Michael Easson

Michael Bernard Easson AM (born March 1955 in Sydney, Australia), is an Australian businessman.

On 8 June 1998 Easson was awarded Member of the Order of Australia (AM).[1] He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (FAICD) and of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (FRICS).

Along with Sydney businessmen Shane and Adam Geha, Easson formed EG Property, of which he is Executive Chairman. EG has two divisions; property advisory and funds management. The advisory division, EG Property Group, formed in 1999, advises large property owners about land use change. The funds division, EG Funds Management, formed in 2002, directly invests in real estate with a focus on land use change associated with nearby infrastructure change – such as rail. The funds management division has approximately $750 million under management with offices in Sydney, Perth and Melbourne.

Easson presently serves as Deputy Chair of the ACTEW Corporation, and as a director of ANZ Stadium [2]

In 2012 he was appointed by Australian Immigration Minister Chris Bowen to be Chair of the Ministerial Council on Business Skills Migration.[3]

Michael Easson has served on several top 50 Australian and other boards; his experience includes as a director NSW State Superannuation Board and predecessor boards (1986-1995), the State Rail Authority of NSW (1989-1993), NRMA Insurance (1993 to 1996), Macquarie-Goodman Industrial Fund (1994-2003), Barclay Mowlem Australia (1998-2000), InTech (1998-2003), Macquarie Infrastructure Group (1996 to 2007), Kaldor family company boards in apparel, chemicals and office works (1997 to 2004), Metro Transport Sydney (2002-2006), Sydney Roads Group (2006-2007), and the ING Group Real Estate Group in Australia (2004-2012).

He was the inaugural Chairman of the NSW Urban Taskforce, an urban planning policy advocate group in Australia, from 2000 to 2002.

Michael Easson was a foundation Member of the National Competition Council (1996 to 1999) and an Assistant Commissioner and Commissioner of several Productivity Reports, including the review of Work, Health and Safety in Australia (1994-1995). He served as Chairman of the Review of Commonwealth Payments to Statutory Authorities and Special Purpose Payment to the States from 1995 to 1996. According to then Finance Minister John Fahey in 1997, this resulted in one-off saving of $400 million to the Commonwealth Government.

He was Adjunct Professor of Management at the Australian Graduate School of Management from 1994 to 1998 and served as senior Vice President of UNICEF Australia from 1998 to 2002 and as a member of the Board of the Museum of Contemporary Arts (1999-2000) and as a Director of the Sydney Symphony (1995-1996).

Easson graduated with First Class Honours in Politics from the University of New South Wales in 1976 and completed management and finance programs at Harvard and Stanford Business School University Business Schools in 1981 and 1997 respectively. More recently he finished a Masters in Science in Sustainable Development (with Distinction) from Campion Hall, University of Oxford, and a PhD in history from the Australian Defence Force Academy at the University of NSW.

He was Secretary (i.e., head) of the Labor Council of New South Wales (now called Unions NSW) from 1989 to 1994. At the age of 34, he was elected as the youngest ever Secretary. He elected Vice President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, 1993 to 1994, and Senior Vice President of the Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch), 1993 to 1995. Whilst at the Labor Council he was Managing Director of Radio Station 2KY (1989 to 1994), and in 1989 co-founded both Asset Super (since 2012 part of CARE Super) & Chifley Financial Services.

After resigning from the Labor Council in 1994, Michael Easson pursued business, academic and other interests.

He is married to former federal politician Mary Easson (Member for Lowe, from 1993 to 1996). They have two adult daughters.

External links

References

  1. ↑ Who's Who in Australia, Edition 35, 1999.
  2. ↑ ANZ Directors Bios http://www.anzstadium.com.au/AboutUs/CorporateStructure/DirectorsBios.aspx
  3. ↑ New advisory council on skilled migration http://www.minister.immi.gov.au/media/cb/2012/cb188019.htm