Su McCluskey found she could effectively combine theory with practice during her earlier career in tax and policy and has applied those skills to various diverse roles.
McCluskey worked on the GST for government when it was first introduced in Australia. Since she was living on a farm at the time, she developed expertise in primary production taxation, which led to her advocacy work, first for the National Farmers’ Federation and then for the Business Council of Australia.
As an advocate for reducing the compliance burden on businesses, McCluskey was asked to return to the government to work on regulation reform. She then returned to the private sector to run the Council of Rural Research and Development Corporations and serve as CEO of the Regional Australia Institute, a policy think tank for regional Australia.
At the same time, McCluskey was also very fortunate to be asked to participate in several independent policy reviews, including those on competition policy, innovation and research, governance, telecommunications, and digital transformation. All of these extended the lenses through which she viewed different issues and honed her ability to be strategic and outcomes-focused.
A decade ago, McCluskey retired from full-time executive roles and became a non-executive director in agriculture, health, wealth and wellbeing, young people, and renewable energy.
She took up the role of Special Representative for Australian Agriculture over three years ago, a unique role as an industry representative in domestic and global markets that provides a bridge between government and industry.
McCluskey said she loved advocating for Australian agriculture in global markets, sharing what the country had been doing regarding sustainability, trade and market access, and agritech, and learning what other markets and economies were doing to better inform policies and practices back home.
“The ongoing challenges of climate and conflict just mean that there is a need to constantly look for different solutions to respond to the rapidly changing environment, and this is what I find exciting.”
Her advice to others was to have the self-confidence to succeed and do a good job.
“You don’t have to have all the knowledge and skills, but an ability to learn quickly. Too often, we don’t put our hand up because we think about why we can’t do a role instead of why we can. No matter how good you think you are at something, there is always more you can learn, a different way of doing things, or a different way of articulating something,” added McCluskey.
“By listening to others, you will better understand what they are looking for, wanting, or needing, and you can respond accordingly. That classic adage that you have two ears and one mouth for a reason, so use them in that proportion applies.”
