Michael O’Sullivan was leader of the Federated Clerks Union, a superannuation pioneer and a corporate governance advocate. He was the chair of the $7 billion CareSuper fund (a director from 1996 to 2012) and president for a decade to 2011 of the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors.
One of the surprises of Australian political history is that a government derided, traduced, and trounced in a smashing electoral defeat has over the passage of time come to be regarded as more substantial and worthy. A just account of the Whitlam government (1972-1975), however, requires acknowledgement of both certain grandeur and certain incompetence.
Michael Maher was greatly admired across the political spectrum as a diligent, local MP who saw the vocation of politics as serving the people.