Tycoon and philanthropist Kerry Stokes has been appointed as Chair of the Council of the Australian War Memorial. Mr Stokes was recently elected to the position by his fellow Council members, replacing Rear Admiral Ken Doolan, who had served for 3 1/2 years.
Mr Stokes (born 1940) first joined the Council in 2007. He is the Chairman of the Seven Network and has many other business interests. He is an AC, was Australia’s 14th richest man in 2014 and has purchased three Victoria Crosses and a George Cross and donated them to the War Memorial.
The Chair of the Council is elected by the Council from among its members, unlike the Chairs of the Councils of the National Library (Kerry Stokes’s son, Ryan), the National Gallery and the National Museum, who are all appointed by the Governor-General on the advice of the relevant Minister. The appointment of Mr Stokes to the War Memorial position does, however, relieve the Council of the conflict of interest which existed under Admiral Doolan’s incumbency, where Admiral Doolan was both Chair of the Council and National President of the RSL.
15 November 2015