It’s how business is done in Sydney: you find me a gig and I’ll find you a gig.

Just
look at Bob Carr. He gazed upon a brilliant Sydney Sunday and
decided to quit politics, then jumped into the Macquarie Millionaire
Factory at a reported half a million dollars a year as consultant. This
after Macquarie managed to do a fair bit of business with the Labor
Government headed by Mr Carr.

Or David Gonski. The former
director of John Fairfax this week announced that his friend Fred
Hilmer, the departing Fairfax CEO, has been appointed Vice Chancellor
of the University of NSW, where Gonski is the Chancellor.

Hilmer will take a major salary sacrifice for the job, down to
$750,000 a year, only half the $1.5 million he got for running Fairfax
in 2005. But the board of Fairfax (less Gonski) gave Fred a $4.5
million “golden goodbye” just before he left, so he should be able to
scrape by.

All nice and cosy in the small world of Sydney business.