Long-time public servant Iain Rennie has been appointed Treasury Secretary, and will oversee New Zealand’s public finances and act as the top economic advisor to the Government.
The role has been vacant since September when Caralee McLiesh chose to return to Australia when her first term as Secretary came to an end.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis advertised for a “change agent” to replace McLiesh, and was believed to be looking for a candidate who would push pro-growth policy advice and more assertively scrutinise spending in other departments.
Some conservatives think the Treasury has become soft and want it to return to the hard-headed approach it took in the 1980s and 1990s, when it advised governments to liberalise the economy.
Technically, the Treasury Secretary was appointed by the Public Service Commissioner, although that decision would have been approved by Willis in practice.
Rennie was a junior Treasury staffer during the reforms of the late 1980s, where he worked on the Reserve Bank Act. He was then seconded to work for Jim Bolger as an economic advisor in the 1990s, before returning to the agency and becoming a Deputy Secretary by the 2000s.
He became the Public Service Commissioner in 2008 and held the role until 2016, when he left to become a private consultant. More recently, he also joined the Treasury’s Audit Committee as an independent member.
This means Rennie, who is about 60 years’ old, has a lifetime of experience in NZ economic policymaking and was involved in the big reforms conservatives admire. Plus he has ties to the National Party, having held senior roles under Bolger and John Key’s governments.
In a press release, Deputy Public Service Commissioner Heather Baggott said Rennie had a deep understanding of the financial system and macroeconomics and would be credible as the “public service’s chief financial officer”.
“Mr Rennie is well connected with key parts of the New Zealand economy, including business and political leaders and commentators. He is well qualified for the role and has served successive governments on both sides of the political fence,” she said.
He has a bachelor degree in economics and was awarded a New Zealand Order of Merit in 2017 for his work as a public servant. His term will start in November and end in 2029.
2 Comments
Here's something Copilot dragged up from 2014, where Rennie was a Commissioner for State Services. I wonder if he'll bring back the Living Standard Framework?
https://www.globalgovernmentforum.com/interview-iain-rennie-state-servi…
Rennie is of the past; Yes Minister in a zimmer-frame.
And as Dan could have challenged, growth is in the past. The Wellbeing approach, while still anthropocentric, was on the right track. Pity the public - via not being informed - missed the point.
Rennie/Willis will fail - cannot not fail. Logic tells us that if the way to growth was available, it wouldn't need help; so what we are seeing, is the high-income end of things - from Musk to Luxon - trying to prolong a paradigm that was to their temporary advantage. And which is playing in injury time.
This desperate putch is global, and very similar across borders and across cultures; we seem to be wired to consume, overshoot and collapse. One wee difference; this time it's global.
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