David Gonski to chair Therese Rein's company

THERESE Rein, the Prime Minister's entrepreneurial other half, has lured A-list company director David Gonski - who runs the stock exchange - to chair her company Ingeus.

THERESE Rein, the Prime Minister's entrepreneurial other half, has lured A-list company director David Gonski - who runs the stock exchange - to chair her company Ingeus.

Mr Gonski, the chairman of the Australian Securities Exchange, Coca-Cola Amatil and Investec Bank, sits on dozens of other boards including Westfield Group, Singapore Airlines and Sunraysia.

The South African-born lawyer, 56, is a consummate networker who serves as a chairman, director or secretary of 40 companies and organisations.

His appointment, revealed in documents filed with the Australian Securities & Investments Commission, was confirmed by Ingeus yesterday.

Mr Gonski replaces Ms Rein's long-time friend, former public service mandarin Mike Codd - who is retiring - to steer the money-spinning job placement company she founded in Brisbane 20 years ago.

Ms Rein sold the domestic arm of her empire when her husband, Kevin Rudd, swept to power in 2007, to avoid any potential conflicts of interest.

She retained 96 per cent of the international division, Ingeus, which turned a $15.2million profit in 2006-07 through its job placement operations in Britain, France, Germany, Sweden and South Korea.

Ms Rein reaped $960,000 in dividend payments last financial year.

Mr Gonski is a high-profile philanthropist in Sydney's Jewish community, and a long-time confidant of Westfield boss Frank Lowy.

The son of a Polish neurosurgeon, he migrated to Australia at the age of seven and went to Sydney Grammar School, where he now chairs the board of trustees.

His myriad other roles include chancellor of the University of NSW, and chairman of the federal government's National E-Health Transition Authority, set up to collect and store health information.

Neither Mr Gonski nor Ms Rein would comment on the appointment yesterday but Ingeus said the new chairman would bring "exceptional expertise" to the company.

In a statement to The Australian, the Ingeus board denied there would be any conflict of interest in having one of Australia's most high-profile and prolific directors running a company owned by the Prime Minister's wife.

"Ingeus Limited approached Mr Gonski based solely on his outstanding career achievements and business experience along with his commitment to making a positive contribution to the community," the statement said.

"There was no pre-existing relationship with the company or its board members.

"Ingeus Limited looks forward to working with Mr Gonski to drive the company's strategic growth objectives in international markets.

"Ingeus Limited has no operations in Australia. There is no conflict of interest in Mr Gonski's appointment."

At the end of the 2007-08 financial year, Ingeus had net assets of $37.87m, but the latest financial accounts have yet to be filed with ASIC.

Mr Gonski's fellow directors are Greg Ashmead, a former senior bureaucrat in the Commonwealth Employment Service and Education Department; Rod Sims, a commissioner of the National Competition Council and a chairman of Sustainable Energy Ltd; and Garry Hounsell, a director of Qantas and chairman of miner PanAust Ltd.

Mr Rudd's office refused to comment yesterday, referring all questions to Ingeus.