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PM stares down CEOs on marriage equality

Malcolm Turnbull is staring down business chiefs like Cindy Hook who are pushing to legislate for same-sex marriage.

Deloitte chief executive Cindy Hook, one of the signatories of the letter to Malcolm Turnbull, in Sydney yesterday. Picture: John Feder
Deloitte chief executive Cindy Hook, one of the signatories of the letter to Malcolm Turnbull, in Sydney yesterday. Picture: John Feder

Malcolm Turnbull is staring down business chiefs who are pushing to legislate for same-sex marriage, amid a split in corporate Australia over an attempt to sabotage the federal government’s plebiscite plan.

Senior government ministers and prominent business figures yesterday attacked an unprecedented move by 20 of the ­nation’s top CEOs, who signed up to a letter putting pressure on the Prime Minister for immediate ­action.

The initiative — co-ordinated by Australian Marriage Equality — has been blasted as a diversion from the nation’s key economic challenges.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton yesterday described the letter as “bizarre” and urged chief executives to “stop shoving politically correct nonsense down our throats”.

“The CEOs would be better off out there arguing at the moment for the economy to be run a particular way or for tax to be reformed in this way so that people grow their businesses and grow jobs as opposed to taking on these moral causes,” he said.

 
 

Mr Dutton took aim at Telstra, whose chief executive Andrew Penn signed the letter, suggesting the company should focus on improving telephone services.

“Instead of getting caught up and spending your investors’ money ... on all these political causes, what about tidying up your own backyard first and providing a proper standard of care and service to your customers?” he told ­Sydney’s 2GB.

Dick Warburton, former chairman of Westfield Retail Trust and Caltex Australia, said there were “far bigger things to worry about” than same-sex marriage such as the energy crisis.

He told The Australian business groups should not have involved themselves in the same-sex-marriage debate and said they were encouraging the government to break an election commitment. While he agreed same-sex marriage was a “continual hassle” on the political agenda, he said the best way to resolve the issue was through the plebiscite.

“I felt, what the hell are these CEOs doing in this matter?” said Mr Warburton, whose son Bay Warburton was former NSW premier Mike Baird’s chief of staff.

“There are much bigger fish to fry that CEOs should be getting involved in. His (Mr Turnbull’s promise was there should be a plebiscite ... I think he should follow the promise that he made.

“I’m not in favour of having the legislation.”

Chief executives approached by The Australian said the letter was presented to them by Australian Marriage Equality and clarified it was signed in a personal capacity and did not reflect a corporate position.

Deloitte’s Cindy Hook, the Commonwealth Bank’s Ian Narev and KPMG’s Peter Nash all defended their decisions to sign the letter as a demonstration of their personal commitment to ­diversity and inclusion.

“I believe in fairness and inclusion for all and my overriding aim is for every one of our people at Deloitte to reach their full potential, which includes choosing who they marry,” Ms Hook told The Australian. “I recognise that our partners and people have different views on this topic and while we may not all agree, everyone’s views are respected.’’

Former Australian Stock Exchange chairman Maurice Newman said he was surprised by the decision of corporate leaders to sign the letter. “I wouldn’t have thought it was something to the benefit of shareholders,” he said.

“I would have thought there are other more important things for business leaders to concentrate on. I’m sure for some people it is important, but it is not the overwhelming issue of our day.”

Mr Newman advised business groups not to encourage governments to go back on their election commitments. “It flies in the face of what the people of Australia voted for,” he said.

The Marriage Equality letter argues that same-sex marriage is good for “employees”, “customers” and “Australia” because more people are choosing to do business with companies that “better represent their values.”

Resources Minister Matt Canavan said the letter did not appear to reflect the personal views of company leaders but seemed an attempt to pressure the government by leveraging the weight of corporate entities for the same-sex marriage cause.

He questioned why business was not involving itself more heavily in the debate over penalty rates, tax reform and energy.

“If this isn’t a letter from corporate Australia directly, that needs to be clarified quite clearly,” Senator Canavan said.

“We’re still waiting for corporate Australia’s view on penalty rates. We’ve got contentious legislation on corporate tax before parliament and we’re desperately trying to insert sense into Aus­tralia’s energy debate.” Pressed on the issue, Mr Turnbull refused to budge from his support for a plebiscite. “There should be a plebiscite on the issue,” he said. “The Labor Party has frustrated that by ­opposing it in the Senate ... despite the fact that Mr (Bill) Shorten only three years ago gave very ­public and vocal support for a plebiscite.”

Business leaders who lent their names to the Marriage Equality campaign come from companies including Deloitte, Optus, Telstra, Holden, Apple, Amex, Holden, banks ANZ and CBA and professional services firms such as PwC and Deloitte that place a high premium on embracing ­diversity.

Mr Nash said he and KPMG had a “focus on gender equality and diversity and inclusion in the broader sense. This is a community issue and not a political issue.’’

Mr Narev, who signed the letter in a personal capacity and has been an avowed supporter of the issue, said CBA had been supporters of Australian Marriage Equality since 2015.

“Through the extensive work we have done with our own diversity and inclusion programs since 2012, we have come to better understand the nature and depth of feeling by our staff and customers around recognition of marriage equality, which is why we are proud to support AME,’’ he said.

The former chairman of Tony Abbott’s commission of audit, Tony Shepherd, also backed legislation for same-sex marriage.

“I think it would be a good thing to just get it out of the way so we can focus on some of the core economic problems facing Australia,” he said.

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/malcolm-turnbull-stares-down-ceos-on-marriage-equality/news-story/74312fcd840abc9146c18c41ff05f261