Managing a diverse career

November 2008

Monash economics alumna Marie Turner (BEc 1980) has an impressive record in management and accounting in private sector business. In her current role at Mitsubishi Australia she is responsible for corporate operations including compliance, governance and corporate social responsibility.

An experienced accountant, some of Ms Turner’s past roles include financial controller and general manager at winemaker Domaine Chandon, and chief financial officer and company secretary at IT systems and services provider Hansen Technologies.

Ms Turner grew up on a dairy farm in South Gippsland, Victoria, and aspired to a secure career.

“Primary production provides a terribly unstable source of income and I wanted stability. As a young woman, I could see from the employment section of the papers that accountants were employed in good times and bad, so this was the job for me,” she said.

Ms Turner completed her Bachelor of Economics and worked her way up the corporate ladder. In 2004, she was appointed to her current position at Mitsubishi Australia; general manager corporate affairs and company secretary. In 2008, she became the first woman appointed to the board of directors of Mitsubishi Australia.

“I see my role as making sure that our company has sound operating infrastructure with policies, IT, HR systems, governance and communication. It is a broad role and involves a lot of work to bring these areas up-to-date for modern-day compliance and relevance,” she said.

Mitsubishi Australia is one of 580 affiliates of Mitsubishi Corporation, the Japanese parent company which employs over 60,000 people globally. Mitsubishi Australia’s products and services are numerous and include coal, food, steel and iron ore.

Ms Turner said one of the best aspects of her job is the opportunity to interact with colleagues from overseas.

“I love the cultural diversity that exists in my role. It is very interesting when you meet at one of the Mitsubishi Corporation offices for a global conference and one third of the world’s countries are represented. This makes for an exciting and diverse dialogue,” Ms Turner said.

Ms Turner developed Mitsubishi Australia’s first community support program, which was introduced in 2006. One of the first initiatives was the funding of a student scholarship in Japanese Studies at Monash University.

“It is very satisfying to extend the success of the business to the broader community. We are still in the development stage of our corporate social responsibility program but we have great potential to play an important role in this area,” Ms Turner said.

One of her other great achievements in life has been juggling a demanding career with motherhood. Ms Turner has two children who are now in their 20s.

“I think fondly back to the nights of chatting with the children about their homework, while keeping an eye on the dinner progress, while arranging multi-million dollar investment deals with the parent company for new vineyards,” she said.

“It is very challenging to balance your duties as a mother and your employment responsibilities. I have enjoyed the challenge this brings and have loved being a part of my children’s life.”