NEW: Amanda Gome

Kevin Rudd is under fire for the business activities of his entrepreneur wife Therese Rein. Don’t sell Therese, you’re a great role model!

Don’t sell Therese!

This afternoon Kevin Rudd says he and wife have discussed her continual involvement in the business, Ingeus, an employment and recruitment consultancy.

There are growing concerns that the conflict of interest means she should step away from running this highly successful company.

That’s rubbish. This is an Edwardian concept that has no place in a world where successful personal partnerships are built on the partners having individual lives.

Women should not have to give up their entrepreneurial ventures because of the activities of their husbands.

I have studied, researched and written about female entrepreneurs for many years – including Therese Rein. There are few highly successful female entrepreneurs who have gone global. She is one and a great role model for Australian girls and women.

There needs to be Chinese walls, blind trusts or other arrangements that ensure her business interests are kept separate from government. This is not so easy – but very possible.

Rein says that when she took over the small Melbourne business she found out the workers had been underpaid, put in place an investigation and then sought to remedy the situation. She says she back paid the workers and tried to locate the others. If we can believe this, then she has acted as she should.

People are baying for her to turn her back on being an entrepreneur.

This is white picket fence stuff that has no place in 2007.

In fact Janette Howard needs to move out of the kitchen and start her own business.

What do you think?

Comments

Sandy Naidu writes: I totally agree with you Amanda. I don’t think Therese should sell her business. She built her business from scratch. It’s her baby and forcing her to sell now is very unfair. Therese is a great role model for all the girls and women out there. Therese please don’t sell…