Jennifer Westacott was sitting in her office at Western Sydney University when an email dropped in her inbox informing her she had been given Australia’s highest honour: an appointment as Companion of the Order of Australia.
“It’s obviously very humbling and a great honour,” said the former Business Council of Australia chief executive, who joined WSU as chancellor in 2023. Recognition like the letters AC after one’s name was always a team effort, she said on Monday. “You never do these things alone.”
Westacott and NAB, Medibank Private and Djerriwarrh Investments director Kathryn Fagg led the corporate Australians recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours List. They were both named alongside 12 others – including former prime minister Scott Morrison – as Companions.
Westacott, who was named for her work in the business, tertiary education and mental health sectors, said she would keep trying to make Australia a more prosperous country through a stronger economy.
“I hold that to be my key mission in life,” she said. Last month’s federal election, in which the Labor Party convincingly won majority government, allowed a chance to make longer-term changes, she said.
“I do think we’ve got to do something about productivity and the low rate of growth. People’s future living standards depend on it.
“The good thing about the election was no one ruled things out. That gives the government headroom, I think.”
Westacott said there was “low-hanging fruit” for state and federal governments to boost productivity by cutting red tape, and a clear step forward would be increasing the threshold for a 25 per cent corporate tax rate.
“Why wouldn’t you start with companies of $250 million who are trade exposed, to give them a 25 per cent tax rate? Currently, it’s companies up to $50 million, but not many that size are exposed to trade,” she said.
There were 581 people recognised under this year’s general division of the Order of Australia, which includes four tiers of recognition: Companion of the Order (AC), Officer of the Order (AO), Member of the Order (AM) and Medal of the Order (OAM). Fourteen people were appointed Companions, 31 appointed Officers and 123 appointed Members, and 413 were awarded Medals.
The full list, which included 36 recipients of awards in the Military Division of the Order of Australia as well as 149 Meritorious awards and 64 Distinguished and Conspicuous awards, recognised 830 Australians.
Among the Officer appointees was WIN founder Bruce Gordon, who was recognised for distinguished service to the media and television industries and as a benefactor for sports and the arts. The billionaire, who is media company Nine Entertainment’s biggest shareholder, said the appointment was “humbling and deeply meaningful”.
“Throughout my life, I have been privileged to work in an industry I love, supporting the communities and causes that have shaped me,” the 96-year-old said in a statement.
“From my earliest days in television, I have believed in the power of media to inform, inspire and connect people. Through WIN, the commitment to news is something I have taken great pride in. I am proud to have contributed to the Australian media landscape and to support the incredible talent and innovation within it.” (Nine owns The Australian Financial Review.)
Property developer Clive Berghofer was also appointed an Officer for his philanthropic work in health, emergency services, sport and education. “I started with absolutely naught,” the 90-year-old said on Monday. “I was born in 1935, we lived on a farm. No one started lower than I did, with no electricity, no car, no nothing.” His first job paid 13¢ an hour. He has spent the past several decades donating tens of millions of dollars to the area around Toowoomba.
He has a medical research institute, hospital accommodation, operating theatres, a Brisbane Broncos centre, a stadium, a recreation centre and an events centre in his name. “I made my money out of Toowoomba, and I wanted to put my money back into Toowoomba,” he said.
Rebecca McGrath, who was last year named the Financial Review’s most influential director, said she had no idea who had nominated her for an AM. “Being a non-executive director in a public company or in a regulated sector is a very demanding and sometimes not very glamorous job, contrary to what some people might think,” she said.
Her reflection on the appointment was that Australia could do more to nurture better leaders. “In the corporate sector, in the last decade, there has been a more cautious approach to that executive development and appointment, and we see that manifest in, for example, the lack of diversity particularly in CEO appointments,” she said.
“By that, I mean ethnic diversity and gender diversity. There’s huge progress been made on board diversity journey, but unfortunately, when you look at the C-suite, the feeder pool for ethnic and gender diversity hasn’t moved and is really very poor.”
McGrath joined ex-Mirvac boss and Chief Executive Women president Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz, Geelong AFL club CEO Brian Cook, former Financial Services Council CEO Sally Loane, investment banker Keith Tuffley and former Bendigo Bank CEO Marnie Baker as others appointed as Members.
Author: Sam Buckingham-Jones
