David Murray is upset that the $50 million
estimate of his Golden Goodbye from the Commonwealth Bank is wide of
the mark. The amount is closer to $25 million, he told Monica Attard on
her Sunday Profile program on ABC local radio.

He
didn’t say whether this was gross or net of tax, but net makes the
final figure smaller. “The disclosure of this is up to the chairman,”
he told Attard, “but it’s been well and truly enlarged in the
reporting.”

So when will we find out the size of the Murray
payout? Well, the bank reports in August, when chairman John Schubert
will undoubtedly be quizzed on the subject, but as Murray is staying on
into the new financial year (that is, past the end of this week), we
may have to wait for another year until the 2005-2006 annual report for
full disclosure.

Which may be technically correct, but would be bad PR for a company that doesn’t need any more.