Love thy neighbour

Journalists should be professional fence sitters, gathering and presenting unbiased facts so audiences can make up their own mind about the world around them. But what happens when an ex-journo goes to the ‘dark side’ and joins a consultancy like the SAS Group? It might surprise clients to know that many remain ‘Switzerland’, and this most certainly contributes to the richness of our firm.

Looking across the entire SAS Group, it’s about 25% Red team, 25% Blue team and 50% publicly unaligned. 

Not surprisingly, the combined half who declare their colours operate largely in the government relations sphere, while the other half are in the communications, investor relations, stakeholder engagement, events and administration arenas.

The SAS Group is proudly – and practically – multipartisan because we all want to make Australia better. It’s not a trite slogan; we live it in everything we do, in and out of work. Whether it’s volunteering across sporting, school, social or not-for-profit organisations, participating in political conferences and events, ministering to the Anglican flock, sitting on boards, or just thoughtfully raising good kids, it’s always with our eye on the greater good of our nation.

What does this mean for our clients? 

A whole lot of opportunity. 

Our multipartisan team doesn’t operate in an echo chamber. We’re out and about in the community, at party meetings and events, and in Federal and State Parliaments. We participate, listen, ask questions and learn, and this means there’s always informed and mature discussion of ideas within our team. 

When we meet with clients, we bring this broad church of experience and knowledge to our advice and actions. The respect we have for one another, other people and their opinions, the political process, and the rule of law enables us to provide well-informed advice to clients, even if the truth is tough.

Our experience, track record and reputation open the doors of people in power. Like our clients, they require – and trust us – to be fair, honest, informed and disciplined. 

Together, we can do wonderful things. We can foster unity and collaboration; help inform stronger, better and longer-lasting policy; enhance cooperation and problem solving; reach a broader audience; help crack legislative gridlock; encourage innovation; mitigate risk; and increase credibility across the political spectrum.

It’s a big list, but we like to punch above our weight to help clients and governments build a better Australia.