WESTPAC chief executive Gail Kelly is very important.
As a Westpac home loan account holder, she can cost me or save me money each time her bank nuts out interest rates. Kelly can come over to my house to discuss my standard variable rate any time. I’ll even waive the annual service fee on the snags, and offer her two free transactions on forays into the avocado salad. No doubt, she would be warm company, and would gladly decode the cute little graphs on the monthly statements. But if you sought a feminine view on the future of the planet, or the direction of government policy, or the wisdom of societies basically, if you wanted an insight into the mechanics of real power – Kelly would be shunted to the kiddies’ table. The main banquet might include US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Margaret Chan, who runs the . First Lady Michelle Obama. Nuclear weapons, swine flu and presidential stresses all stand as topics of boundless curiosity in ways that reflections on the future of the four-pillar bank system, and the continuing consequences of stupid banks giving stupid loans to stupid people in the United States, may not. How about some female prime ministers and presidents Or the Queen Or Sonia Sotomayor, a US Supreme Court Justice Or Therese Rein, or Julia Gillard, who’d be good for a chardy
Oprah could sidle in to chat about the most intriguing people she has met. All she need do is mention a book, and it’s a best-seller.