Canberra, Thursday 21 March 2002

Macfarlane salutes Sir Leslie Melville on his 100th birthday

Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Mr Ian Macfarlane, will give the inaugural Sir Leslie Melville Lecture at The Australian National University (ANU) tomorrow with Sir Leslie in attendance.
Mr Macfarlane, who has been the Governor of the Reserve Bank since 1996, will speak about Sir Leslie Melville’s significant contribution to the development of central banking in Australia.

Sir Leslie Melville was ANU's second Vice-Chancellor (1953-1960). He was Economic Adviser to the Commonwealth Bank (1931-1951); Australia's Executive Director at the IMF and World Bank (1950-1953); Chairman of the Australian Tariff Board (1960-1963); and Chairman of the Commonwealth Grants Commission (1966-1974, 1979-1981). He led Australia's delegation to the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944 and attended the Ottawa Conference in 1932, the World Economic Conference in 1933 and the first meeting of the Governors of the IMF and World Bank a Savannah in 1946. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the Economics Society of Australia. On 26 March 2002, Sir Leslie will celebrate his 100th birthday.

"The history of central banking in Australia and the history of Sir Leslie Melville," according to Mr Macfarlane, "are largely coterminous. If you read through the correspondence files in the archives of the Reserve Bank in the '30s and '40s you could be forgiven for thinking that Melville was the central bank.

"It is hard to believe that one man could have done so many things in the general areas of economics, education and public policy making,” Mr Macfarlane said.

The lecture, the fourth in the popular Toyota-ANU Public Lecture Series, will formally launch Toyota Australia’s sponsorship of the series.

Mr Ken Asano, President of Toyota Motor Corporation Australia, said Toyota Australia is proud to be associated with one of Australia's most prestigious universities and promoting excellence through the public lecture series.

“The public lecture series is an important forum for Australian and international speakers from all fields of endeavour to share the latest findings and thinking in their fields.

“Stable monetary policy is critical to a large manufacturer and exporter such as Toyota. The low inflation and interest rates of the past years have made a major contribution to Australia's international competitiveness for automotive manufacturing. For this competitiveness to remain, Australia needs to maintain sound, practical and sustainable policy settings that support the continued growth of the industry, so I am particularly pleased we are able to launch our involvement with the inaugural Sir Leslie Melville lecture by the Governor of the Reserve Bank,” Mr Asano said.

When: Friday 22 March, 12.00 for 12.30pm
Where: The Hall, University House, cnr Balmain Cres and Liversidge St, ANU

For more information please contact:
Selwyn Cornish, Dean of Students and Sir Leslie Melville's biographer, on (02) 6125 3703 or
(02) 6295 7883; Anna Damiano, ANU Public Affairs, on (02) 6125 0794 or 0416 249 214; Genevieve Turville, ANU Public Affairs, on (02) 6125 6125 or 0416 249 245

37/2002

© 2000 Marketing & Communications Division,
The Australian National University.
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Last Modified Tue, July 16, 2002