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NAB’s new spin king Philippa King a financial novice
The Australian 12:00am January 11, 2019
Joyce Moullakis
EXCLUSIVE National Australia Bank has filled a longstanding vacancy by tapping former Malcolm Turnbull and Mike Baird adviser Philippa King for a government affairs post.
The Australian can confirm Ms King will start in the role of general manager government affairs and public policy this month, after employees were told of the appointment early this week.
A NAB spokeswoman confirmed the appointment and said: “Philippa has significant experience and demonstrated capability in domestic and international policy and political environments, having worked under Coalition and ALP governments and navigating a range of complicated and sensitive issues.
“She has shown great ability to work across all sides of politics, making her highly suitable for this position.
“The seniority of her postings reinforce the confidence in her by successive governments.”
But several industry executives canvassed by The Australian questioned why NAB would appoint someone with no financial services experience to the government affairs post, given 2019 will see banks deal with immense policy complexity and formulate a response to the sweeping Hayne royal commission.
The Hayne final report and its landmark recommendations are due to be submitted to the federal government by February 1.
Ms King’s LinkedIn profile shows that most recently she was a foreign policy adviser to Mr Turnbull during the last 18 months of his prime ministership and before that she worked as a social policy and senior adviser to then NSW premier Mr Baird.
Ms King has also had stints as the ambassador and deputy permanent representative of the Australian Mission to the United Nations at the Australian High Commission in London and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Mr Baird — also considered a potential successor to NAB chief executive Andrew Thorburn — now heads up the consumer bank after joining NAB in April 2017 following his retirement from politics.
He is understood to have been one of several executives to have interviewed candidates for the government affairs post after it was vacated by Dallas McInerney in August 2017. NAB’s Aron Whillans has been acting in the role since then.
As part of the appointment, Ms King will report to Jason Laird, NAB’s executive general manager of corporate affairs since July last year.
The hire comes at a crucial time for the sector and its relationship with government and other policymakers. Two of the big four banks have already sought out appointments with clearer ties to the Labor Party ahead of a federal election this year and the keenly anticipated Hayne royal commission final report.
While Ms King has links to both sides of politics (she was appointed to work on Australia’s campaign for a seat on the UN Security Council, a Kevin Rudd government priority), her more recent ties are to the Liberal Party.
In December, rival Commonwealth Bank hired Bill Shorten’s former chief of staff Andrew Thomas to run its corporate and regulatory policy team. The bank’s head of government relations is Euan Robertson, a former staffer to Labor’s Tony Burke.
Westpac has a wide array of government affairs staff but the division is headed up by Michael Choueifate, the former chief of staff to Labor’s Anthony Albanese.
ANZ has Karyn Freeman, a former energy executive and adviser to Josh Frydenberg, in its government affairs corner.
Government affairs managers typically spend a lot of time with Treasury, their own chief executives and often the chairman.
While NAB chairman Ken Henry has stressed that the bank wants to be bipartisan, The Australian this week revealed that Mr Baird would headline a February 4 boardroom lunch for NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet in Sydney.
A letter promoting the Liberal Party lunch put the cost for a seat at the table at $1500 and said a $500 donation was “optional”.