Gerry Harvey has dismissed suggestions that his wife’s recent decision to sell off 210,000 Harvey Norman shares was connected to Monday’s dive on the Australian Stock Exchange by the retail giant.

Harvey called questions about Katie Page’s actions “stupid”.

According to him, the sell-off was made in order for Page to pay off some taxes and nothing more.

Harvey indicated that Page still holds close to 14 million shares in the retail giant.

“There’s not a director in Australia who has not been in exactly the same position,” Mr Harvey said on Tuesday.

“As soon as they get options, they have to sell some shares to pay tax,” he said