Inaugural lecture by Mr David Knott, Chairman ASIC to the Monash Governance Research Unit, 16 July 2002.
Chancellor Ellis, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen.
It is a privilege for me to present this Inaugural Lecture for the Monash Governance Research Unit.
I congratulate all those involved in the formation of the Unit. It is an important initiative – one that might, in the current climate, be called well- timed and topical, but one that I think is in fact of enduring relevance as I hope to demonstrate this evening.
I note that the Governance Research Unit has four objectives:
- promoting and coordinating the study of governance
- studying public governance
- studying corporate governance
- studying institution building.
I will this evening limit myself to some observations concerning the third of those objectives; that is, corporate governance.
To describe corporate governance as a subject of topical interest would be masterly understatement. What had already become a hot topic in Australia during 2001 has since burst out across the world, involving the direct intervention of the President of the United States. I'd say that Monash University has got its timing pretty right.