Government unveils preference for PC chair

The federal government has agreed to recommend that the Governor-General appoint Chris Barrett as the next chair of the Productivity Commission (PC).

Mr Barrett is currently the deputy secretary of the economic division in the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance. He has also formerly been the chief executive of Invest Victoria.

Subject to the Governor-General’s approval, Mr Barrett will commence his role in September, commencing a five-year term.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the appointment was part of ‘renewing’ the Productivity Commission and building a ‘stronger economy’ and ‘stronger economic institutions.

“Mr Barrett brings to the table the right skills and attributes to take the Productivity Commission into the future,” Mr Chalmers said.

“Mr Barrett has almost three decades of experience in public policy, the majority as a senior public servant and in leading international organisations, including as Australia’s ambassador to the OECD, executive director of the European Climate Foundation, and as chief of staff to former federal treasurer Wayne Swan.”

The Treasurer added that Mr Barrett’s experience – both locally and internationally – would ‘further cement the commission’s role as a world-class economic institution’.

“We will now work with him on our PC reform agenda, which picks up the ideas and contributions gleaned from months of consultation on the best ways to renew, refocus and renovate this really important economic institution,” the Treasurer said.

The government said the recommended appointment came after a process involving interviews with two departmental secretaries and the Australian Public Service Commissioner.

Dr Chalmers thanked outgoing chair Michael Brennan for his contribution to the role over the past five years, which has included delivering over 20 reports to the government, including the five-yearly Productivity Inquiry.

The appointment comes as the Productivity Commission has an ongoing report into government services, including housing and mental health.

Renewing the PC

In February, Treasurer Chalmers advocated the renovation of the PC in an essay, “Capitalism after the crises”.

In it, he called the PC “a powerful think tank advising government on productivity” but said: “These institutions need to help deliver change in areas of disadvantage, to prod and inform and empower.”

Addressing the paper in an interview, Mr Chalmers said the Productivity Commission has the capacity to be a “real ideas factory, a real engine of economic policy ideas”.

“I don’t want to mess with its independence, I don’t want to substantially diminish the Productivity Commission, I want to turbocharge it,” Mr Chalmers said.

[Related: ‘We will renovate the Reserve Bank’: Chalmers]