Christine Holgate and James Shipton will make business wary of Canberra’s top jobs

The cases of James Shipton and Christine Holgate have made it less likely that senior business figures will be interested in taking up public service posts.

The shabby treatment afforded to three recent business recruits into the federal public service raises questions why anyone would bother.

ASIC chair James Shipton has accepted a lame duck term running the corporate cop in an attempt to recoup some prestige after stepping aside late last year in the wake of auditor-general comments on his tax advice.

Former ASIC boss Tony D’Aloisio was clearly right to raise the issue of independence and the fact is Shipton was appointed for five years until February 2023.

He has accepted a shorter term, but those looking from the outside would have even more concerns seeing what has happened.

Former colleagues Dan Crennan and Shipton were cleared by an independent report, as was former Australia Post boss Christine Holgate.

Holgate and Crennan had the good sense to step aside immediately in the wake of ill-informed attacks from Scott Morrison down.

Given the freedom with which politicians can attack public servants, business people considering a role must wonder why bother.

Freedom from political interference is one of the saving graces of the job.

In the case of Shipton and Crennan, the Department of Treasury as the responsible department had overall responsibility for issues like tax advice and other issues surrounding executive appointments.

It somehow has escaped comment in the wake of the ASIC problems, even though it was ­responsible for the administrative arrangements.

Josh Frydenberg is keen to make cultural and others changes at ASIC that necessitate an external appointment.

PwC executive and former UK FSA executive Margaret Cole is one name mentioned for an APRA vacancy and perhaps at ASIC, and most would argue engaging someone from outside the public service would be ideal.

The more people from private enterprise work in government and vice versa the more each would understand how each other works to the benefit of everyone.

Recent evidence suggests taking on such a role makes you liable for prime ministerial public abuse and candidates must wonder why bother. The Prime Minister was responsible for Shipton’s appointment.

Some argue ASIC is still overcoming its past as a state-based system 40 years ago, which means regional bosses carry some weight. Karen Chester had attempted to reform ASIC in her report six years ago before being appointed as deputy two years ago.

The column erred in writing off her chances of being the boss long term because Friday’s exercise was all about the graceful exit of Shipton.

The real decision is coming on who will lead the change and Chester’s name is still in the hat.

Shipton had resisted change including the appointment of a staff head, which has been belatedly filled by Warren Day as chief operating officer. Day effectively runs the staff and liaises with the commission, with the role helping to maintain the split in roles as happens at the ACCC with Scott Gregson in the role.

Others say a model may work like the RBA, which is led by Phillip Lowe with a board of directors to guide him.

Any way he jumps, the quality of the leadership is crucial.

It must be said there are some in corporate Australia who stress that ASIC is in no need of a major overhaul. Others say it is too much of a public service with people in jobs too long.

Insiders reject the claim and Chester, in her role as acting boss, was able to cement Day as chief of staff, which is seen as being crucial to drawing the lines between staff and the commission.

She has also managed to keep the ship afloat amid the turmoil.

Claims of too many commissioners is not supported by the facts, compared to say the ACCC, but it also has a much wider brief.

The US model in which time at ASIC is seen as being a career in private enterprise is not so strong in Australia, which is another reason why the politics don’t help.

The Treasurer is being pushed by a group of backbenchers, ­in­cluding Tim Wilson, Jason ­Falin­ski and senator Andrew Bragg with support from senator James Paterson who want change at ASIC.

Frydenberg has not yet spelt out the changes he wants, but having the right person in charge is clearly crucial. The three-month time limit set clearly raises the bar for the Treasurer and increases the chance of a local appointment.

Nabbing the neobank

The ACCC is in the midst of a war against the digital platforms so it is not about to wave through a digital bank merger for one of the big four.

NAB’s 86400 deal cost it about $260m, against the $25m the digital bank spent in developing its platform, which highlights the benefit for NAB.

At last count, CBA had 26 per cent of home loans against Westpac at 23 per cent and NAB and ANZ with 14.5 per cent each.

NAB hopes the deal fast-forwards progress in its UBank franchise. Unless there is a revolution, 86400 is not about to shift the dial considerably and, come April 15 when the decision is due, the ACCC will clear the transaction.

Refreshing Coke bid

CCE’s FIRB clearance leaves the European franchise boss Damian Gammell with a tricky decision on just how much he needs to increase his bid to wrap up control of Coca-Cola Amatil.

The $12.75-a-share bid already fully prices the transaction for a stock that has underperformed by 4 per cent since the deal was announced and by 27 per cent in the six years Alison Watkins ran the company pre-bid.

She has worked overtime, but has faced myriad structural changes and, over 10 years, revenue growth has been minimal and earnings are down 4 per cent.

There were four institutional shareholders pushing for a higher bid, but with the exception of Irish-based Setanta the others have virtually quit the register, including Martin Currie, Amtares and Pendal. This leaves hedge funds in control of the register after Amatil parent Coca-Cola’s 30 per cent stake.

Pre-bid the average price target on the stock was $9.68 and last week’s profit upgrade has caused minimum changes to estimates.

That suggests The Europeans could get away with a 25c-a-share lift to $13 to wrap up control. But hedge funds are like Oliver Twist and want more so expect chatter.