A speech by Greg Medcraft, Chairman, Australian Securities and Investments Commission, delivered at the annual dinner of the Paddington Society, Cipri Italian Restaurant, Paddington, Sydney, 6 August 2015.
Introduction
Ladies and gentleman, it is great to be in Paddington this evening.
I want to recognise the members of the Paddington Society and applaud the society’s vision of community and heritage.
I want to particularly acknowledge the society’s committee who, over the past 50 years, have shown themselves to be a passionate and determined group with a common vision committed to the special environment that is our great, heritage area of Paddington.
Indeed, I know that many people in elected office recognise this group as one of the most talented and formidable community organisations in Australia – and as a former councillor and mayor, I speak from experience.
I am especially delighted to be addressing the society’s annual dinner in the group’s 51st year.
Unlike past speakers to the Paddington Society, I am not a soldier or an actor. I am not a painter or a journalist, and I am certainly no satirist. But I am someone who knows a bit about public service and I am someone who definitely loves Paddington.
Many of this audience might also know me from my day job as Chairman of the financial services and markets regulator, ASIC.
I was a 30-year investment banker, which means now at ASIC I am the classic poacher-turned-gamekeeper.