O'Connell Street Associates
 O'Connell Street Associates(Deep state milieu)   | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Sydney, New South Wales |
| Membership | • John Marks (Australia) • James Vernon • Stephen Loosley • Eric McClintock • Alvin Burton-Taylor • Vern Christie • Robert Cotton • Dick Warburton • John Phillips • Malcolm Irving • Tony Daniels • Len Bleasel • Alan Coates • Jim Dominguez • Sam Mostyn • Barbara Ward • Anne Brennan • Heather Ridout • Nicola Wakefield • Elizabeth Broderick • Martin Parkinson • Ian Watt |
| A group of 20 prominent non-executive directors who share premises on the sixth level of Number 2 O'Connell Street in the heart of Sydney's CBD | |
O'Connell Street Associates is a group of 20 prominent non-executive directors who share premises on the sixth level of Number 2 O'Connell Street in the heart of Sydney's CBD. Outside of the "true business aficionados" its existence is barely known. It has been in operation since the 1970s.[1][2]
Overview
The original idea for O'Connell Street came from Sir John Marks of Delfin Finance. He was one of the great Sydney networkers of the 1970s and 1980s and he provided the office space for the early members.
As members die or retire they are replaced by carefully selected and slightly younger directors. Its list of alumni is impressive, and includes Sir James Vernon, Sir Eric McClintock, Sir Alvin Burton-Taylor, Vern Christie, Robert Cotton, Dick Warburton (Caltex, David Jones, AurionGold, Southcorp and the Reserve Bank), John Phillips (chair of AGL and former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank). Malcolm Irving, Tony Daniels, Len Bleasel, Alan Coates and Jim Dominguez.[1]
O'Connell Street Associates is a business as well. It provides mentoring services to "young bright sparks". It refuses to release a list of its clients and its clients are not permitted to reveal that they use O'Connell Street Associates services. Income from clients goes towards paying the rent and the costs of running the premises. It is understood that UBS Warburg and Deloitte are both clients.[1]
An anonymous source told the Australian Financial Review "They become a powerful influence on who goes on boards. It is just the same problems as we saw with the Adelaide establishment in the 1970s."[1]
Known member
1 of the 22 of the members already have pages here:
| Member |
|---|
| Stephen Loosley |
