In a memo to staff that will be circulated on Wednesday afternoon,longstanding chairman and former Victorian senatorRod Kemp will announce he is stepping down at the end of June.
In his place the board has appointed conservative commentatorJanet Albrechtsen.
Conservative commentator and lawyer Janet Albrechtsen has been appointed chair of the Institute of Public Affairs.Andrew Taylor
This column will reserve judgment on whether Kemp’s departure,all within cooee of polling day and a potential Labor government,could be interpreted as the first canary fleeing the mine shaft.
For what it’s worth,Kemp says that after 11 years the time feels right to hang up the reins.
The organisation now has more than 5000 members,many of the new recruits skewing younger.
Indeed,the IPA has been a recruiting ground for Liberals from Goldstein MPTim Wilson toJames Paterson in the Senate and a lot of staff (many in Communication Minister Mitch Fifield's office.)
John Roskam is the IPA's executive director.Matthew Bayard
On Albrechtsen,Kemp says her appointment was a unanimous decision by the board.
He also praised the contribution she had made since joining in 2015,describing how she has established herself as an “outstanding advocate” for the organisation,in no small part due through her powerful columns inThe Australian. (His words,not ours.)
Kemp’s departure also coincides with the retirement of Perth-based business leaderHarold “Hal” Clough,who will step down in June after a marathon 27 years of service.
The founder of one-time engineering powerhouse Clough Ltd,which at one point generated revenue of more than $1.5 billion,Clough in later years has been best known as a venture capitalist through the family-owned investment outfit McRae Investments.
(Until last tear,McRae Investments owned thePhnom Penh Post. But we digress.)
Clough will be replaced by his daughterRebecca Clough,whose experience and qualifications — apart from her squillionaire father’s family name — are in business,law and working “closely” with theGina Rinehart-backed Mannkal Economic Education Foundation.