Dr Ken Henry delivers tribute to Ian Little

March 4, 2008

An audience of more than 200 distinguished guests from state and federal governments, the business and university communities gathered on Tuesday, 4 March for the Second Annual Ian Little Memorial Lecture, delivered by the Secretary to the Treasury, Commonwealth of Australia, Dr Ken Henry AC.

Mr Ian Little graduated from Monash University with an honours degree in economics in 1977. His career commenced at the Reserve Bank with various appointments spanning a period of seven years, followed by five years with the ANZ Banking Group, where he rose to the position of Chief Manager, Retail Bank, in 1992.

As Deputy Secretary and then Secretary of the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance, he led the department through many changes and reforms under successive governments, until his untimely death in June 2006 at age 50.

In describing Mr Little's contribution to the formulation of public policy in Victoria, Dr Henry said: "Ian was not motivated by the adrenalin rush of the quick-fix. For him, problems worth worrying about had a strategic dimension. They demanded a long hard look, an evidence-based analytical crunch and their solutions demanded painstaking implementation."

Dr Henry spoke about the vast range of issues with which Ian was engaged, including implementing initiatives of the ten-year National Competition Policy developed in the mid 1990s, dealing with the fallout from the High Court's decision on business franchise fees and the difficult issues resulting from the collapse of Australia's largest general insurer, HIH.

In referring to other examples of his work Dr Henry said that Ian's work program would have been enough to consume most people and what Ian put into it would have exceeded the capacity of most.

“But it was not this work program that defined his contribution to Heads of Treasuries. The fact is, Ian was never comfortable letting issues come to him: he went looking for them. What defined him, then, was his public policy ambition: more than ambition - vision.”

Funded by an endowment from Victorian Government Departments and Agencies and matched by Monash University, the Lecture will be delivered annually by a distinguished scholar or leader in public policy or economic management.