The Rule of Law Institute … Transparency missing in action … Involvement with shadowy corporate lobbyist … The Family Office Institute … Synchronicity of clients’ business interests with agenda of the Rule of Law Institute 

THAT was a nice little exposé in The Sydney Morning Herald about the astroturf lobbing operation by an outfit called the Family Office Institute Australia.  

The institute sprang into life in Canberra to lobby on behalf of some well-padded privately owned Australian corporates who didn’t want the ATO to disclose how much tax they pay. 

Everything turned out happily, because they are exempt under the Better Targeting the Income Tax Transparency legislation.  

Apparently, Josh Frydenberg came up with a brilliant line in the party room, that to expose the tax payments of these private companies would make their owners targets for kidnappers. Say no more. 

Among those making submissions opposing tax transparency to the senate economics legislation committee were the Law Council of Australia and the Family Office Institute – arguing that the proposal would make Australia “an outlier” in the tax stakes globally. 

Two of the three directors from the Family Office Institute are Malcolm Stewart and Daniel Appleby, both partners in the Sydney tax shop Speed & Stracey, which acts for big pocket clients in matters concerning the ATO.  

The third is Richard Gilbert, a tough old lobbyist who has Speed & Stracey on his books, along with the National Bank of Australia. He was previously the CEO of another S&S plaything, the Rule of Law Institute of Australia. 

Gilbert confirmed that the Family Office Institute has no members, but it may end up having “supporters”. 

Appleby is also a member of the LCA’s tax committee, so there was excellent synchronicity all around. 

There are other connections that link many of the same people and interests to the Rule of Law Institute of Australia. 

Grand fromage at the law shop, Robin Speed, gave birth to the RoLI. The institute sends people around to schools to teach the principles of the rather rubbery concept of the rule of law, which sometimes morphs into the rule of lawyers. 

It’s other main function is to be quoted with approval on various subjects that are favourite campaigns by the dingbats at The Australian. 

David Lowy, from the global mall empire, is also on the governing committee of the RoLI, along with Speed, Stewart, Ben Giles (another S&S stalwart), Richard McHugh, emeritus prof Geoffrey de Quincey Walker, Nick Cowdery, prof Martin Krygier and Melbourne Tory, Hugh Morgan. 

The CEO is Nick Clark. The outfit is not into too much transparency itself. It doesn’t say who funds it or who its members are (if any), gives no phone number or address on its web site (although it was run out of the back office at Speed & Stracey) and the CEO doesn’t reply to emails requesting information. 

We wanted to ask Nick what comes first, the rule of law or the interests of the clients of S & S, or is the Rule of Law Institute a front to lobby for the firm’s clients – just like the FOI? 

Heath Aston at the SMH got close to it when he wrote that the RoLI, “patrols the corridors of power for legislation that may threaten the interests of business”. 

Justinian raised the issue of potential conflicts in 2010, when Gilbert was concurrently CEO of the RoLI and Speed & Stracey’s director of corporate affairs. 

The institute supports some libertarian principles, and to that end has been a critic of corporate regulators such as ASIC, particularly it’s role in the James Hardie case. 

Jim Spigeltent is the “patron” of the RoLI and, coincidentally, in his last judgment as chief justice of the NSW Supremes, in what is widely regarded as shockingly shoddy reasons, found in favour of eight James Hardie directors who had misled the stock exchange. 

Spigelman and the CA overturned their bans as company directors, only to be themselves overturned and the original findings restored in May 2012 by the High Court. See here and here.