Origin’s ‘noble’ ideals
Boss says energy giant must regain trust
CONFIDENCE in big business has sunk to an all-time low as the impact of the banking royal commission spreads across corporate Australia, according to Origin Energy’s chair.
Gordon Cairns, who is also a director of investment bank Macquarie Bank and former Westpac board member, said it was critical for the energy supplier to have the right culture, including a “noble purpose”, a vision and appropriate values.
“At a time when confidence in big business is at an all-time low, and when the keynote message coming out of the royal commission into banking is ‘dishonesty’, this is an imperative,” Mr Cairns said at Origin’s annual meeting in Sydney yesterday.
New Federal Energy Minister Angus Taylor has accused the energy heavyweights of acting like the big four banks in breaching the trust of Australian consumers.
He warned in August the government was prepared to “wield a big stick” to reduce high power prices if needed. That sparked speculation the government might replicate the banking royal commission with a similar examination of the energy sector.
However, Mr Taylor struck a more conciliatory tone last week, saying electricity prices had declined and the big power companies were starting to listen to consumer concerns and note the threat of government action.
“Work with me to deliver and the big stick can go back A2 Milk chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka into the bag,” Mr Taylor said. Origin chief Frank Calabria yesterday reiterated the company’s financial outlook but warned the sector also faced a combative debate over energy and climate policy.
“We are facing pressures in our operating environment, in particular the threat of increasing regulatory intervention,” Mr Calabria said.
“We will continue to actively engage with governments to inform the development of sensible policy that does not distort the market.’’
Origin said the signal to invest in dispatchable generation had been missing in recent years, although it backed the Government’s bid to revive the National Energy Guarantee’s reliability mechanism at a Council of Australian Governments meeting later this month.