wooldridge said the resistance to gender-equality targets was not new. “These sorts of conversations come and go. It’s important to have rigorous debate,” she said. “But ultimately, the evidence shows that this is good for businesses, good for people, good for the community and good for the nation as a whole.”
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