Is it ethical for the former WA treasurer to join the Rio Tinto and Woodside boards?
The appointment of former Western Australian Labor treasurer Ben Wyatt to the Rio Tinto and Woodside boards last week is at one level a great development because he is the first Indigenous director of any major Australian public company. However, from a governance point of view, there really should be a cooling-off period before former politicians can be paid by corporate entities they used to regulate or tax -- or under-tax, in the case of Wyatt and Rio Tinto. Wyatt is the cousin of federal Liberal MP Ken Wyatt and retired from the WA parliament after a 15-year career at the state election in March.