Nation’s elite raise a toast to recovery
Australia’s business leaders gathered in the ballroom of Sydney’s Fullerton Hotel as a ringing endorsement of the country’s return from the pandemic.
Australia’s business elite gathered in the ballroom of Sydney’s Fullerton Hotel as a ringing endorsement of the country’s return from the pandemic.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison was the guest of honour for 400 business executives, politicians, top bureaucrats and advisers as they gathered on Monday night to pay tribute to some of their own for their achievements from the bushfires through the pandemic.
There were hugs, kisses and a few elbow bumps marking the greetings. And more than one ballgown was spotted, despite the invitation’s “business attire” dress code.
Origin chief Frank Calabria, Woodside’s Peter Coleman, and Qantas’s Alan Joyce were there with Mirvac’s Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz, Rio Tinto’s Jakob Stausholm, and Coca-Cola Amatil’s Alison Watkins.
On the political side, Employment Minster Stuart Robert were doing the rounds with Minister Women Marise Payne, as was National Covid Commission member Nev Power.
The Business Council of Australia comprises the nation’s top chief executives, with about 130 members covering different sectors of the economy and local and foreign representatives.
It started after the summit convened by Bob Hawke in 1983 when the ACTU ran rings around business representatives, forcing business to respond with a new more high-level policy role.
The dinner always ranks as the pre-eminent gathering of business and government on the national calendar, and for business watchers and regulators one of the great schmoozing events.
The dinner, normally held in November to coincide with the business lobby’s annual meeting, was cancelled last year due to COVID, marking the first break since the ritual started.
It is being held earlier this year to coincide with the award ceremonies and to take advantage of the Prime Minister’s schedule to gather in a celebration of the step away from lockdowns and the revival of the economy.
It is a tradition to have the Prime Minister speak at the dinner, and their address is a signpost to relations between business and Canberra, with some marked by a frosty reaction and less than ringing endorsements for others.
This was the case when Kevin Rudd appeared early in his first term in 2008 and Malcolm Turnbull’s second speech on the same day he had suspended parliament amid his leadership troubles in 2018.
This time there was a sense of genuine relief that Australia appears to have escaped the worst of the pandemic and consequently the economic recovery has surprised the sceptics.
Vaccine delays and calls for more sustainable reform remain on the BCA wishlist, but Scott Morrison will be stressing the good news.
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