If you cannot see the conflict interest here then there is a big problem.
You cannot have people responsible for policy also being paid by organisations that they are meant to oversee. The biggest thing that keeps a democracy a democracy is trust in institutions. The last two decades we have lost an immense amount of trust in our institutions, and it is going to be very difficult to get it back. Speaking fees of $800 000 for former public servants and public servants to be anointed does not help.
