ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the Australian ruling class's web of interconnecting threads maintained by their membership on one or more company's board of directors. It traces the interlocking webs made by directors over a period of time to look at the centrality of key individuals and key companies and try to understand what these changes mean and why the network patterns occur. Typically, the directors are elected for multiple terms at Annual General Meetings (AGMs) of the company's shareholders. Many companies rotate their election of directors so that not all directors are due for election at the AGM in any one year. Board strategies for survival of the business are crucial in any period but they are particularly important in times of threat when the economy is on the downturn and company's low profits make them vulnerable to takeover bids by more powerful companies. Businesses have little choice but to try to compete and win against bigger, more powerful companies.
