Yes, it’s good for corporate world
BUSINESS leaders who took a strong public stance in support of same-sex marriage will be rewarded by customers, shareholders and employees, a leading business consultancy says.
The expectation for the corporate sector to show where it stands on key social issues will also continue to grow, Deloitte Australia human capital partner Juliet Bourke says.
“Being a leader and expressing a moral conscience is what customers, shareholders and employees are expecting their leaders to demonstrate,” Ms Bourke said.
More than 840 companies registered with the Australian Marriage Equality organisation and such corporate heavyweights as Qantas, Telstra and ANZ took highly public stances on an issue that boardrooms might historically have viewed as falling outside their remits.
Those positions — particularly the support shown by Qantas chief Alan Joyce, who donated $1 million of his own money to the yes campaign — sparked calls from some conservative politicians for corporate leaders to “stick to your knitting”.
Mr Joyce yesterday welcomed the successful yes vote as the “epitome of a fair go” and proof the nation wanted “to be more inclusive, not less”.
Telstra chief Andy Penn yesterday tweeted that the yes result was “a great step forward for a more diverse and inclusive Australia”.
And Council of Small Busi- ness of Australia chief Peter Strong called on the Federal Government to get on with the job of legislating for marriage equality.
“They have to have it done by Christmas,” he said. “We can’t have these extreme right whingers carrying on about the ideology when people have spoken.”
ANZ has estimated that legalising same sex marriage could inject up to $650 million into the nation’s economy through extra spending on weddings.