In a South Vietnam battlefield where the fog was so thick you could barely see 10 metres in front of yourself, with no direct fire support and just a platoon of young soldiers in tow to take out an occupied enemy bunker, it was under these sets of circumstances that our next guest, Sir Peter Cosgrove, pulled off his first of many remarkable military feats.
The son of a soldier, Peter joined the army when he was just 18 years old. Across his 40 years of military service Peter was the epitome of bravery, courage and selflessness. He rose quickly through the ranks of the army, commanding the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment in the mid-1980s.
But it was in 1999 that Cosgrove was thrust into the public eye, when, as major general, he led the INTERFET in a peacekeeping mission to East Timor. Peter led the mission, despite the highly delicate situation he faced, with poise and pragmatism leading to its massive success. Following the mission, Cosgrove was one of the nation’s most respected military leaders and this ultimately led to his role as Chief of the Defence Force from 2002-2005.
Upon retiring from the military, Peter could have easily hung up the boots, but instead he played crucial roles in the Cyclone Larry taskforce and took on board roles at Qantas and Australian Rugby Union before ultimately being recommended for Governor General in 2014.
His tenure as Governor General saw 3 Australian Prime Minister’s be sworn in and over 4,200 public engagements in 5 years of service.
Hello and welcome back to the Business Of, I’m Will and I’m Charlie. On today’s podcast Peter unpacks his formative years with us which led to him joining the military,
He sheds light on the governor-general role,
And finally, He shares some invaluable leadership lessons with us his thoughts on what makes a good prime minister.
We hope you enjoy.
