Sarah-Jane Tasker: Why Mark McGowan will have no problem landing lucrative corporate jobs

The end of Mark McGowan’s political career won’t spell the end of this top talent — it will mark the beginning of a very lucrative corporate career.

As the Premier announced he was headed for the exit Perth’s top companies were already sorting their pitch for his expertise.

To say McGowan would be highly regarded by the big end of town is an understatement.

He might have been a Labor Premier but he certainly wasn’t your typical old-school political leftie battling with big business.

He backed in development and was a loud cheerleader for the resources sector — as he understood what kept his economy booming.

McGowan described the role of political leadership as “relentless” but at 55 years of age he still has plenty left to give and he made it clear that “I don’t want to stop work”.

He only needs to look to his former Treasurer Ben Wyatt for what that “work” could look like.

At a recent event I saw the two talking and noted to a colleague the stark difference between the relaxed-looking Wyatt and McGowan, who looked like he could do with a good night’s sleep. I remarked: “I bet Wyatt is telling him how great it is on the outside”.

Wyatt is on the boards of Rio Tinto, Woodside and APM, pocketing over $600,000 for those gigs.

McGowan isn’t going to be short of coin given he’ll get a $274,867 annual pension but he can earn a lot more sitting on a few boards.

A high-level corporate gig isn’t without challenges but you’re not answerable to the entire State 24/7.

Mining billionaire Chris Ellison said he was confident McGowan would “continue to make a big contribution outside of the political arena”.

No doubt he’ll be in the sights of Ellison and his major rivals.

But for now McGowan will take a well-earned rest and until he resurfaces his future role will be the hot topic in Perth’s business circles — get ready for the speculation.