Keating: ‘CBA was flying on one wing when I became Treasurer'
When Paul Keating saw the front page headline CBA scales $300b peak, he couldn't help himself. The bank had just become the first ASX-listed company to break through that level of market capitalisation and Keating wanted to claim his part in the story. He called up The Australian Financial Review to summon two banking writers to his Sydney office for a history lesson.
The plush room on the first floor of a mansion in Potts Point is filled with his extensive collection of statues, paintings and ornaments. Fittingly, for the subject of the day, four pillars line the entrance. Old newspaper clippings are scattered across a wooden desk, with dozens of paragraphs highlighted in green.
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