I had the great pleasure of attending the Western Australian state convention (and presenting a paper) this month. The program was excellent, the venue superb (Bunker Bay in the far south), and the gala-costumed dinner a lot of fun. Pirates, cavaliers, lobsters and penguins abounded.

During the convention, a very well deserved award was made to Martin Keating for his wonderful support of The Tax Institute over a very long time. Martin is unique in many ways, but I want in particular to focus on him as a role model for our Australian Taxation Office members.

Highly engaged, seriously involved, providing respected and intelligent explanations of the ATO's position and, at the same time, showing due regard for the opinions of other members of our profession. Martin retires from the ATO in a month or so and we wish him all the very best.

He has said he will give up tax entirely, but I don’t believe him and look forward to seeing him at the National Convention in Perth next March.

Ken Schurgott

Ken Schurgott is President of the National Council at The Tax Institute.

The Tax Institute is Australia’s leading professional association in tax. Its 13,000 members include tax agents, accountants and lawyers as well as tax practitioners in corporations, government and academia.