- Gary Sturgess
Gary L. Sturgess, a lawyer by training, is presently a board member of Engine Australia (the company created by his father the late Lindsay Sturgess) and the executive director of Serco Institute. He was previously an investment analyst and a senior government official. He has lived in the
United Kingdom since 2000.Early years
Sturgess was born in Dalby, in
Queensland , a small town approximately three hours inland fromBrisbane , the second of four sons.Career
Sturgess has worked as an investment analyst for one of Australia's largest mining companies, MIM Holdings Ltd, and as legal correspondent for Australia's leading news magazine, The
Bulletin .Sturgess was formerly the principal of Sturgess Australia, a firm specialising in strategic policy advice to government and the private sector.
He has served on the boards of a number of other public sector and non-profit organisations, including the NSW Police Board and the Constitutional Centenary Foundation.
Among other projects, in the past Mr Sturgess has conducted a major review for the
Queensland government of the partnership between the federal and state governments in the management of theGreat Barrier Reef ; chaired a taskforce of departmental secretaries commissioned by the Federal Cabinet to design a 'one stop shop' for Australia's border agencies (customs, immigration and quarantine) and advised the New Zealand State Services Commission on governance and integrity issues.From 1988 until late 1992, Mr Sturgess was Cabinet Secretary and Director-General of The Cabinet Office in the
New South Wales State Government and, during that time, the principal policy adviser to the NSW Premier, responsible for promoting innovative reform initiatives, including the corporatisation of government business enterprises, the 'new environmentalism' (including tradeable water rights and emissions trading), electricity markets and theIndependent Commission Against Corruption , of which he was the primary architect.Mr Sturgess also led the NSW team of officials which played a key role in a series of intergovernmental conferences which resulted in a number of high-level reforms, including a national electricity market, national regulatory reform and national competition policy.
From 1993 until 2000, he was a non-Executive member of
Serco Group plc, a UK-based facilities management contractor to government agencies and private firms in Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America. In 2000 he accepted a position as a senior executive with theSerco Group plc, and since 2003 has been an executive director of the Serco Institute (whose purpose is "to contribute to the development of corporate strategy by providing detailed research and analysis of emerging market trends in international markets" [http://www.serco.com/institute/about/index.asp] ).Honours
Mr Sturgess was awarded the
Order of Australia in January 2005, for service to public administration.Recent Press
Mr Sturgess heralded as "The Revolution starts with this Man" by Michael Duffy of the
Sydney Morning Herald on September the 9th, 2006. [http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/the-revolution-starts-with-this-man/2006/09/08/1157222326103.html]Mr Sturgess touted as a high profile public sector reform guru by Steve Burrell, of the
Sydney Morning Herald on September the 8th, 2006. [http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/a-party-in-need-of-some-big-ideas/2006/09/07/1157222262782.html]Mr Sturgess was featured on the March 31-April 1, 2007 edition of The Weekend Australian Financial Review, named as a "corporate high-flyer and former Liberal government man of influence". This same article included Sturgess as one of "Rudd's Tribe - the people he turns to"
External links
* [http://www.engineaustralia.com.au/ Engine Australia]
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