The Acting Treasurer today refuted media reports concerning the terms of Mr Peter Reith's nomination as an Executive Director at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London, as announced by the Treasurer on 16 April 2003. As an Executive Director of the Bank Mr Reith will be employed by the Bank, not by the Commonwealth.
A condition of the nomination was that the EBRD position be treated as if it were an "office of profit" under the Commonwealth for the purposes of the Parliamentary Contributory Superannuation Scheme (PCSS). Under the rules governing the PCSS, a parliamentary pension payable to a former Member of Parliament who is appointed to an office of profit under the Commonwealth or a State is reduced.
Mr Reith agreed to this condition prior to his nomination and he will pay to the Commonwealth an amount equivalent to fifty percent of the after-tax amount of his parliamentary pension. This is the maximum amount by which a pension can be reduced under the provisions of the Parliamentary Contributory Superannuation Act.