Australia Day Honours: James MacKenzie

James MacKenzie has had a stellar career in public and private boardrooms, straddling the two worlds and seeking to bring them together.

Veteran director James MacKenzie. Picture: Sam Mooy

Veteran director James MacKenzie, who has been made an officer of the Order of Australia, has had a stellar career in public and private sector boardrooms, effectively straddling the two worlds and seeking to bring the best of each to the table.

He notes the differences between the two areas, with each sector having difficulty in understanding the other. But this has proved little impediment in his own corporate life, with around three decades spent as one of the country’s most senior directors with a reputation as being unafraid to make tough calls.

James MacKenzie has been made an officer of the Order of Australia.

The former chief executive of Victoria’s Transport Accident Commission, which he was later persuaded to chair by then Victorian premier Steve Bracks, has led major companies at critical moments in the nation’s corporate history, after an executive life which included a decade working in Asia through the 1980s and 90s.

Locally, he has been managing director, funds management and insurance, at the ANZ Banking Group, and headed Norwich Union and was an executive at Standard Chartered Bank.

The son of a public servant says he is comfortable operating in both worlds and has sought to bring the best of them together. His pathway, more common in the United States, has seen him lead some of the largest corporate transformations in Australia.

Mr MacKenzie, who now spends more time in the more relaxed township of Port Fairy, was awarded for distinguished service to business, and to public administration through leadership roles.

Government roles include chairing WorkSafe Victoria, the Victorian Funds Management Corporation and Development Victoria and he retains a role on the advisory board of the Suburban Rail Loop Authority.

The corporate roles are also heavyweight. They include chairing law firm Slater and Gordon since 2018, as the company came back from the fallout prompted by its British expansion.

He also chaired the famed Pacific Brands, leading a turnaround through an offshoring strategy, and chaired resources companies Gloucester Coal and Yancoal Australia as the industry was rationalised.

He later left the board of Yancoal amid reports his speaking up for minority shareholders did not sit well with the major Chinese-controlled shareholder.

Mr Mackenzie also chaired property developer Mirvac, shepherding it through a harrowing period during the global financial crisis and later installing Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz as chief executive.

The move sparked controversy at the time but the strategy reset left the developer well-positioned.

Mr Mackenzie says there is an asymmetry of skills between the public and private sectors and he sought to redress this with more fundamental reforms than relying on consultants.

But he remains astounded about how unaware the private sector is of the way government works and of the extensive legislative obligations on public servants.

Originally published as Australia Day Honours: James MacKenzie