"I knew exactly when I finished my Commerce/Law Degree, that’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to deal with people.”
Managing Director of Ready Media Group, Rob Langton, recently sat down with one of Australia's greatest business figures, David Gonski. Mr. Gonski's long career has spanned a range of vocations and specialities, including law, corporate advisory, investment banking, finance, and philanthropy, and as such, he had a great deal to divulge in the nearly 56-minute interview. Here are some of the highlights from Gonski's discussion with Mr. Langton.
His early interest in public speaking led to him developing a relationship with future PM, Malcolm Turnbull
“I began very early in my school life enjoying speaking... I became a debater, and it became one of my biggest interests.”
From the year below, another young man with an interest in public speaking took up debating and joined the team. That individual? Future Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull.
“I met Malcolm when I was in what is now called Year 8; he was in Year 7. He came into our team. He was an extraordinary debater.”
David Gonski AC delivering a speech
Those familiar with the conventions of a formal debate might find themselves wondering; what position in the debate did Turnbull take?
“He was our third speaker, and we often won the debate because of our third speaker. He was full of ideas, and I enjoyed talking to him.”
It shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that a man who went on to become one of Australia’s preeminent public speakers could win a debate, but it helps that the idea is given credence by David.
He became the youngest partner at Freehill Hollingdale & Page at age 25
Towards the end of his time at university, Gonski was given the opportunity to work at one of the country’s most well-renown law firms; Freehill Hollingdale & Page. In his initial stint with the business, he was made a summer clerk.
“If you’re a clerk, you do lots of thinking and lots of writing, but they don’t usually let you interact with clients.”
Gonski found that his experience differed from his contemporaries.
“My mentor, the late Kim Santow, was so generous, and I started to work with him even before I left university. He was very keen for me to go talk to clients.”
“I knew exactly when I finished my Commerce/Law Degree, that’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to deal with people.”
After moving into the M&A division in the firm, Gonski quickly found success. He made partner a few short years after entering the business, at the age of 25. In his own words, he describes this appointment as a product of “luck and ambition”.
“The reason it took me very little time, was that the new world of M&A was taking over, and I was getting offers from merchant banks every week, because they were going into the area that we were in.”
Because of the competition and scarcity of specialists in the sector, Gonski’s youth was an advantage, and Freehill Hollingdale & Page recognised this.
David Gonski AC
“The law firm were smart enough to know that they could lose me. They came to me relatively early, and asked if I would be a partner there.”
For Gonski, he knew that he wanted to stay. So the decision to take them up on their offer wasn’t a hard one. But certain specifications were required to be met, meaning he couldn’t immediately take up the position.
“I loved the firm. They were nurturing, their professionalism was outstanding, and I loved Kim Santow. So the answer was yes. The only problem was that you weren’t allowed to be a partner until you had had one year of practice after your articles of clerkship.”
“That was why they had to wait a little while before officially appointing me partner."
How Julia Gillard approached Gonski to develop ‘The Gonski Reforms’
For some, Gonski is best known for his work in the educational realm – amusingly, Gonski made it abundantly clear during the interview that he is not an authority on education.
“I wasn’t that full of myself that I thought I was an expert on education. I was a Chancellor of a university, and I had been the Chairman of an independent boy's school, and I’d been to school, like most people. That was the sum total of my involvement in education.”
Despite this, the then-Minister for Education, Julia Gillard, approached Gonski to commission a report on the sector, and the ways that education could be made more equitable.
“She didn’t want an education guru. She wanted a review done on funding.”
Whilst Gonski himself admits his limitations in providing insight on education, he recognised that he could provide a wealth of experience and knowledge to the report, given that the project was firmly entrenched within his scope of work.
“As soon as she explained that to me, I realised that that was what I do for a living... I understand money and money-adjacent things.”
David Gonski (left) with Suzanne Dvorak (right), after being appointed Chair of Levande
The recommendations that the reports laid forth were built on the foundation that every student deserves an opportunity to succeed, no matter their background.
“We identified that funding should be given on a needs-based basis. What we were pushing there, in the words of Julia Gillard, is that demography should not instigate destiny.”
The recommendations that Gonski made in the report continue to be enacted today.
Being a successful dealmaker
According to Gonski, the same ideas that are applicable to making one a good dealmaker are applicable to life more generally.
“The fundamentals of life are to appreciate people, and give all people a fair go.”
In dealmaking, you shouldn’t concede excessively, but you should look to be humble.
“It doesn’t mean you’ve got to be a pushover. It does mean you’ve got to give some respect. It does mean you’ve got to be reasonable.”
But negotiations are a two-way street, and the presumption should be that when you offer sensible, fair-minded terms, the other party returns the favour.
“Your reasonableness should come through, and you should expect it to come back the other way.”
Watch the full interview with David Gonski, conducted by Rob Langton, here.
