Bill Moss, chairman of his eponymous firm, says large companies should reserve a small percentage of jobs for people with disabilities and indigenous Australians.
Moss, who has the crippling muscle disease facioscapulohumeral, says it is not too much to “expect big organisations, with 10,000 employees or more” to have “2 per cent” of their staff that are people with disabilities.
“Any large organisation can create jobs for people with disabilities,” says the Moss Capital founder who walks with the aide of a cane and a person.
“How do you unlock the brilliance inside of people with disabilities?” Asks Moss. “I deliberately tried” at Moss Capital. “But we’re small. A dozen people. I’m waiting for it to grow. I personally employ a gardener with a disability.”
Moss says his firm was partly formed so he could speak to people in business about his philanthropic work. After he resigned from Macquarie Bank Ltd., where he was head of real estate and banking, Moss found few in business wanted to speak with him.
Cradle Mountain Lodge in Tasmania has been purchased by Moss Capital. The firm will put “together investors” for other deals, says Moss.
He is critical of the current board and senior executives at his old firm.
“A lot of creativity has gone out of Macquarie,” says Moss, who declined to disclose how many shares he has in the company.
“It needs to re-invent itself,” he says. “If the company can’t start to return dividends above the market then people seriously should look whether the board and senior management need to be replaced.”
Macquarie spokeswoman Navleen Prasad declined to comment.
