Peter William Hendy

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Peter William Hendy (born 10 January 1962) is an Australian businessman, and Chief of Staff to Liberal Party leader Dr Brendan Nelson.[1] Prior to joining Dr Nelson's staff, Peter Hendy was Chief Executive of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.[2]

Peter Hendy is known as an influential power broker in business and political circles, and has a close relationship with the Liberal Party of Australia.

[edit] Biography

Peter Hendy was born in Brisbane, holds a Bachelor of Economics (First Class Honours) from the University of Queensland and undertook a scholarship in international economic relations at the Australian National University. He has published various papers and articles on public policy issues.

Hendy worked in public administration and policy development at Federal and State levels, including periods in the Commonwealth Treasury, New South Wales Cabinet Office and as Chief of Staff to the Minister for Defence, Workplace Relations and Education, Peter Reith. In 1996, Hendy helped draft the first round of industrial relations changes for the Howard government.[3] In 2001, he was implicated in the Children Overboard scandal.[3]

In June, 2002, Hendy became Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI).[4] During his tenure at the ACCI, Hendy was involved in a political advertising campaign against the Labor Party to promote the Howard government's WorkChoices industrial relations legislation. Hendy was a member on the committee organising the campaign.[5] In 2006 he was commissioned by the Treasurer of Australia to co-author the International Comparison of Australia's Taxes report, urging long term taxation reform in Australia.

In January, 2008, Hendy left the ACCI to take up a position as Chief of Staff to Liberal leader, Dr Brendan Nelson. He was one of three ACCI officials who joined Dr Nelson's staff at the time.[1]

Hendy is a board director of ACCI member organisation Standards Australia, the International Chamber of Commerce (Australia), the Australian Institute of International Affairs, the Australian Made Campaign Limited, the National Business Action Fund, a governor of the National Institute of Labour Studies, Chairman of the Joint Policy Committee of the Confederation of Asia-Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Australian representative on the Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC) of the OECD.

Peter Hendy was described in the Australian Financial Review's 2005 Inside Power magazine, which listed the most influential people in the Australian political system, as "the key player among the bosses". The Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd described him as "a Liberal Party operative."[3]

In his spare time, Peter Hendy is a keen collector of political biographies and is the Australian Capital Territory Divisional President of the Australian Institute of International Affairs.

He is married with two children and lives in Canberra.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Kerr, Christian. "More woe for Mr 9%: Liberal MPs moan about his staff", Crikey, 2008-02-20. Retrieved on 2008-03-31. 
  2. ^ About Standards Australia. Standards Australia (1998-04-10). Retrieved on 2008-03-31.
  3. ^ a b c Coorey, Phillip. "Rudd takes control to new highs", The Sydney Morning Herald, 2007-12-21. Retrieved on 2008-03-31. 
  4. ^ Resignation of ACCI Chief Executive. Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (20 December 2007). Retrieved on 2007-12-21.
  5. ^ Exposed: secret business plot to wreck Labor. The Sydney Morning Herald (2007-06-20). Retrieved on 2007-11-07.