Scott Morrison honour exposes a system divorced from public sentiment
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KING'S HONOURS
The King's Birthday honour awards are rendered meaningless by Scott Morrison's inclusion, a decision that insults Australians (' Politicians, scientists and costume designer feature in King's awards ', 8/6). His legacy, marred by robo-debt's heartless assault on vulnerable citizens, leaving families shattered, alone disqualifies him. But it doesn't end there. His sluggish COVID response, driven by others, not conviction; his callous 'I don't hold a hose' remark during the bushfires; and his dismissive stance on gender issues reveal a so-called leader who tarnished Australia's values. Awarding Morrison cheapens these honours. It's a stinging betrayal of robo-debt victims and all who suffered under his policies. Honours should celebrate integrity and selflessness. This decision exposes a system divorced from public sentiment. Australians deserve better: honours that inspire pride, not ones that reopen wounds and glorify failure.
Sue Barrett, Caulfield South
Brightening lives
The name of the honours may have changed from Queen to King but the same old selection criteria still exists with many receiving honours for doing their jobs. The reasons set out for Scott Morrison's award includes: 'leadership of the national COVID-19 response' and 'leadership of Australia's contribution to AUKUS', both up for debate as to whether there was any leadership shown and whether many decisions were the right ones. Let's be realistic, the award was for being prime minister. However, it was great to see awards for people such as those on the front page of The Age who have done extraordinary things for many years, outside their jobs, to 'brighten lives from beyond the spotlight'.
Phil Mackenzie, Eaglemont
His duty to lead
Scott Morrison was awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia but it was his duty as prime minister to take a leadership role in the COVID crisis, as with any crisis the country may experience. As for AUKUS, its worth is yet to be proven and indeed it may be very destructive in the future, both financially and its capabilities to keep us safe. By awarding him the highest honour only diminishes the whole system of awards, especially to those who are truly worthy.
Judith Morrison, Nunawading
Doubts about his achievements
It would have been better if the award to Scott Morrison had read only 'For service to the people and parliament of Australia as prime minister'. His leadership of the COVID response was successful only because the states pushed him and his approach on the vaccines puzzled many. His leadership on AUKUS omits the breaking of the contract with France and the loss of international good behaviour it generated as well as doubts about the AUKUS deal itself. Robo-debt, his alienation of China and the dislike he received from people affected by the fires and floods don't rate a mention. He claimed the 2019 election result was a miracle but not that the 2022 election result was too.
Adrian Tabor, Point Lonsdale
Doing his job
The award for Scott Morrison brings into question the very nature of the awards process. This is meant to be a criterion-based assessment process. The criteria includes that the 'outstanding achievement' should be 'above what might be expected through paid employment' – the former PM does not meet this criteria.
Warren Prior, Williamstown
Short memories
I have vivid memories of both Daniel Andrews' and Gladys Berejiklian's relentless battle to cajole Morrison into action at the time. Morrison was also seen to be needlessly slow in co-ordinating the country's vaccine roll-out. Andrews has been repeatedly vilified for his and his team's exemplary actions in Victoria, which had some of the lowest fatality rates globally. I honestly wonder how far and how deep some people's memories run.
Robert Boelen, Waratah Bay
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The government announced in early June it was delaying by five months big changes to aged care, which had been due to start mid-year, to give service providers more time to prepare. But 10 crossbenchers have teamed up to express concern about the impact of the postponement on the nearly 83,000 elderly Australians on the waiting list for home care. "Research shows that the longer people go without appropriate home care supports, the higher their risk of injury or hospitalisation," the MPs said in a June 10 letter to Health Minister Mark Butler and Aged Care Minister Sam Rae. "This delay will also imperil your government's commitment that by 2027 no one will wait more than 90 days for a package. 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Why Scott Morrison's King's Birthday honour boils my blood
For eminent service to the people and Parliament of Australia, particularly as prime minister, to notable contributions to global engagement to leadership of the national COVID-19 response, to economic initiatives, and to national security enhancements, especially through leadership of Australia's contribution to AUKUS. These are the reasons why the Governor-General of Australia bestowed upon former PM, Scott Morrison, highest honour in the land - the Companion of the Order of Australia on the King's Birthday weekend. I don't know about you, but when I heard this, I had to go to the official website to confirm because frankly, I just couldn't believe it. Neither could my 16-year-old son. When I mentioned the award at dinner, his first response was "isn't he the idiot who crapped his pants outside McDonald's that time?" Not, "oh wasn't he the PM before Albo?" or even "was he the one you were writing so much about during COVID?" This is what the kids these days remember him for. Says it all, really. During the pandemic, he deceived the nation by secretly appointing himself to five - FIVE - ministries. The secrecy of these acts undermined democratic accountability and violated principles of responsible government. The Ministers of State Amendment Act 2023 was passed to prevent this from happening again. Does this smack of "eminent service to the people and Parliament"? On the topic of COVID, let's acknowledge his total failure to secure sufficient vaccine supplies early on which led to delays in distribution. Then, when he finally started to get his act together, his over-reliance on AstraZeneca despite the concerns about rare blood clot risks, led to hesitancy and confusion about the safety of vaccines. Unlike the other world leaders who personally lobbied Pfizer executives to secure Pfizer, Morrison chose not to and as such, our early access to the Pfizer doses was limited. Hardly a worthy contribution to global leadership. Then there was the public education campaign around the vaccine that failed to effectively communicate its benefits, and his "it's not a race" messaging, which added fuel to the confusion fire, resulting in misinformation and anti-vaccine sentiment. As a result of all this, we were literally left lagging behind other OECD nation's in our COVID response. While he did instigate JobKeeper, I found it incredible how JobKeeper overpayments to corporations went unchecked, giving them a choice to pay back the additional funds, but overpayments for JobSeeker? Phew - send out the debt notices! Talking of debt notices, the scandalous, harmful robodebt scheme was launched under his leadership when he was the social services minister, and he was the PM at the time of its very timely conclusion. He never took responsibility for it. Instead, he complained that he was a victim of "political lynching". In my opinion, this program represents the most shameful episode of Australia's political history. I was ashamed of my government then. I remain so. You know, maybe what won the award for him was the way he kindly and compassionately considered the very real needs of our most vulnerable Australians (note the sarcasm). His "you have to have a go to get a go" response to people struggling below the poverty line on Centrelink, demanding they pull themselves up by their bootstraps - despite them not having the money for said bootstraps - could conceivably be understood by the overprivileged elites as "good leadership". In reality, it's an entirely different story. Personally, it was when he divided the nation into "the taxed" and the "taxed nots" that had my blood truly boiling; like our worth as a person is counted only in what the government gets out of us. And even then, like we don't all pay tax and excise on petrol, registration and GST. Now there's an example of eminent service to the people. READ MORE: Perhaps the award should have read "for eminent service to the wealthy people." Don't even get me started on the Brittany Higgins case and his failure to even recognise the gravity of the situation until his wife talked to him about it. This is the man who Council for the Order of Australia appointed the highest honour in the land. In my opinion, it's the one case where tradition should have been set aside. For eminent service to the people and Parliament of Australia, particularly as prime minister, to notable contributions to global engagement to leadership of the national COVID-19 response, to economic initiatives, and to national security enhancements, especially through leadership of Australia's contribution to AUKUS. These are the reasons why the Governor-General of Australia bestowed upon former PM, Scott Morrison, highest honour in the land - the Companion of the Order of Australia on the King's Birthday weekend. I don't know about you, but when I heard this, I had to go to the official website to confirm because frankly, I just couldn't believe it. Neither could my 16-year-old son. When I mentioned the award at dinner, his first response was "isn't he the idiot who crapped his pants outside McDonald's that time?" Not, "oh wasn't he the PM before Albo?" or even "was he the one you were writing so much about during COVID?" This is what the kids these days remember him for. Says it all, really. During the pandemic, he deceived the nation by secretly appointing himself to five - FIVE - ministries. The secrecy of these acts undermined democratic accountability and violated principles of responsible government. The Ministers of State Amendment Act 2023 was passed to prevent this from happening again. Does this smack of "eminent service to the people and Parliament"? On the topic of COVID, let's acknowledge his total failure to secure sufficient vaccine supplies early on which led to delays in distribution. Then, when he finally started to get his act together, his over-reliance on AstraZeneca despite the concerns about rare blood clot risks, led to hesitancy and confusion about the safety of vaccines. Unlike the other world leaders who personally lobbied Pfizer executives to secure Pfizer, Morrison chose not to and as such, our early access to the Pfizer doses was limited. Hardly a worthy contribution to global leadership. Then there was the public education campaign around the vaccine that failed to effectively communicate its benefits, and his "it's not a race" messaging, which added fuel to the confusion fire, resulting in misinformation and anti-vaccine sentiment. As a result of all this, we were literally left lagging behind other OECD nation's in our COVID response. While he did instigate JobKeeper, I found it incredible how JobKeeper overpayments to corporations went unchecked, giving them a choice to pay back the additional funds, but overpayments for JobSeeker? Phew - send out the debt notices! Talking of debt notices, the scandalous, harmful robodebt scheme was launched under his leadership when he was the social services minister, and he was the PM at the time of its very timely conclusion. He never took responsibility for it. Instead, he complained that he was a victim of "political lynching". In my opinion, this program represents the most shameful episode of Australia's political history. I was ashamed of my government then. I remain so. You know, maybe what won the award for him was the way he kindly and compassionately considered the very real needs of our most vulnerable Australians (note the sarcasm). His "you have to have a go to get a go" response to people struggling below the poverty line on Centrelink, demanding they pull themselves up by their bootstraps - despite them not having the money for said bootstraps - could conceivably be understood by the overprivileged elites as "good leadership". In reality, it's an entirely different story. Personally, it was when he divided the nation into "the taxed" and the "taxed nots" that had my blood truly boiling; like our worth as a person is counted only in what the government gets out of us. And even then, like we don't all pay tax and excise on petrol, registration and GST. Now there's an example of eminent service to the people. READ MORE: Perhaps the award should have read "for eminent service to the wealthy people." Don't even get me started on the Brittany Higgins case and his failure to even recognise the gravity of the situation until his wife talked to him about it. This is the man who Council for the Order of Australia appointed the highest honour in the land. In my opinion, it's the one case where tradition should have been set aside. For eminent service to the people and Parliament of Australia, particularly as prime minister, to notable contributions to global engagement to leadership of the national COVID-19 response, to economic initiatives, and to national security enhancements, especially through leadership of Australia's contribution to AUKUS. These are the reasons why the Governor-General of Australia bestowed upon former PM, Scott Morrison, highest honour in the land - the Companion of the Order of Australia on the King's Birthday weekend. I don't know about you, but when I heard this, I had to go to the official website to confirm because frankly, I just couldn't believe it. Neither could my 16-year-old son. When I mentioned the award at dinner, his first response was "isn't he the idiot who crapped his pants outside McDonald's that time?" Not, "oh wasn't he the PM before Albo?" or even "was he the one you were writing so much about during COVID?" This is what the kids these days remember him for. Says it all, really. During the pandemic, he deceived the nation by secretly appointing himself to five - FIVE - ministries. The secrecy of these acts undermined democratic accountability and violated principles of responsible government. The Ministers of State Amendment Act 2023 was passed to prevent this from happening again. Does this smack of "eminent service to the people and Parliament"? On the topic of COVID, let's acknowledge his total failure to secure sufficient vaccine supplies early on which led to delays in distribution. Then, when he finally started to get his act together, his over-reliance on AstraZeneca despite the concerns about rare blood clot risks, led to hesitancy and confusion about the safety of vaccines. Unlike the other world leaders who personally lobbied Pfizer executives to secure Pfizer, Morrison chose not to and as such, our early access to the Pfizer doses was limited. Hardly a worthy contribution to global leadership. Then there was the public education campaign around the vaccine that failed to effectively communicate its benefits, and his "it's not a race" messaging, which added fuel to the confusion fire, resulting in misinformation and anti-vaccine sentiment. As a result of all this, we were literally left lagging behind other OECD nation's in our COVID response. While he did instigate JobKeeper, I found it incredible how JobKeeper overpayments to corporations went unchecked, giving them a choice to pay back the additional funds, but overpayments for JobSeeker? Phew - send out the debt notices! Talking of debt notices, the scandalous, harmful robodebt scheme was launched under his leadership when he was the social services minister, and he was the PM at the time of its very timely conclusion. He never took responsibility for it. Instead, he complained that he was a victim of "political lynching". In my opinion, this program represents the most shameful episode of Australia's political history. I was ashamed of my government then. I remain so. You know, maybe what won the award for him was the way he kindly and compassionately considered the very real needs of our most vulnerable Australians (note the sarcasm). His "you have to have a go to get a go" response to people struggling below the poverty line on Centrelink, demanding they pull themselves up by their bootstraps - despite them not having the money for said bootstraps - could conceivably be understood by the overprivileged elites as "good leadership". In reality, it's an entirely different story. Personally, it was when he divided the nation into "the taxed" and the "taxed nots" that had my blood truly boiling; like our worth as a person is counted only in what the government gets out of us. And even then, like we don't all pay tax and excise on petrol, registration and GST. Now there's an example of eminent service to the people. READ MORE: Perhaps the award should have read "for eminent service to the wealthy people." Don't even get me started on the Brittany Higgins case and his failure to even recognise the gravity of the situation until his wife talked to him about it. This is the man who Council for the Order of Australia appointed the highest honour in the land. In my opinion, it's the one case where tradition should have been set aside. For eminent service to the people and Parliament of Australia, particularly as prime minister, to notable contributions to global engagement to leadership of the national COVID-19 response, to economic initiatives, and to national security enhancements, especially through leadership of Australia's contribution to AUKUS. These are the reasons why the Governor-General of Australia bestowed upon former PM, Scott Morrison, highest honour in the land - the Companion of the Order of Australia on the King's Birthday weekend. I don't know about you, but when I heard this, I had to go to the official website to confirm because frankly, I just couldn't believe it. Neither could my 16-year-old son. When I mentioned the award at dinner, his first response was "isn't he the idiot who crapped his pants outside McDonald's that time?" Not, "oh wasn't he the PM before Albo?" or even "was he the one you were writing so much about during COVID?" This is what the kids these days remember him for. Says it all, really. During the pandemic, he deceived the nation by secretly appointing himself to five - FIVE - ministries. The secrecy of these acts undermined democratic accountability and violated principles of responsible government. The Ministers of State Amendment Act 2023 was passed to prevent this from happening again. Does this smack of "eminent service to the people and Parliament"? On the topic of COVID, let's acknowledge his total failure to secure sufficient vaccine supplies early on which led to delays in distribution. Then, when he finally started to get his act together, his over-reliance on AstraZeneca despite the concerns about rare blood clot risks, led to hesitancy and confusion about the safety of vaccines. Unlike the other world leaders who personally lobbied Pfizer executives to secure Pfizer, Morrison chose not to and as such, our early access to the Pfizer doses was limited. Hardly a worthy contribution to global leadership. Then there was the public education campaign around the vaccine that failed to effectively communicate its benefits, and his "it's not a race" messaging, which added fuel to the confusion fire, resulting in misinformation and anti-vaccine sentiment. As a result of all this, we were literally left lagging behind other OECD nation's in our COVID response. While he did instigate JobKeeper, I found it incredible how JobKeeper overpayments to corporations went unchecked, giving them a choice to pay back the additional funds, but overpayments for JobSeeker? Phew - send out the debt notices! Talking of debt notices, the scandalous, harmful robodebt scheme was launched under his leadership when he was the social services minister, and he was the PM at the time of its very timely conclusion. He never took responsibility for it. Instead, he complained that he was a victim of "political lynching". In my opinion, this program represents the most shameful episode of Australia's political history. I was ashamed of my government then. I remain so. You know, maybe what won the award for him was the way he kindly and compassionately considered the very real needs of our most vulnerable Australians (note the sarcasm). His "you have to have a go to get a go" response to people struggling below the poverty line on Centrelink, demanding they pull themselves up by their bootstraps - despite them not having the money for said bootstraps - could conceivably be understood by the overprivileged elites as "good leadership". In reality, it's an entirely different story. Personally, it was when he divided the nation into "the taxed" and the "taxed nots" that had my blood truly boiling; like our worth as a person is counted only in what the government gets out of us. And even then, like we don't all pay tax and excise on petrol, registration and GST. Now there's an example of eminent service to the people. READ MORE: Perhaps the award should have read "for eminent service to the wealthy people." Don't even get me started on the Brittany Higgins case and his failure to even recognise the gravity of the situation until his wife talked to him about it. This is the man who Council for the Order of Australia appointed the highest honour in the land. In my opinion, it's the one case where tradition should have been set aside.
The Advertiser
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Steven Kennedy will become the nation's most senior public servant, while Treasury will get its first-ever female secretary in Jenny Wilkinson. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the new appointments in a speech to the National Press Club on Tuesday, where he thanked outgoing Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary Glyn Davis. Dr Kennedy, currently the Treasury secretary, will replace Professor Davis, while Finance secretary Jenny Wilkinson will return to Treasury to become its first female boss. IN OTHER NEWS: "These outstanding public servants will continue to excel in their service to our nation," Mr Albanese said. "I am delighted that Dr Kennedy and Ms Wilkinson accepted my invitations. "I want to take this opportunity to publicly thank Glyn Davis, the outgoing secretary, for his service and his contribution to our country." The Prime Minister said the public service and government will spend the next three years "focused on delivering what Australians voted for on May the 3rd". "And in the conversation about future economic reform, we should also remember what Australians voted against. "Because Australians overwhelmingly rejected policies designed to drive down wages, undermine job security and take flexibility away from working families." Both Dr Kennedy and Ms Wilkinson had been considered frontrunners for the Prime Minister and Cabinet role, after Professor Davis announced he would step down in June. Dr Kennedy was first appointed to lead Treasury in 2019 by the Morrison government, and reappointed by Treasurer Jim Chalmers for another five years in 2024. He helped to lead Labor's overhaul of the stage three tax cuts ahead of the last federal election, and Dr Chalmers praised him in a statement on Tuesday afternoon. "I'm so grateful to Steven Kennedy for our very close and effective partnership over the past three years, for his friendship over a much longer period, for his service to my predecessor as well, and for the chance to work with him now in his new role," the Treasurer said. "Australia was incredibly fortunate to have someone of Steven's calibre leading the Treasury, and is just as fortunate having him now lead the Australian Public Service." Ms Wilkinson will depart from Finance as its third female secretary, to make history as the Treasury's first female leader. She is an economist who served in senior Treasury roles before the Albanese government promoted her into the secretary pool in 2022. "I am really excited by this opportunity to work even more closely with Jenny, whose contribution as the Secretary of the Department of Finance has been instrumental to our first four budgets and so much of the broader work of our government," Dr Chalmers said. "Jenny is one of Australia's most distinguished and experienced economists and public servants and has served with distinction under governments of both political persuasions." Treasury, the Reserve Bank and the Productivity Commission will now all be led by women. Steven Kennedy will become the nation's most senior public servant, while Treasury will get its first-ever female secretary in Jenny Wilkinson. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the new appointments in a speech to the National Press Club on Tuesday, where he thanked outgoing Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary Glyn Davis. Dr Kennedy, currently the Treasury secretary, will replace Professor Davis, while Finance secretary Jenny Wilkinson will return to Treasury to become its first female boss. IN OTHER NEWS: "These outstanding public servants will continue to excel in their service to our nation," Mr Albanese said. "I am delighted that Dr Kennedy and Ms Wilkinson accepted my invitations. "I want to take this opportunity to publicly thank Glyn Davis, the outgoing secretary, for his service and his contribution to our country." The Prime Minister said the public service and government will spend the next three years "focused on delivering what Australians voted for on May the 3rd". "And in the conversation about future economic reform, we should also remember what Australians voted against. "Because Australians overwhelmingly rejected policies designed to drive down wages, undermine job security and take flexibility away from working families." Both Dr Kennedy and Ms Wilkinson had been considered frontrunners for the Prime Minister and Cabinet role, after Professor Davis announced he would step down in June. Dr Kennedy was first appointed to lead Treasury in 2019 by the Morrison government, and reappointed by Treasurer Jim Chalmers for another five years in 2024. He helped to lead Labor's overhaul of the stage three tax cuts ahead of the last federal election, and Dr Chalmers praised him in a statement on Tuesday afternoon. "I'm so grateful to Steven Kennedy for our very close and effective partnership over the past three years, for his friendship over a much longer period, for his service to my predecessor as well, and for the chance to work with him now in his new role," the Treasurer said. "Australia was incredibly fortunate to have someone of Steven's calibre leading the Treasury, and is just as fortunate having him now lead the Australian Public Service." Ms Wilkinson will depart from Finance as its third female secretary, to make history as the Treasury's first female leader. She is an economist who served in senior Treasury roles before the Albanese government promoted her into the secretary pool in 2022. "I am really excited by this opportunity to work even more closely with Jenny, whose contribution as the Secretary of the Department of Finance has been instrumental to our first four budgets and so much of the broader work of our government," Dr Chalmers said. "Jenny is one of Australia's most distinguished and experienced economists and public servants and has served with distinction under governments of both political persuasions." Treasury, the Reserve Bank and the Productivity Commission will now all be led by women. Steven Kennedy will become the nation's most senior public servant, while Treasury will get its first-ever female secretary in Jenny Wilkinson. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the new appointments in a speech to the National Press Club on Tuesday, where he thanked outgoing Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary Glyn Davis. Dr Kennedy, currently the Treasury secretary, will replace Professor Davis, while Finance secretary Jenny Wilkinson will return to Treasury to become its first female boss. IN OTHER NEWS: "These outstanding public servants will continue to excel in their service to our nation," Mr Albanese said. "I am delighted that Dr Kennedy and Ms Wilkinson accepted my invitations. "I want to take this opportunity to publicly thank Glyn Davis, the outgoing secretary, for his service and his contribution to our country." The Prime Minister said the public service and government will spend the next three years "focused on delivering what Australians voted for on May the 3rd". "And in the conversation about future economic reform, we should also remember what Australians voted against. "Because Australians overwhelmingly rejected policies designed to drive down wages, undermine job security and take flexibility away from working families." Both Dr Kennedy and Ms Wilkinson had been considered frontrunners for the Prime Minister and Cabinet role, after Professor Davis announced he would step down in June. Dr Kennedy was first appointed to lead Treasury in 2019 by the Morrison government, and reappointed by Treasurer Jim Chalmers for another five years in 2024. He helped to lead Labor's overhaul of the stage three tax cuts ahead of the last federal election, and Dr Chalmers praised him in a statement on Tuesday afternoon. "I'm so grateful to Steven Kennedy for our very close and effective partnership over the past three years, for his friendship over a much longer period, for his service to my predecessor as well, and for the chance to work with him now in his new role," the Treasurer said. "Australia was incredibly fortunate to have someone of Steven's calibre leading the Treasury, and is just as fortunate having him now lead the Australian Public Service." Ms Wilkinson will depart from Finance as its third female secretary, to make history as the Treasury's first female leader. She is an economist who served in senior Treasury roles before the Albanese government promoted her into the secretary pool in 2022. "I am really excited by this opportunity to work even more closely with Jenny, whose contribution as the Secretary of the Department of Finance has been instrumental to our first four budgets and so much of the broader work of our government," Dr Chalmers said. "Jenny is one of Australia's most distinguished and experienced economists and public servants and has served with distinction under governments of both political persuasions." Treasury, the Reserve Bank and the Productivity Commission will now all be led by women. Steven Kennedy will become the nation's most senior public servant, while Treasury will get its first-ever female secretary in Jenny Wilkinson. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the new appointments in a speech to the National Press Club on Tuesday, where he thanked outgoing Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary Glyn Davis. Dr Kennedy, currently the Treasury secretary, will replace Professor Davis, while Finance secretary Jenny Wilkinson will return to Treasury to become its first female boss. IN OTHER NEWS: "These outstanding public servants will continue to excel in their service to our nation," Mr Albanese said. "I am delighted that Dr Kennedy and Ms Wilkinson accepted my invitations. "I want to take this opportunity to publicly thank Glyn Davis, the outgoing secretary, for his service and his contribution to our country." The Prime Minister said the public service and government will spend the next three years "focused on delivering what Australians voted for on May the 3rd". "And in the conversation about future economic reform, we should also remember what Australians voted against. "Because Australians overwhelmingly rejected policies designed to drive down wages, undermine job security and take flexibility away from working families." Both Dr Kennedy and Ms Wilkinson had been considered frontrunners for the Prime Minister and Cabinet role, after Professor Davis announced he would step down in June. Dr Kennedy was first appointed to lead Treasury in 2019 by the Morrison government, and reappointed by Treasurer Jim Chalmers for another five years in 2024. He helped to lead Labor's overhaul of the stage three tax cuts ahead of the last federal election, and Dr Chalmers praised him in a statement on Tuesday afternoon. "I'm so grateful to Steven Kennedy for our very close and effective partnership over the past three years, for his friendship over a much longer period, for his service to my predecessor as well, and for the chance to work with him now in his new role," the Treasurer said. "Australia was incredibly fortunate to have someone of Steven's calibre leading the Treasury, and is just as fortunate having him now lead the Australian Public Service." Ms Wilkinson will depart from Finance as its third female secretary, to make history as the Treasury's first female leader. She is an economist who served in senior Treasury roles before the Albanese government promoted her into the secretary pool in 2022. "I am really excited by this opportunity to work even more closely with Jenny, whose contribution as the Secretary of the Department of Finance has been instrumental to our first four budgets and so much of the broader work of our government," Dr Chalmers said. "Jenny is one of Australia's most distinguished and experienced economists and public servants and has served with distinction under governments of both political persuasions." Treasury, the Reserve Bank and the Productivity Commission will now all be led by women.
