Outgoing CSIRO chairman Simon McKeon says apparent policy not to give second terms to previous government appointees is ‘at odds with good governance’

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

There appears to be a “brutal” rule that directors of federal government agencies appointed under Labor will not get another term, the outgoing CSIRO chairman Simon McKeon has said.



“The reality is that, yes, there is a rule that no one on the board of a federal government agency has been reappointed,” McKeon said when asked about the Labor board appointees at an Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) function on Thursday. “It’s an issue that many people are finding worrying.”

McKeon, whose term as the CSIRO chairman ends in June, said it was not about him.

“The great majority of people who put up their hands to serve on a federal government agency are really doing it for the nation,” he said. “All I’m saying is we’re missing out on the corporate memory.

“It’s, I would argue, an unnecessary distraction to what’s already a very challenging bunch of organisations.”



McKeon, who is also the chairman of AMP, said the policy was at odds with what the AICD and Business Council of Australia subscribed to as good governance.



“My understanding is that there are many people like me who are disappointed with this quite brutal rule,” he said.



The former Australian of the Year said not everyone should have a second term but for those who are deserving, an average tenure of one and a half or two terms has been the norm.



“I haven’t come across anyone actually in government, let alone in private enterprise, who says: ‘Oh this is a wonderfully good initiative’.”



Dr Nora Scheinkestel, who is on the Takeovers Panel and is a Telstra director, said the panel’s size had been significantly reduced because members had not been reappointed when their terms came up.



“The reality is we lost a lot of people who brought great expertise – major institutional investors, investment bankers, etc – and I think it’s to the detriment of how the panel functions,” she said.



McKeon said Australia needed excellent people on these challenging boards. “The last thing we want to be doing is to … kick them off after three years, let alone send a very strong message saying this is the way it ought to be,” he said.