There is little dispute that the recent Productivity Commission draft report identified many opportunities for improvement. There is also little dispute that both sides of the fence are not totally happy - those who wanted greater control over executive greed versus those who wanted less constraint over that greed.

The pity though is that the Commission missed the opportunity to fix the cause of executive excesses (even though they referred to it) - namely that the relationship between the owners of the business and its board and managers is flawed (i.e. the Agency relationship).

No point in fixing the deckchairs (albeit it helps in the short-term) when the ship is sinking.

Over the last 50 or so years, owners have continually had their assets compromised, benefits squeezed and risks increased with diminished ability to affect any of these.

A great opportunity lost. Pity.