Dr Jim Chalmers criticises “relentlessly negative” Peter Dutton for portraying other #RBA Governor candidates Steven Kennedy & Jenny Wilkinson as tainted.
“That’s an insult to departmental people,” he told reporters on Thursday when asked about Dutton’s comments.
“Mr Dutton should respect that whoever is RBA governor at any given time will be governing themselves with all rigour and independence that other governors have.”
Peter Dutton is refusing to say whether former prime minister Scott Morrison is to stand down from Parliament.
Support for the former prime minister to continue serving in Parliament has been rapidly evaporating after the release of the Robodebt royal commission report that found Mr Morrison “allowed Cabinet to be misled” when he first sought his colleagues’ backing for the unlawful scheme.
This week, members of a Liberal faction aligned to Mr Dutton threatened to force Mr Morrison’s exit by bringing on a preselection challenge against the former prime minister, saying the Opposition Leader wanted him gone “ASAP”.
But despite pointed statements about Mr Morrison’s political future coming from fellow Liberal MPs and Nationals leader David Littleproud, Mr Dutton was resolutely non-committal before Saturday’s Fadden byelection.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers is widely expected to announce the next governor of the Reserve Bank on Friday, with current governor Philip Lowe’s seven-year term set to expire in September and work under way to reform the bank following the independent review.
“We’ll support the government when they make the announcement, but not if it’s somebody who is tainted, or can be seen to be tainted – even if it’s somebody of a very high calibre and character – and whether it’s been somebody that’s worked closely with the Liberal or Labor government before,” Dutton said on 2GB radio on Thursday morning.
Oliver, who believes Lowe should be reappointed for a three-year term to see through the rest of the fight against inflation, said excluding people who had worked in the public service would restrict the pool of potential candidates.
“It’s a perfectly reasonable thing that someone would have had some of their career at the RBA, maybe some of it in Treasury or Finance, or the OECD or the private sector. It would be a good thing,” he said.
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