VALE - The Honourable Sir Charles Court AK KCMG OBE 
Born Crawley Sussex England 29 September 1911 
Died Perth Western Australia 22 December 2007 
 
Sir Charles Court was born in Crawley, Sussex in 1911 and his parents migrated to Australia in 1912 when Charles was six months old. His first job was in 1927 aged 16, as an office boy for lawyers Robinson Cox & Wheatley (now Clayton Utz), although it was only for six months. To be an articled clerk his parents needed to pay a premium of one thousand guineas and be articled for five years, however, they could not afford this. A partner, Ross McDonald, suggested he do articles with their auditors, Burkett and McLaren (later McLaren & Stewart). He joined the firm and gained great experience particularly from Horace Stewart (Chairman of the Institute’s WA Council, 1954 to 1957). 
 
He qualified as a Chartered Accountant in March 1933 and the next year as a member of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries. Sir Charles, paid three pounds per week after qualifying as a Chartered Accountant, asked for an increase because he was virtually in charge of the firm's taxation, bankruptcy, receiverships and liquidation. An increase was not paid, but on leaving McLaren and Stewart, he was paid a retainer of six pounds per week to work for two hours per day for 12 months.  
 
Life was difficult in the early 1930s, in the midst of the Great Depression and in a new public practice. He borrowed the dining room table and chairs from home for his ten shillings a week rental office.  
 
The State Manager of the National Bank identified the talent of Sir Charles and helped him with clients that needed his expertise. He was given ten bankruptcy clients who paid little in fees but he got nine of them back into business. Sir Charles was also an excellent cost accountant and in his early days designed a costing system for Zimpels furniture factory. 
 
Soon after that Sir Charles developed a cost system for Browns Burns bakery. On every fourth or fifth Friday, staff would provide the profit figures by the afternoon. The income and expenditure were all divided by the number of bags of flour used, which identified any shortfall or thefts. He loved business management and costing problems. 
 
In 1936 he married Rita Steffanoni and built a house in Dalkeith where he lived until recent years. He had five sons with Victor, the eldest, trained in the old firm of McLaren & Stewart and later to become a partner with Sir Charles in Hendry Rae & Court.  
 
The first Hendry Rae & Court was formed in 1938 with the separate practices of Sir Charles, Campbell Hendry and Harvey Rae. Hendry and Rae were veterans of the First World War and nearing retirement age.  
 
The Institute owes a great debt to the partners of Hendry Rae & Court because Campbell Hendry, Harvey Rae, Sir Charles Court, Harry Kitson and Ross Ledger all served as State Registrars, covering a 35 year period between 1930 and 1965. Sir Charles was the Institute’s WA Registrar between 1946 and 1952, served on its Council between 1952 and 1955, honoured with a life membership of the Institute in 1982 and recognised as Chartered Accountant of the Year in 1983.  
 
In 1940, Sir Charles enlisted in the army as a private and rose quickly through the officer ranks, retiring in 1945 as a Lieutenant Colonel. He served in Bouganville on all fronts and was selected to head the Australian force to disarm 27,000 Japanese servicemen in Bouganville at the end of the war. 
 
In 1953 several leading businessmen and Liberal party supporters enticed Sir Charles to stand for the seat of Nedlands. He won the seat and said he would only go into Parliament for six years, however, for many different reasons he stayed for 29. Western Australia and the national economy greatly benefited from his contribution to the development of the State’s resource industries, particularly in the areas of iron ore, alumina and gas. 
 
The newspapers have covered his political life in full. On reflection, the great success of Sir Charles, the politician, was that he was a highly skilled and experienced Chartered Accountant. He had the commercial acumen to deal with the big resource development contracts that were negotiated during his years as Minister for Industrial Development in the Brand Government and as Premier. 
 
More Chartered Accountants should follow Sir Charles and give their experience and knowledge to the political world. Since 1953 there have been only three Chartered Accountants in (the) WA Parliament:

• Sir Charles Court, Premier & Treasurer 1974 – 1982, Minister for Industrial Development, Railways and the North West 1959 – 1971
 

• Hon Ray Young, Minister for Health, Community Welfare 1978 – 1982
 

• Hon Max Evans, Minister for Finance, Racing and Gaming 1993 – 1999.

Business Breakfast Series 
 
Saul Eslake, Chief Economist, ANZ 

• The US corporate sector is in much better shape than it was at the beginning of the decade, with the debt to equity ratio lower and employment stronger
 

• The effects of the housing market decline is unlikely to be as severe as the share market decline earlier in 2007
 

• Continued strong growth is expected in developing countries
 

• The interest rate increases imposed by the Reserve Bank has cost Australian households $10 billion, however, the Federal Government’s tax cuts have increased Australian household spending by $21 billion!

• Cliff Lawrenson, CEO, GRD
 

• Andrew Reitzer, CEO, Metcash
 

• Elizabeth Nosworthy, Deputy Chair, Babcock & Brown
 

• Richard Goyder, Managing Director & CEO, Wesfarmers

• The issue of professionalism and the financial planning industry
 

• The importance of financial planning education and qualification standards
 

• The further development of a pro bono culture among the planning sector
 

• The enhancement of consumer financial literacy within an evolving industry
 

• The ongoing real and perceived issue of remuneration and conflicts of interest.

• The GAA has successfully increased member benefits and value added services through overseas support mechanisms. It has also promoted the international portability of qualifications while always ensuring public interest is retained
 

• The GAA’s focus for 2008 and beyond is on leadership on issues of convergence in particular in the capital markets; relationships with the global firms; relationships with regulators; and liabilty reform in respect of sharing information on what has been achieved in Australia
 

• The GAA will present a leadership paper in mid 2008 with views of key personnel within the major regulator bodies
 

• Excluding the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, in principle an agreement has been reached that local tax and company law will no longer be required for GAA members, unless they are a principal in a public practice firm or need to for registration purposes, in order to seek membership of each others' Institutes. Formal approval from boards and councils is being reached
 

• Each member’s Chartered Accountants education program will now be recognised equally
 

• Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales reported back on the European common content program being developed for accounting education.

• Accounting Careers: Adding interest to your future!
 

• The Extreme Future: The top trends that will reshape the world for the next 5, 10, and 20 years
 

• Risk Management
 

• Wikinomics: How mass collaboration changes everything
 

• Wikis for Dummies

• Post jobs, manage and respond to applications from qualified applicants
 

• Set up screening questionnaires
 

• Build awareness through company profiles, banner ads and premium listings
 

• Receive discounted rates for members and companies/firms who employ Chartered Accountants
 

• Enjoy discounted rates for bulk purchases of 10 jobs or more through the sales team

• Access the best jobs in the market, industry insights and recruitment tips
 

• Navigate the powerful and easy to use job search engine
 

• Upload resumes online
 

• Track the status of an application
 

• Set up job alerts
 

• Research employer profiles.

1. register a job seeker account on charteredaccountants.com.au/jobsearch
 

2. post your résumé online
 

3. tell us via email in 25 words or less why you think Job Search is the number one recruitment website for Chartered Accountants.

1. register an employer account on charteredaccountants.com.au/jobsearch
 

2. post one job ad by 14 March 2008
 

3. tell us via email in 25 words or less why you think Job Search is the number one recruitment website for Chartered Accountants.

Western Australia - February 2008 
 
This issue 
1. Vale - Sir Charles Court 
2. Communicate General Manager 
3. Board and Council News 
4. Merit and Completion Ceremony 
5. Business Breakfast Series 
6. Financial Planning Papers  
7. GAA 
8. Knowledge Centre 
9. Job Search 
10. Indoor Cricket Carnival 
11. New Member Ceremony 
12. Charity Presentation 
13. Financial Planner recognised 
14. Notice board 

• Buy or sell a practice or fees
 

• Voluntary and honorary positions available for non-profit and charitable organisations.