Early Life and Education

Michael Glenthorne Porter attended Scotch College, South Australia, was an undergraduate economics student and then tutor at Adelaide University, 1961-64 and a PhD student at Stanford University (USA) 1965-68 on full scholarship.

As an undergraduate, he was Treasurer of the Student's Representative Council 1962-63, founding Treasurer of the ALP Club 1963 which replaced the Labour Club. He was appointed to the three person economics Committee of national Young Labor during the reform-oriented Dunstan and Whitlam period. He was a founding organiser of what became the Adelaide branch of the Australian Overseas Student Travel Service, and its 60 selected students 3-month inaugural visit to India in 1962-63. The pioneer group travelled by 3rd class rail and hitching on trucks across village India. There were family homestays in major capitals. Michael was one of 10 students invited to meet with Prime Minister Nehru in the Lok Sabha of the Indian Parliament. He was an Adelaide delegate to the annual National Union Australian University Students meetings.

Initial post graduate activity

After finishing his PhD course work at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California in 1968, he was an assistant professor at Simon Fraser Universities (Canada) 1968-70 and visiting research scholar at the University of Essex, UK on a Canada Council Fellowship in 1969-70, while finishing the thesis component of the Stanford PhD. His PhD research thesis was on exchange rate dynamics, both short and long run, as reflected in the relative intertemporal term structure of national government bond interest rates. In the spirit of Irving Fisher It was a new way of addressing the implications of high capital mobility on monetary autonomy and inflation and economic management at the national level. The Canadian currency float in the 1950s was a useful case study; but the subsequent float of the German Deutsche Mark (DM) in 1971 became his policy focus when he later moved to the Research and policy Department of the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC 1970-72. He would later take similar jobs on leave from the IMF, with The Reserve Bank of Australia in 1972-3 and the department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (Priorities Review Staff) 1973-75.

Career

1970-73 - International Monetary Fund and Central Banking - Australia and Germany

His first post-academic job after completing PhD course work at Stanford University and two years in universities in Canada and the UK, was with the International Monetary Fund (Research Department, Wash. DC, 1970). In the IMF Research Department, he played a lead role in modelling the factors and reasons why Germany, for example, needed to and eventually did float the DM currency in March 1973. This was a pioneering move in the IMF "Bretton Woods" context, given the international inflation emerging from the US with its "unfinanced" Vietnam war. The shackles of politically fixed exchange rates and direct trade and capital controls post the Bretton Woods agreements underpinning the IMF were being challenged, now including within the IMF.

Michael's main work within the IMF and some central banks, was much inspired by Stanford's Ronald McKinnon's and Nobel Laureate Robert Mundell for theories of internal and external balance under fixed versus floating exchange rate. Given high international capital mobility between the German Deutsche Mark (DM) and other foreign currencies, floating with consistent fiscal policies, became understood as a probable but not yet quantified key means to restore control of the money supply and resist importing inflation. This monetary pressure came from US and global capital markets in the context of the LBJ deficit-funded Vietnam War.

The contribution of Michael's internal arguments and then documents and published IMF Staff Paper's model, was to successfully quantify behavioural links to IMF satisfaction, à la McKinnon and Mundell, between attempts at independent monetary policy and induced offsetting capital movements. These models and their econometric estimation accurately predict and predicted net international capital movements in relation to Germany and showed that with fixed exchange rates independent anti-inflationary policy would not work at all. There would be 100% offset to monetary restriction through induced net international capital inflows.

Post the consequences of early 1920s hyperinflation, Germany was not in 1970 a country to tolerate domestic or imported inflation and so had to float, Porter argued within the IMF and at conferences, against powerful official and academic opposition . The Deutsche Bundesbank eventually agreed in public, not least at a 1972 international monetary conference in Konstanz at which Michael presented.

Following a challenge from a leading American monetary economist, Karl Brunner, the session featured a phone call from the Governor of the Fed to the President of the Deutsche Bundesbank on the point that Germany had to float the DM in order to retain independent control of the German base money supply , with both central bankers confirming their agreement with the Kouri-Porter paper.. And there were many countries in Germany's situation in the early 1970s - even Australia - and floating currencies followed over the next decade or so.

In 1972 Michael published at the IMF and later on 1974 with Pentti Kouri (also of the IMF and later MIT, Stanford, Yale and controversially, Finland) the first successful predictive general equilibrium portfolio econometric model of how international capital movements offset the workings of attempts at independent monetary policy applied to four differing economies - Germany, Italy, Canada and Australia. The extent of offset was shown to vary significantly across these different currency areas, creating a reason to float within a market-based foreign exchange system. Versions of these papers were presented at many conferences in Europe, N America and Australia and published in IMF Staff Papers 1971 and The Journal of Political Economy, March 1972 and later applied in Australia and many other economies.

Reserve Bank of Australia

After implementation of the German financial reforms Michael was invited to be a Senior Adviser at The Reserve Bank of Australia, International Department, 1972-73, as Australia battled the same global imported inflation given official exchange rate rigidity that weakened independent monetary policy in open economies. He prepared RBA papers for the international Committee of 20 meetings on related monetary and capital market reform.

1973-75 Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet

Extending leave from the IMF, post a pneumonectomy in Washington DC. and related health issues, and a period at the RBA, the election of the Whitlam Labor Government in Dec 1972, created a role for Michael as a founding senior economic adviser with The Priorities Review Staff (PRS) of the new Prime Minister of Australia. In 1973-5. Austin Holmes, former Chief Economist of the RBA was made founding Director of the PRS, and Michael became Senior Adviser from the start.

A key part of the PRS assignment, with a staff rising to 20, was development of economic and social reform policy options, commentary on most economically important Cabinet submissions by all Ministers and preparation of comment on the long term forward estimates of potential expenditure and revenue and associated policies. This involved advising Ministers via the PM as to consequences of alternative economic and financing strategies, in the context of the Labor Government having been out of office for 23 years.

Despite the Whitlam government's fiscal foibles and failures, due in part to an impatient parliamentary "back bench", the social reforms were substantial, e.g. in health, welfare and education, and beneficial economic trade and financial reform pressures set in. Australia rose to the top of league growth tables and international economic performance in the decades ahead. Whereas blue collar workers real incomes in the USA have been stagnant over three most recent decades their Australian counterparts have doubled their real incomes within the same three decades, and in a fairly equitable and sustainable society.

There was however resulting pressure after 23 years out, for what became an excessive and inflationary pace of new expenditures to meet pent up and reformist social and political demands in the elected base. Measures agreed by the reforming Whitlam government included dramatic tariff cuts and anti-protectionist regulatory changes, and what became new comprehensive universal Medicare and insurance reforms integrated with tax reforms. Some reforms were frequently contested with Treasury including financial liberalisation supported by the Reserve Bank (eg floating), but which was eventually implemented by the Hawke-Keating government 1983.

1975 -1989, The Australian National University and Monash University

In 1975, as the Whitlam Government battled the consequences of failure to implement fiscal rectitude, Michael accepted a part time senior lectureship at the ANU, which briefly became full time in 1976. However, Monash University concurrently offered Michael a tenured chair which he accepted later in 1975 and moved to Monash in mid 1976.

His Monash days as a teaching professor were cut short with acceptance of the Irving Fisher Chair, Yale University in 1978-79 followed by a brief Visiting Professorship at "The Fed", in the International Department of the Federal Reserve System in Washington DC. The Fed is the USA Central Bank, and the banker to most of the world's central banks' foreign currency reserves.

1976 - Financial Liberalisation, Australia and Globally

As a lead-in to what became the 1983 "Hawke-Keating" financial reforms, in 1976 Michael within Monash University had organised a three-day invited conference at a State Bank of Victoria retreat, on the need for reform of the Australian Financial System. Participants included the leading figures in Treasury, the Reserve Bank, academia, business and the international finance and banking sector. The conference and proceedings were presented in M. G. Porter, Editor, The Australian Monetary System in the 1970's, Monash University, 1978, published by the Economic Society of Australia and NZ as a supplementary issue of the Economic Record, 1978.

What followed was a 1979 Howard government Commonwealth Committee of Inquiry into the Australian Financial System, chaired by Keith Campbell, and Michael Porter was appointed consultant No 1. The "Campbell Report" in September 1981, addressed the issues covered and recommended at his earlier Monash Conference and in the consultant reports, advocating a clean German style float with associated base monetary targeting and general financial market liberalisation. (i.e. not the then current trade-weighted midnight daily pegging of the $A by the RBA, nicknamed the "Floating Pig")

The goal was disciplined control of the monetary base and its fiscal and external dimensions with a clean float of the $A. (Whitlam in government in 1974 agreed to a PRS paper at a secret Sunday single purpose meeting at The Lodge with a paper prepared by Michael Porter and Trade advisor Brian Brogan. But Treasury blocked the move in 1974 but approved the Floating Pig that year. The clean float and "full Campbell" would eventually be achieved by a Labor Government in 1983 under Treasurer Keating and PM Bob Hawke, who was coached when trade union ACTU Advocate by Michael Porter's honours thesis supervisor at the University of Adelaide.

1978-79 Irving Fisher Professor - Yale University

In 1978-79 Michael took leave of previous appointments to accept a offer from Nobel Laureate Professor James Tobin of the Irving Fisher Professorship at Yale University.

1979 -The Federal Reserve Board Washington D.C . - International Department

The Fed's International Department is charged with advising the US government and the Federal Reserve Board on all international economic issues including monetary and external financial flows and adjustments. It is the USA's central bank, but also in effect the central bank to the world's multiple central banks, holding their US $ deposits, and often their gold at Fort Knox.

In mid-1979 Michael was a Visiting Professor at the US "Fed" (Federal Board of Governors), International Department, Washington D.C. While at the Fed he also presented at a Treasury seminar the Kouri-Porter capital movements model blended with an exchange rate paper from his Stanford PhD thesis. As an application, the thesis model was used to predict on current policies in both countries the UK pound-US$ exchange rate for the Orwellian year 1984 - Parity! The higher term structure of UK c.f. US interest rates from 1979 in both countries suggested this pre-Thatcher Britain currency would depreciate to 1 US$. The following unpopular dramatic fiscal and monetary restraint in the UK would invalidate the prediction - since a major Thatcher reversal of policy in the UK had the desired effects.

Michael also presented at a range of conferences at this time in Europe, the US and Australia, all addressing the issue of monetary, capital market and exchange rate policy reform, where the Kouri-Porter papers and JPE model of capital movements were actively debated in the context of the emerging but uneven acceptability of floating exchange rates (see below).

1980 -1990 - A Monash University think tank - The Centre of Policy Studies

In late 1979, when back from Washington, Yale and earlier Stanford to Melbourne, Michael dejected by the Australian university policy and management scene, was influenced by the potential of US and UK think tanks and IT teams he had witnessed changing the quality of governance and technology, often for the better. What was clear was that unlike political parties they could recruit quality people from all universities, businesses and governments, focused on issues of the day.

Finance for think tanks was difficult up front - but in the Australian case more feasible on a project-based from private and public sources and hopefully with independence contingent on the integrity of the individuals - ideally top academics and experienced players. They were usually goal driven and placed a premium of efficiency and effectiveness in areas of major concern. They also needed in most cases to be self-financing based on performance, which meant very different additional skills were needed.

As discussed below, while at Yale he agreed to return to Monash but with a new role; avoiding Chairmanship and regular professor duties; and a Dean supported mandate to found a new and hopefully self-funding Centre of Policy Studies within the Faculty of Economics and Politics. with a short-period underwriting of his tenured salary and a secretary.

On return from Yale in 1979, Michael was then appointed Founding Director, of an independent Centre of Policy Studies (CoPS) within Monash University, Faculty of Economics and Politics. CoPS quickly became successfully and independently funded through substantial research grants from the public and private sectors, roughly 50:50.

At CoPS in the 1980s Michael recruited outstanding young and experienced persons, mainly reform-minded economists from the top US universities, the UK, New Zealand Treasury, the financial press and worldwide. As examples, initial employment of non-academics included a former Chief Economist from Shell, Doug Hocking, SA Minister of Energy and also an ex Minister of Education from South Australia, ex Cambridge economics, Hugh Hudson plus the retiring controversial Secretary of the Treasury, who was also an ex-IMF Executive Director who had been on the side against floating currencies at the IMF and in Australian Treasury.

Following these appointments CoPS advanced pioneering work on financial reforms, energy reform including electricity and water trading, tax reform, unbundling and privatization. Michael was able to greatly expand activity after he was awarded a Commonwealth Government Research Centre of Excellence Award - $2.6 mill over 6 years from 1982 ($20-$30 million today), the only such award in economics after 364 proposals from all universities in Australia for all manner of proposed centres, was reduced to 10 winners. This led to many outstanding CoPS visitors including four Nobel Laureates and the current Google chief economist.

The main activities of the expanding CoPS team were developing detailed economic policy research documents and associated reform implementation agendas. This involved publishing over 100 working papers, books and reprints, and running public seminars often in leading city hotels to attract Ministers, the external private and public sector thought leaders and community groups, always on key policy issues in the public and private sectors. The work had in fact begun with the energy sector, given the oil crises, but extended again into financial liberalisation, economic reform, state enterprise and regulatory reform, and the conditions for beneficial and competitive private sector participation in infrastructure in Australia and then Asia.

1989: The Proposed Tasman University Joint Venture - Melbourne and Auckland and Global Scholars and Partners

Back in 1989 Michael Porter and the Tasman team plus others, proposed forming a Tasman University, an exploration in a joint venture set in Melbourne and Auckland, in the fast growing Asian market, with strong US academic linkages and financial support in Australia New Zealand and the US.

The concept arose out of frustration with the then and current university system in both countries, and at Prime Minister level. There was a series of meetings with academics and potential partners/potential sponsors and joint venturers, globally and locally. The resulting structure was legally registered in Auckland, NZ, but not in Victoria owing to the word "university" being privileged at State level in Australia. Despite the quality of universities being dreadfully downgraded seemingly by mergers of anything with classrooms

Any hope of gaining legislative support was quickly blocked from Victorian and Australian registration by the Commonwealth Minister of Education John Dawkins, and indirectly by the Victorian Labor Government. The proposal was enthusiastically supported by top universities and students alike - globally. All were aware of the decline and pending or actual forced mergers of all sorts of institutions badged universities in Australia led by John Dawkins, the Minister. Financed by discriminating fees against foreign students and with problems hidden or delayed by a loan scheme for local students.

Following Michael Porter's visits to 20 international scholars in US and UK, some with Nobel Prizes in economics, who were keen for joint appointments on a start-up university JV model in the highest ranked pair of liveable cities in the world. Southern hemisphere climate and the high growth potential Asian market made it very clear demand and quality would be there. Only one outstanding scholar in 20 Michael approached in the US was not keen - he was about to head a top Ivy league university! Asian countries and notably top students from China and India were in abundance and complaining about quality - but wanted visas as much as an education.

The Porter mission attracted significant international and domestic business interest. Broadly based community leaders and financiers also indicated enthusiastic support and resources in many dimensions, awaiting that all-important Victorian registration authority. That Tasman "testing of the waters" revealed the current state dominated "vanilla" university structure was mis-financed in part by government run and foreign student-taxed finance plus politically set fees and loan arrangements was a real attractor to an alternative model. Australia's globally ranked successful economic reforms in the 1980s were also a source of interest and thus an attraction to foreign scholars and educational investors

In Tasman Melbourne initial and committed financial and personal support was from Baillieu Myer AC, Richard Pratt, Rupert Murdoch AC and Hugh Morgan AC, to name a few. In New Zealand the Business Roundtable was 100% in support from the Chairman Sir Ronald Trotter to business and community leader Alan Gibbs, Finance Minister Sir Roger Douglas and PM David Lange - who said to Michael that New Zealand "needed the new model more than even Australia". There was clearly head of steam for an Australian start-up university, most likely for a joint venture university with outstanding US universities that were interested on a sister relationship. Silicon Valley billionaires were looming in the direction of supporting Australia and private independent universities.

1990 -1998: Tasman Institute, Tasman Asia Pacific

After CoPS publishing in academic journals, conferences and forming academic think tanks in the 1970-80s, typically on international economic integration, social reform and financial risks, Michael left the public sector and Monash University and focused from the early 1990s on implementation and support for economic reform, investment banking, advisory work, significantly with seven international governments. Michael's base was now the privately private sector financed Tasman Institute and Tasman Asia Pacific.

However there continued to be significant public sector project support in areas like energy, tax, environment, health and general policy. Tasman Asia Pacific would continue until 2010. In 1998-2002 Michael also joined Macquarie Bank (now the world's leading infrastructure bank) ibn Sydney as a full time Division Director in the infrastructure and the Asia-Pacific connected divisions while retaining control and visiting Tasman a day a week. Tasman had outside directors for varying periods. Macquarie Bank by 1998 was a 25% shareholder in Tasman Asia Pacific PL with two Macquarie Bank leaders, Nicholas Moore and Michael Carapiet as Directors. The other Tasman directors included Baillieu Myer, AC, (Chair), Sir Roger Douglas (Deputy Chair), Lachlan Murdoch and, once the Tasman University proposal was active, New Zealanders Sir Ronald Trotter, Alan Gibbs, Roger Kerr and John Fernyhough were key contributors.

The various Tasman developments in the 1989 had followed an end to six years of competitively earned Commonwealth Government research Centre funding for CoPS. At Baillieu Myers and Sir Roger Douglas suggestion, there was a resulting attempt in 1989-90 for Michael to form and fund a not-for-profit Tasman University (see below), subsequently politically blocked. After that political frustration, Michael and some former CoPS colleagues left Monash University and raised funds from the private sector to form The Tasman Institute in early 1990 and an associated economic consultancy which became Tasman Asia Pacific (later Tasman Economics and ACIL Tasman under separate but jount direction from Michael).

The published Australian independent reform agendas that emerged in 1990-98 from the new Tasman Institute and the consultancies embraced earlier CoPS work included Reform of State-Owned Enterprises in Victoria, Energy Pricing Issues in Victoria, National Priorities Project, (two volumes, Spending and Taxing I, Spending and Taxing II), Markets and Environment, New Strategies for Transport in Victoria. These were some of the key documents assembled for Project Victoria, preceding the 1992 Victorian election. This Project was jointly organised from 1990 with the Institute of Public Affairs. These documents and associated public conferences and meetings were widely publicised in the media (ABC, The Australian and the Australian Financial Review) and were influential in many policy forums in Australia and overseas in the 1980s.

The state enterprise reform work, financial reform advice and other proposed infrastructure innovation while originally focused on Victoria, NZ and Australia, became a focus much in demand later in the 1990s in many parts of Asia, with funded projects won from the World Bank, The Asian Development Bank, ASEAN and AusAID. Michael had become a frequent adviser to NZ Reserve Bank and New Zealand Treasury and particularly Finance Minister Sir Roger Douglas, who on retirement from the New Zealand Cabinet became Deputy Chairman of Tasman Institute and Tasman Asia Pacific under Michael as Executive Director.

Building on the new 1990s pro-reform climate regarding infrastructure investment, and well-structured regulatory reforms and public-private partnerships, there was a climate for similar reforms overseas, and Tasman Asia Pacific won work often in partnerships as in Vietnam (below). Competitive funding received became substantial relative to university funding.

1998-2002: Division Director, Macquarie Bank, Infrastructure and Asia

Michael became was appointed Division Director of Macquarie Bank, Infrastructure Division, from 1998-2002 at the head office in Sydney. Macquarie Bank became a 25% shareholder in Tasman Asia Pacific. And Michael worked on a range of infrastructure related projects - power, water, transport and general infrastructure in Australia, South Korea, India, Singapore, UK and Canada and across a range of ASEAN countries. He continued to be Executive Director of Tasman Asia Pacific and others took major executive authority and joint ventures were formed with other consultancies.

2002-08 Indonesia

Indonesian infrastructure

From 2002 Michael for Tasman Asia Pacific led a range of Asian Development Bank, World Bank and ASEAN infrastructure projects based from World Bank and Tasman shared offices in Jakarta, but in sectors stretching from water, electricity to decentralisation strategies including West Timor, and on cross regional issues varying from Toll Roads with Jasa Maga, to Water with Pam Jaya, and Electricity with PLN, the central generating utility. Michael also met on numerous occasions in Bandung at the consulting firm and economic think tank (residence) of the His Excellency Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY), then senior Coordinating Minister, for Political and Security Affairs in the Government of Indonesia Minister for Aceh and Security. SBY, the future President of Indonesia, was completing a PhD in economics and wanted to launch a "second wave" in economic reform in Indonesia). Tasman and SBY's think tank had been exchanging infrastructure, trade policy and exchange rate issues.

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono - Tasman Asia Pacific hosts SBY with Asia Link at what became the unofficial launch of an economist Presidential candidate

In August 2003 Michael and Tasman Asia Pacific were invited by the office of SBY, then visiting Blair House and the White House in Washington DC, to host two meetings in Australia, one became an open meeting at The Sydney Myer Centre, Melbourne University, the other a private Asia Society discussion hosted by Tasman in a Melbourne law firm. This was the first international launch of SBY as a candidate for President, in what was the first open democratic Indonesian Presidential election. The title was "A Second Wave of Economic Reform for Indonesia". The private dinner presentation by SBY to the Asia Society was on Indonesian problematic governance and leadership in recent decades and current economic challenges.

Consultant to the Indonesia Government Cabinet Committee on Policy for the Acceleration of Infrastructure Investment

After SBY was elected President, 2004 Michael was appointed Consultant Adviser to the Indonesia Government Cabinet Committee on Policy for the Acceleration of Infrastructure Investment (KKPPI). He also was invited to assist the Coordinating Ministry of Economic Affairs in Jakarta and key Ministers and staff of KKPPI in relation to the 2005 Indonesian Infrastructure Summit, assisting with consistency and content of key speeches and documents issued. He drafted speeches from the key Ministers at this Presidential Summit and was an active facilitator for the SBY government at the two-day event. This leadership role was funded by the TAMF project of AusAID.

A separate major project in 2008 was jointly with CRISIL Infrastructure Advisory Group (the Indian subsidiary of Standard and Poor's, USA) to form an Indonesian "Infrastructure Investment Financing Facility", as per Indonesian Presidential Regulation 66 and supported by the Ministry of Finance. This project was under the auspices of the International Finance Corporation, The World Bank, The Asian Development Bank and other public sector donors, and financed by AusAID.

Michael also had a lead role in a 3-year Asian Development Bank project in Indonesia "Infrastructure Reform Sector Development Program" (IRSDP) aimed at mobilizing private and public sector funding for infrastructure, financed under a project grant attached to Loan 2264-INO. His role was to form an Infrastructure Policy Think Tank as part of the team to focus on significant, headline policy issues and infrastructure development initiatives. Dr Porter also advised on coordinating investment in the main infrastructure sectors, linking the important financing and investment issues across toll road development, ports, airports, and regional development issues.

2004 China Asia Pacific Infrastructure Forum

Michael was founder and Chairman of the Asia Pacific Infrastructure Forum (APIF) formed in 2004 starting with a high-level three-day forum on infrastructure issues in Melbourne, Dec 2004, with sponsorship from the Australian, Victorian governments and the World Bank (PPIAF). This forum held in the Great Hall of the National Gallery of Victoria brought together key private and public sector leaders in infrastructure reform, regulation and financing from Asia and the Pacific. Follow-up Infrastructure Forums in China were held in Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai, 2005-6 jointly with the China Development Bank, and with support for the Australian and Victorian governments in June/July 2006.

In 2004-5 Michael worked with Dr Hardiv Situmeang, PLN, Indonesia, for ASEAN on Facilitating Increased Interconnection and Power Trading in Electricity in ASEAN. This involved working with electricity utilities in all ten countries of ASEAN, and has led to proposals currently in the form of a MOU being presented to HAPUA (Heads of Power Utilities of ASEAN).

2004-05: Facilitating Increased Interconnection and Power Trading in Electricity in ASEAN.

In 2004-5 Michael worked with Dr Hardiv Situmeang, Director, PLN, Indonesia, for ASEAN on Facilitating Increased Interconnection and Power Trading in Electricity in ASEAN. This involved working with electricity utilities in all ten countries of ASEAN, and led to proposals in the form of a MOU being presented to HAPUA (Heads of Power Utilities of ASEAN). One bottleneck was the need for unanimity within ASEAN and obtaining the agreement of Myanmar.

This problem was seemingly overcome by Michael eventually meeting with the CEO of Myanmar electricity in Yangon, who had completed his PhD in electrical engineering at Monash University - and coincidentally was familiar with Monash CoPS work on electricity reform in Victoria. However, the hope of building and extending an electricity grid and developing feeder hydro power in Myanmar proved a step too far, and while financing issues were to be negotiating support from Brunei, diversifying from oil, the coordination functions, the complexities of requiring unanimous voting in ASEAN proved beyond practicality.

2006-07 Pacific Infrastructure Services - Asian Development Bank

A substantial Tasman Asia Pacific project of Dr Porter's, was leading an advisory exercise on public-private partnerships and financing infrastructure, "Technical Assistance for Improving Delivery of Infrastructure Services in the Pacific", 2006-7. This TA was part of a joint Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank (WB) and Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) initiative to systematically address infrastructure issues in the infrastructure-poor Pacific region. The project identified the requisites for building effective partnerships with the private and public sectors in meeting the regions infrastructure needs, including financing, institutional development and managing required structural changes.

In Indonesia over last decade Michael has led infrastructure projects under the auspices of the Government of Indonesia including Toll Roads Reform (World Bank and Jasa Marga), Fiscal Decentralization (with ADB), under the Director General for Central and Regional Finance, Ministry of Finance, Water Sector Reform and privatization (World Bank and Pam Jaya), Restructure of Power Purchasing Agreements of PLN, with ADB, and a range of other related reform exercises.

The toll roads TA, within PU, helped prepared the way for regulatory reform and a restructure of Jasa Marga, and was a pre-cursor to the resulting formation of BPJT and the IPO of Jasa Marga. The team also developed proposals for packaging and financing toll-roads (old with new) in a competitively tendered manner capable of being financed by resulting development of adjacent infrastructure (ports, airports, real estate on docks) etc. While actions in these areas have lagged and differ in many ways from recommended strategies, they formed instructive experience on which to build.

In earlier years 1992-5 Michael had worked with Transurban on tolling strategies for the CityLink electronic toll project in Melbourne, which packaged old with new roads, and interlinked with the airport, seaport, rail and other roads systems. The most recent networking event being the Asia Pacific Infrastructure Forum held in Melbourne in Dec 2004 and follow up meetings in Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin in June 2005.

Toll Roads, water infrastructure and power purchasing agreements

In Indonesia over the 1990s Michael led infrastructure projects under the auspices of the Government of Indonesia including Toll Roads Reform (World Bank and Jasa Marga), Fiscal Decentralization (with ADB), under the Director General for Central and Regional Finance, Ministry of Finance, Water Sector Reform and privatization (World Bank and Pam Jaya), Restructure of Power Purchasing Agreements of PLN, with ADB, and a range of other related reform exercises.

The toll roads project helped prepared the way for regulatory reform and a restructure of the toll road utility Jasa Marga, and was a pre-cursor to the resulting formation of BPJT and the IPO of Jasa Marga. The team also developed proposals for packaging and financing toll-roads (old with new as in Victoria) in a competitively tendered manner capable of being financed by resulting development of adjacent infrastructure (ports, airports, real estate on docks, etc). While actions in these areas have lagged and differ in many ways from recommended strategies, they formed instructive experience on which to build.

In earlier years 1992-5 Michael had worked with Transurban PL on tolling strategies for the CityLink electronic toll project in Melbourne, which packaged old with new roads, and interlinked with the airport, seaport, rail, bus and other roads systems. A networking event was organised under the Tasman created the Asia Pacific Infrastructure Forum held in Melbourne in Dec 2004 with discussions and comparative follow up meetings in Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin in June 2005

2008-2011: Committee for Economic Development of Australia - National Research and Policy Director

Post Tasman and Macquarie Bank, Michael was National Research and Policy Director with the Committee for Economic Development of Australia, with a focus including telecommunications and broadband, NBN, utilities reform, general economic management and taxation

Areas of publication included:

• The Australian Water Project, jointly between CEDA Research and Policy, Prof. John Langford, Uniwater (Melbourne and Monash Universities) and Prof John Briscoe, Harvard University.
• A Greater Australia - Population Policy and Frameworks (Profs Graeme Hugo and Jonathan Pincus, Editors)
• Energy and Emissions Taxing Policies - Michael Porter (Editor) Growth 61: A Taxing Debate - Climate policy beyond Copenhagen, 2007, Committee for Economic Development of Australia, Growth Series. National Broadband Network
• Broadband and the NBN - Growth 60: M.G. Porter, Australia's Broadband Future - Four doors to greater competition: a CEDA Perspective on Digital Competition, Committee for Economic Development of Australia, Growth Series
• M. G. Porter, Submission to Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, 21 June 2012, "NBN Co Limited Authorisations - Summary Determination
• Australian Financial Review "Op Ed" Pieces, 2010-14
• "Digital Dream or Snipped Dog", 22June, 2010
• "Telecommunications euthanasia for $43 billion", 28 July, 2010
• "Conroy's milking hertz too much", 4 January, 2012
• "Broadband, Politics and Competition", 31 May, 2012
• "Dump NBN model and let telco competition rip", 20 June, 2014

2011-2016 - Research Professor, Deakin University, Geelong

Michael was appointed by Vice Chancellor Jane den Hollander as a full Research Professor initially at the Alfred Deakin Research Institute (ADRI) on the Geelong waterfront.

Michael Porter won a major four-year Desalination research project for ADRI in September 2012 with funding of $1.1m, relating to coastal cities, 50% cash and the balance in in-kind technical assistance (AECOM Australia) , through a competitive grant from the Commonwealth Centre of Excellence in Desalination at Murdoch University in Western Australia. The project and its many publications in the next few years addressed the scope, costs and options for water desalination in Australia, leading to a dozen publications jointly with Prof Rodney Stewart and Dr Oz Sahin, of Griffiths University and the University of Queensland.

The project was funded from the Australian Government's "Water for the Future" initiative through the National Centre of Excellence in Desalination Australia. The in-kind support from AECOM brought global technology expertise and in kind support to the $1.1m project.

Within Deakin University Michael held the following professorial positions:

June 2011-13, Research Professor of Public Policy, Alfred Deakin Research Institute; 2013, Centre for Regional and Rural Futures, 2013-14, Centre for Economics and Financial Econometrics, Faculty of Business and Law, Deakin University, 2014; 2015-17, Research Professor and Honorary Research Professor, Centre for Regional and Rural Futures.

Previous Employers

• The University of Adelaide
• The International Monetary Fund
• Stanford University
• US Federal Reserve Board
• Reserve Bank of Australia
• Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Australia
• Australian National University
• Monash University
• Yale University
• Tasman Institute
• Tasman Asia Pacific
• Macquarie Bank
• The Infrastructure Forum (Founder and Chairman)
• Committee for Economic Development of Australia (National Director, Research and Policy)
• Deakin University, Deakin Institute, Department of Economics, Centre for Regional and Rural Futures

Indicative Selected Infrastructure and Privatisation Related Projects

Consultant, NSW Treasury, Corporatisation Hunter Water Board, 1990-92 Victorian Treasury, 1992-93.

Advisory and consultancy on water institutions and water policy, World Bank, Asian Development Bank and AusAID projects on water governance, restructure, privatisation and investment, Philippines, Andhra Pradesh, India, Jakarta and Indonesia, Bangkok and Thailand, Fiji, Samoa.

As Founding Director Tasman Institute, 1990-98, and co- founder of Project Victoria, 1991-3, founded, was Co-Director and advised government and Opposition on restructure, vertical separation and privatisation of Victorian energy utilities, water utilities, Melbourne Water, transport. Founding Executive Director, Tasman Asia Pacific, 1991-2008

Tasman Asia Pacific and Tasman Institute were formed after Michael left the Centre of Policy Studies, Monash University in1989. This was also after an attempt to form and independent private university was blocked by the Minister for Education in Australia (see below).

Past Membership of Professional Societies & Awards

George Murray Travel Scholarship, 1965

Stanford University fellowship, 1965

Fulbright Scholar, 1965

Fellow, Australian Academy of Social Sciences, 1982

Member, American Economic Association

Member - Mont Pelerin Society, Switzerland

Winner, Australian Adam Smith Award, 1985

Winner, Australian Universities Research Centre of Excellence Award, 1982-87

National Energy Research and Development (NERDC) Research Award, 1980,

Commonwealth Government of Australia, as proposer and Founding Director, Centre of Policy Studies, Monash University,1981-6 ($2.6 mill)

Selected past associations, boards

Founding Director and Member, Project Victoria Committee (leader: privatisation and restructure issues), 1990-93

Founding Director, Co-Author, National Priorities Project

Member, Housing Industry Association Economic Committee;

Member and Co-Founder, Editorial Board, Australian Tax Forum;

Member, Australian Science and Technology Council (ASTEC); Advising Prime Minister, 1979-82

Member, National Energy Advisory Committee (NEAC); Department of Energy and Resources, Advising Minister for Energy, 1979-82

Member, Economic Society of Australia

Vice President, HR Nicholls Society

Board, Multiple Sclerosis Society (Victoria)

Board, Australia China Business Council

Board, Australian Institute for International Affairs (Victoria)

Key Qualifications

• PhD and A.M. (Economics) Stanford University, USA (1971)
• B.Ec. Hons (1st class) University of Adelaide (1965)

Publications

Edited and Co-Edited Books and Monographs:

Michael Porter (Editor) Growth 61: A Taxing Debate - Climate policy beyond Copenhagen, 2007, Committee for Economic Development of Australia, Growth Series.

Joint Editors; M. G Porter with P. Ackroyd, A Moran, A Chisholm, Environmental Resources and the Market-Place, Allen & Unwin (1991).

Joint Editors; M. G Porter with A. Moran and A. Chisholm, Markets, Resources and the Environment, Allen & Unwin, (1991).

Joint Editors M. G Porter with J.W. Freebairn and C. Walsh, Savings and Productivity: Incentives for the 1990s, Allen & Unwin (1989).

Joint Editors M. G Porter with J.W. Freebairn and C. Walsh, Spending and Taxing II: Taking Stock, Allen & Unwin (1988).

Joint Editors M. G Porter with J.W. Freebairn and C. Walsh, Spending and Taxing: Australian Reform Options, Allen & Unwin (1987).

Joint Editors; M. G Porter with L.H. Cook, The Role of Minerals and Energy in the Australian Economy, Allen & Unwin (1984).

M. G. Porter, Editor, The Australian Monetary System in the 1970's, Monash University, 1978, Published by the Economic Society of Australia and NZ as a supplementary issue of the Economic Record, 1978.

Contributions to Books

Social Democratic Governments: the Failure of Economic Controls, in Ranson (ed.), Blast, Budge or Bypass: Towards a Social Democratic Australia, Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (1984).

Taxation of the Australian Resource Sector in The Resource-Sector in an Open Economy , H.Siebert (ed), Mannheim (1983).

Quangos: The Problem of Accountability, proceedings of a conference on The Dilemma of Accountability in the Quango State (contributions by S. R,. David, J.A. Halligan, K.J. Foley, E.W. Russell and R. J. Clarke), Australian Institute of Management, (November, 1982).

Aspects of Energy in Australia: A Social Science Literature and Research Review - A Comment, in Dr. J.A. Black (ed.), Liquid Fuels in Australia: A Social Science Research Perspective, Pergamon Press, (Melbourne, 1982).

Labour of Liberalization, in J.A. Scutt (ed.), Poor Nation of the Pacific Australia's Future, Allen and Unwin, Sydney, 1985.

Youth and the Unnatural Rate of Unemployment, in Arbitration in Contempt, Proceedings of the Inaugural Seminar of the H.R. Nicholls Society held in Melbourne, 28 February - 2 March, 1986.

Taxes and Incentives - The Leaky Bucket, in J.G. Head (ed.) Changing the Tax Mix, papers presented at a conference organised by the Centre of Policy Studies, Australian tax Research Foundation, 1986.

Journal Publications

Sahin, O., Stewart, R.A., Giurco, D. and Porter, M.G., 2017. Renewable hydropower generation as a co-benefit of balanced urban water portfolio management and flood risk mitigation. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 68, pp.1076-1087.

Turner, A., Sahin, O., Giurco, D., Stewart, R. and Porter, M., 2016. The potential role of desalination in managing flood risks from dam overflows: the case of Sydney, Australia. Journal of Cleaner Production, 135, pp.342-355.

Scarborough, H., Sahin, O., Porter, M. and Stewart, R., 2015. Long-term water supply planning in an Australian coastal city: dams or desalination?. Desalination, 358, pp.61-68.

Michael G. Porter*, David Downie, Helen Scarborough, Oz Sahin and Rodney A. Stewart, Melbourne, "Water Supply and Development Choices in the 21st Century", Desalination Water Technology, in Press, 1-25, 2014,

Sahin, O, Siems, R S, Stewart, R Drought and Desalination: 'Water security through scarcity pricing and reverse osmosis: a system dynamics approach', Journal of Cleaner Production, Elsevier, 2014, p. 1‐12.

Sahin, Oz, Stewart, Rodney and Porter Michael, 2014, 'Paradigm Shift to Enhanced Water Supply Planning Through Augmented Grids, Scarcity Pricing and Adaptive Factory Water: A System Dynamics Approach', Environmental Modelling and Software, In Press, Elsevier, 2014, p. 1‐14.

Michael G Porter (Editor and lead contributor), "Growth 60: Australia's Broadband Future - Four doors to greater competition, Committee for Economic Development of Australia, December 2008.

The Nature of Wealth, Institute of Public Affairs, Wealth and Poverty", policy Issues No.6, November 1998.

Tax Cuts: Desirable and Practical, (with J.W. Freebairn & C. Walsh) Australian Tax Forum, Vol 5, No.3, 1988.

Rogernomics - The Real Challenge, Institute of Public Affairs Review, 41,4, February-April 1988.

The Capture of the Welfare State, (with D. Hendrie), Institute of Public Affairs review, 41,2 August-October 1987.

Austin Stewart Holmes, OBE (1924-1986),(with D.N. Sanders, P.D.Johnson), Economic Record, 62,179, December 1986.

Tax Reform Proposal from the Centre of Policy Studies, (with J. Cox and G. Bascand). Australian Tax Forum, Volume 2, Number 3, Spring 1985.

Economics and Society, Institute of Public Affairs Review, 3 Summer 1985/86.

Selling the People Their Own Farm, Institute of Public Affairs Review, 40,1 (Autumn 1986).

Through the Tax Reform Maze: Taxing the Threshold, (with G. Bascand, J.P. Cox), Institute of Public Affairs Review, 39,2 (Spring 1985).

Youth: Wage Rate Victims, Institute of Public Affairs Review, 39, 3 (1985/86).

Resource Taxation - 1984, Economic Papers, 3 (September 1984).

Mining, Taxation and Economic Welfare, Growth, CEDA (June, 1982).

Australian Resource Development, Economic Papers, No. 67 (August, 1981).

Stabilisation, Regulation and Misplaced Entrepreneurship, Quadrant, XXII, September (1978).

Entrepreneurship versus Static Enterprise, in The Entrepreneur in Society, The Centre of Independent Studies, Policy Forums 2, Sydney, April, 1983.

The Reserve Bank and Financial Liberalisation, Economic Papers (special edition), April 1983.

Mining, Taxation and Economic Welfare, Growth, CEDA, June, 1983.

The 1984 Budget, A Comment on Tax, Social Security and Incentive Issues, Legislative Research Service; Discussion Paper, November 3, Department of The Parliamentary Library, Commonwealth of Australia, October 1984, (joint authorship with C.Boyd, J.M. Jordon.).

Deregulate Education, Institute of Public Affairs Review, Vol.38,No.2, Winter 1984.

Legalise Full Employment, Institute of Public Affairs Review, 38 Spring 1984.

Tertiary Education - Missed Opportunities, Institute of Public Affairs Review,38,Winter 1984.

On the Deregulation of Education, Economic Papers, No.68, October, 1981.

Financial Structure and Resource Development, Giblin Lecture, ANZAAS, in Search 12, No.10, October, 1981.

Aspects of Monetary Theory and Policy, Economic Record 56, 151, March, 1980.

External Shocks and Stabilization Policy in a Small Open Economy: the Australian Experience, Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv, 1978.

The Australian Monetary System in the 1970's', - a brief survey in M.G. Porter (ed.), The Australian Monetary System in the 1970's, 1978.

The interdependence of Monetary Policy and Capital Flows in Australia, A Reply, Economic Record, 54, 1978.

Monetary and Non-Monetary Analysis of Australian Balance of Payments Problems, Australian Economic Papers, 1978.

Comment on J.S. Mallyon's Paper, Economic Papers, 56, 1977.

Australian Monetary management in Review, economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia and New Zealand, 54, 1977.

A Note on the Monetarist Analysis of Devaluation, Journal of International Economics, (with P.Isard), 7, 1977.

Capital Movements - A Further Note, Economic Record, 53, 1977.

International Capital Flows and Portfolio Equilibrium, (with P.J.K. Kouri), Journal of Political Economy, May/June, 1974.

The Interdependence of Monetary Policy and Capital Flows in Australia, Economic Record, March, 1974.

The Forward Exchange Market and the Effect of Domestic and External Disturbances under Alternative Exchange Rate Systems, (with V. Argy), IMF Staff Papers, November,1972.

Capital Flows as an Offset to Monetary Policy, The German Experience, IMF Staff Papers, June, 1972.

A Theoretical and Empirical Framework for Analysing the term Structure of Exchange Rate Expectations, IMF Staff papers, November 1971.

Selected Conference Presentations

A Dynamic Water Supply Portfolio Optimisation Approach.

Systems model for optimising the long-term water supply system of a major city considering the competing goals of water security and flooding risk. In 10th Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems (Vol. 27).

Securing Water Supply in Adelaide over the Next Century Balancing Desalinated and Murray-Darling Basin Water, European Water Resources Association (EWRA) 9th International Conference. European Water Resources Association: Istanbul, Turkey.

*Keynote Address, Suicide Prevention Australia, Annual Conference, Perth May 2014, Financial Shocks and Economic Disturbance

*Deakin Policy Forums, 2011-13, [The State of Economics, Freedom of the Press, Coal Seam and Unorthodox Gas; Economic Governance, The Economics of Prevention; What's Holding us back? (Jointly published with Australian Council on Health Research]

*Future Directions in Commercialisation and Privatisation in the Water Industry, presented to the Effective Water Resource Management Conference, IRR Conferences, Sydney, Australia, August, 1993.

*Privatisation: The Gains to Victoria, Privatisation Conference, Melbourne, Australia, August, 1992.

Infrastructure in Australia, The Role of Private Ownership, Government Regulation and Political Control, Bureau of Industry Economics Infrastructure Conference, Canberra, Australia, June, 1992.

Competition in the Electricity Market, Australian Institute of Energy Conference, Canberra, Australia,. April, 1992.

Water Resources Reform - Pricing and Privatisation Issues, presentation to Water Resource Reform Conference, Auckland, New Zealand, October, 1991.

Alternative Forms of Regulation for the Water Industry, presented at a conference entitled Water Resources Reform, Sydney, Australia, September, 1991.

The Need for Change: Corporatizing the Hunter Water Board, presented at a conference on Deregulation and Reform in Public Utilities, Sydney, Australia, July 1991.

Economic and Environmental Efficiency: The Water and Waste Water Industry, presented to the Cabinet Office, NSW, Australia, March, 1991.

Australia and New Zealand in the 21st Century, presented to the Institute of Company Directors Conference, Victoria, Australia, November 1990.

The Liberalising of Australia - Challenges from Within and Without, presented at the Australian Gas Association Annual Convention, Sydney, Australia, October 1988.

Regulation, De-Regulation and Re-Regulation, a paper presented a conference entitled Queensland's Economic Future, Brisbane, Australia, July, 1987.

The Burden of Government Regulation and Public Ownership, presented at an Australian Chamber of Commerce Conference Extravagant Government or Prosperity, Melbourne, Australia, June, 1986.

Private Resource Development and Public Electricity Supply, presented at a conference State Enterprise and Deregulation, Melbourne, Australia, January, 1983.

Private Resource Development and Public Utilities - Some Hazards of Sleeping with Elephants, presented at an international symposium Risks and Returns in Large Scale Natural Resources Projects, Bellagio, Italy, November, 1982.

Contact

Email : [email protected]