Reserve Bank Board Appointment
In March 2003, Robert Gerard was appointed to the Board of the Reserve Bank by the Federal Treasurer (of the then governing Liberal Party), Peter Costello. He resigned on 2 December 2005 amidst questions about a 14-year dispute between his family's business, Gerard Industries, and the Australian Taxation Office.
Prior to Gerard's appointment, the treasurer had required Gerard to produce evidence that he had no outstanding taxation issues. The letter produced stated that Gerard had no outstanding personal taxation issues. However, it did not mention outstanding business taxation issues. Some, including the then Opposition Labour Party's Treasury Spokesman, Wayne Swan, charged that his original appointment to the board was politically motivated, citing Mr. Gerard's generous donations to the Liberal Party, in particular his donations to the state Liberal party in South Australia.
Since Gerard's resignation, his donations to the party have ceased, allowing for only the most basic of election campaigns at the 2006 South Australian election.
Read more about this topic: Robert Gerard
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