Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Let me say that we are about trying to modernise our economy, and this bill is part of a suite of programs to do that and that is why I have been outlining the others. But let me deal with this particular part of that program of modernising our economy. This bill will give enhanced independence to the Reserve Bank. Under the current law, the Treasurer has the sole responsibility for appointing, suspending or, ultimately, terminating the Governor or the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank. That allows for partisan politics in relation to the appointments to the Reserve Bank, and we know all about that with the Reserve Bank board. We had the Robert Gerard affair, with the former Treasurer intervening in the appointment process to the board despite the fact that you had a man who was under a tax office investigation and ended up paying $100 million in outstanding taxes and penalties. But, of course, the issue with Robert Gerard was that he was an influential Liberal Party donor, which is why he ended up on the Reserve Bank board. But this is about enhancing the independence of the Reserve Bank.

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