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Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Look who's been minding the money

It appears that Robert Gerard has a secret and now its out. His tax situation has been called in to question over a Caribbean tax-haven deal labelled "tax evasion" by investigators that led to a $150-million settlement with the Australian Tax Office. What gives this event a particular odour is that Robert Gerard sits on the Board of the Reserve Bank of Australia, appointed by the Howard Government (I guess one could read here - Treasurer, Peter Costello). Costello is said to be keeping mum on the matter. Gerard appears to be a favourite fellow of the Howard Government. He was also appointed to The Prime Minister's Business Community Partnership. The PM's business community partnership was established, in part, to discuss corporate philanthropy which has never been on the scale of US corporate philanthropy.

More about the Partnership in the Australian Financial Review:
Business on the give and take - Lenore Taylor - Tuesday, 07 Dec 1999
Roping business into giving - Brook Turner - Friday, 25 Feb 2000

So it would seem that Robert Gerard does not have the social good of this nation at heart. He is not philanthropic enough to even pay his tax.