Edmund Alexander Rouse (2 February 1926 – 28 July 2002)''Who's Who in Australia'', Volume 23
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Don Woolford, ''AAP General News (Australia)'' 30 July 2002 was an Australian businessman and political figure. He spent three decades as the chairman of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

n media company ENT before being embroiled in a

political scandal In politics, a political scandal is an action or event regarded as morally or legally wrong and causing general public outrage. Politicians, government officials, party officials and lobbyists can be accused of various illegal, corrupt, uneth ...

in 1989. As chairman of logging company Gunns he offered $110,000 to Labor MP Jim Cox to

cross the floor In parliamentary systems, politicians are said to cross the floor if they formally change their political affiliation to a different political party than which they were initially elected under (as is the case in Canada and the United Kingdom). ...

. The bribe was an attempt to prevent the Labor party forming an alliance with the

Tasmanian Greens The Tasmanian Greens are a political party in Australia which developed from numerous environmental campaigns in Tasmania, including the flooding of Lake Pedder and the Franklin Dam campaign. They form a part of the Australian Greens. The party ...

, and to secure the return of the Liberal government of Robin Gray. Cox reported the bribe to the police, and Rouse was ultimately given a three-year prison sentence."The rise and fall of Edmund Rouse"
, Stephen Tanner, ''Australian Studies in Journalism'', pp.72–89, 1995"Bribe scandal boss Rouse dies"
''Australasian Business Intelligence'', August 2002 He died in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in 2002.

References

1926 births 2002 deaths Businesspeople from Melbourne People stripped of a British Commonwealth honour {{Australia-business-bio-stub