This speech, titled ‘The Business Council of Australia: Achieving More Collectively’, was delivered by BCA President Greig Gailey to the organisation’s 25th Anniversary Dinner in 2008.

The BCA was born in extraordinary times. Men of great vision created an organisation that was able to represent Australia’s senior business leaders. In the dialogue that followed, the BCA was a key player in the formation of the Accord, which freed Australia from a vicious inflationary cycle and subsequently laid the foundation for many of the reforms that have contributed so much to Australia’s prosperity over the last 25 years.

What is different today?

Times today are no less extraordinary. The role for organisations like the BCA is just as important today as it was in 1983. However, just as the economic circumstances and challenges have changed, so has that role.

If I was asked to encapsulate how that role has evolved, I would characterise it as a transition from a view that ‘what is good for business is good for Australia’ to one which believes that ‘what is good for Australia is good for business’.

The Business Council of Australia: Achieving More Collectively: Speech by Greig Gailey to the BCA 25th Anniversary Dinner