Macfarlane goes for a decade

In any case, Macfarlane will be able to retire at the round age of 60 - in September 2006 - having spent a full decade as governor (and it is rumoured that Macfarlane has said that ten years in the top job would be enough for anyone), and another 17 years at the bank before that. He had previously said, when probed on the subject, "If you are young enough to do another [term] you will think about doing another one." Although he was thinking about doing another term, maybe he wasn't sure if he was young enough. In the end he managed to wangle a compromise that keeps everyone happy. After all, he has presided over the central bank during a particularly prosperous period, and politicians have proved to be more than happy for this to be prolonged.

The only other Australian governor to make it into a second term was H.C. "Nugget" Coombs back in the sixties. Macfarlane is known by some as Big Mac, although apparently not to his face. He is greatly liked by his colleagues, who are said to be as delighted with his reappointment as he is. Macfarlane's unassuming character endears himself to others: he is rumoured to have once described himself as "a sort of banker" when asked his occupation by a Sydney golf club, according to Reuters. Although he partakes in the BIS annual golfing tournament - an informal and soothing affair which takes place after the AGM - he has never won. Macfarlane says Asian central bankers always win it. Raised in Melbourne, he spent six years at the OECD in Paris before moving straight to the central bank. He is married with a son and a daughter.