Shemara Wikramanayake’s warning to Australia as she prepares to step down as Macquarie CEO

Australian Financial Review · Anthony Macdonald · 2026-11-05 13:01 UTC

Shemara Wikramanayake will hand down her final results as Macquarie chief executive on Friday. She has some parting advice for the lucky country.

Australia has what outgoing Macquarie chief executive Shemara Wikramanayake calls the “curse of comfort”. The nation is admired for so many things globally – natural resources, its education system, rule of law, the $4.8 trillion superannuation savings pool – but the risk is we’re so focused on protecting what we’ve got, rather than using it to capitalise on what’s coming next and making life better for the following generations.

“Our pendulum has swung to downside protection because we’re comfortable, we’re trying to protect that, and I think regulation reflects that here,” says Wikramanayake, who will hand the Macquarie baton to successor Greg Ward at midnight on Friday night.

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