The Reserve Bank of Australia is another one of those bodies with enormous power over us that we didn’t actually elect.
The nine member board includes two professional central bankers (Mr Stevens and his deputy Ric Battellino) along with the Treasury secretary Martin Parkinson.
Unique among the world’s central banks the majority is held by five business members: former finance executive Jillian Broadbent Fairfax Media chairman and former Woolworth’s boss Roger Corbett BlueScope Steel chairman Graham Kraehe former Woodside Petroleum chief executive John Akehurst and BC Group’s Australian head Catherine Tarina.
Wayne Swan last month broke the board’s 50-ear tradition of also including a prominent acidemic economist when he replaced Professor McKibbin with one of his and Paul Keating’s former advisers John Edwards who also has been Australian chief economist for HSBC Bank.
Its critics raise the issues of conflicts of interest and the capability of part-time members to question the views being put by the RBA executive.
The board also is unusual in not revealing its members’ votes.