Terry McCrann looks back at his experience as
Business Sunday's commentator since its early days.
ROSS GREENWOOD: Now, those who watch the show regularly will be familiar with Terry McCrann. He's been our commentator since 1987, and he joins me live, this morning, from our Melbourne studio. Good morning to you Terry.
TERRY McCRANN: Good morning Ross.
GREENWOOD: So, tell me, our list of twenty, how was it? Were there any that shouldn't have been there, or a couple that might have snuck in there perhaps?
McCRANN: No, I think you have captured the heroes one way or the other, Ross, either the heroes that were really heroes or the villains. It's been an extraordinary journey for the country and also obviously for Business Sunday to be witness to it. I think I'd say, to add to the list, that the two people I think which have most shaped the world in which business has operated and the economy, were, in the first 10 years Paul Keating who really was the dominant player in setting the scene and in the second 10 years, of course, Ian Macfarlane has really kept the wheels turning over as Governor of the Reserve Bank and keeping the miracle economy performing the way it has done.
GREENWOOD: Terry, you talk about some of the people that are there, but what about the actual turning points, the things that really were, if you like, those quintessential moments when you could say that Australia changed as a result of those?
MCCRANN: When you look back over the 20 years, Ross, the world of 1985-86 is almost unrecognisable and I guess the world we've emerged into is, was, would have been unimaginable back in those days. Clearly, banana republic, financial deregulation in the mid-'80s was the fundamental thing that changed Australia. Then we had the stock market crash in '87, which ended one of the booms. We're now in another boom, another resources boom 20 years on, and of course, those major inquiries through the '80s, the Ralph Report and the Wallis Report, which changed the environment in which business had to operate.
GREENWOOD: Does it strike you really now Terry that Australia is a more robust economy, that it can actually up with with, if you like, the external shocks?
MCCRANN: I think when you go through that parade of outstanding CEOs, and you've only covered some of them Ross, most of the players are taking Australia to the world and taking Australian business to the world. You look at Rupert Murdoch, who obviously is the outstanding global business figure from Australia, we all know about Rupert's success. Frank Lowy now the major property owning centre in the United States. People like Geoff Dixon, the most profitable, the most successful airline probably in the world or one of the most profitable. All these players and others like Brian McNamee at CSL are making Australian business work in a tough global environment, something, again, that was unimaginable back in the mid '80s when we were really still thinking about protecting Australian industry in a very narrow fortress Australia construct.
GREENWOOD: But, as you say, we're right in the middle of a boom right now. The test of any system, regulators, ethics, the whole lot is the next downturn, so therefore, how good do you think we are, because right now, of course, maybe many of our mistakes are being papered over by the boom?
MCCRANN: Absolutely Ross. In the mid '80s we had the entrepreneurs, now we've got them reborn in the form of private equity. Probably a little bit different to the guys like Alan Bond and co. but certainly it's really going to test the outcome. The extraordinary performance of BHP today is, again, unrecognisable from those days in the mid '90s when BHP was really in serious trouble and obviously how we come out of this boom is going to really test all those institutions we put in place. Will we have another HIH? It's impossible to predict.
GREENWOOD: Well, of course, you do mention BHP there, $13.7 billion profit this week. Of course, the final stages of the Government selling out of Telstra as well. Are both of these demonstrations in the way in which our corporate world has changed?
MCCRANN: Absolutely. I mean, BHP is the dominant player in global resources, riding this extraordinary boom out of China. And Telstra, which was the monopoly, the only telephone company in the mid '80s, now has to face serious competition. It's switching from Government ownership, being a social service in some respects, to being a — to have to be a competitive player, as Sol Trujillo said, shift happens and that really, I think, summarises the change Ross that we've had to experience. That we all have to exist and compete and succeed in that global context.
GREENWOOD: So we're in global context, so now you and I are potentially sitting here in 20 years time Terry, having the same conversation. We do know that oil is running out. We know also that the baby boomers are getting older and will be in their twilight years. What other things might shape the next 20 years?
MCCRANN: Clearly China is going to be the dominant force in terms of what happens in the global economy. But we have all these other pressures which are emerging, environmental issues, the role of America obviously what happens in this whole global space in relation to the war on terror. So all these things are going to be challenges not only for business but obviously for the nation more broadly.
GREENWOOD: Terry McCrann, look, many thanks for your time this morning but especially many thanks for your time over the past 20 years.
MCCRANN: It's been a privilege, Ross, to be able to sit here and witness this extraordinary world that we've lived in and the world of Australian business over these 20 years. Thank you very much.
GREENWOOD: Terry McCrann there, of course.
