*He has put all options on the table, including a deal with the Greens, accepting more changes from the Coalition or shelving the changes. But his commentary suggested he would seek a deal with the minor parties.*
*[…] Opposition treasury spokesperson Angus Taylor told the Australian Financial Review that he was questioning the government’s commitment to the independence of the RBA following recent comments from Chalmers that high rates are “smashing the economy”.*
*[…] Chalmers noted that he had not, to date, been seriously negotiating with the Greens as he had been seeking bipartisanship between the major parties.*
*“Unfortunately, the position that the Coalition has taken deals the minor parties into the conversation more than they should be, in my view, and that’s an unfortunate development.”*
*“But I think if you compared the skills of the existing board members to the sort of monetary policy committee members that you have in other central banks, most of them don’t have that skill set,” he told The Australian Financial Review, noting that a few board members including Carolyn Hewson had economics backgrounds.*
*[…] Dr Kearns said the monetary policy committee would ideally comprise people with expertise in a range of areas.*
*“The skills that I would like to see on there is someone who understands the theory of monetary policy, someone with macro-econometrics experience, someone who has a really deep understanding of financial markets, and you need to have someone who has a deep understanding of the labour market,” he said.*
doctorcunts on
I’m a Labor voter but Chalmers can fuck off – there’s a very good reason the RBA is independent, so when governments grossly mismanage the economy the RBA has the ability to loosen or tighten the economic settings to help offset government irresponsibility and ensure someone is capable of making unpopular decisions without being beholden to an electorate that would sell their baby for mortgage rate cuts
Main criteria for some of them seems to be an ability to be on lots of boards of things. I suspect connections play as much a part as ability.
A_Fabulous_Elephant on
It seems the Coalition thinks it can hammer Labor on “undermining” the RBA when they implement recommended reforms without Liberal support.
I’m not sure how effective it will be given most people aren’t really interested in this sort of bureaucratic organisation. Perhaps the Libs think After Dark can start some culture war bullcrap to keep this in the public consciousness.
Going for support from the Greens/independents is probably the best play from Labor here. They’d have to maintain provisions for the Treasurer to override the RBA’s decisions to satisfy MCM. But insofar it continues to not ever be used it shouldn’t be an issue. The Libs will scream about jobs for mates and Labor stacking the board with unionists but as long as Chalmers actually appoints economic experts to the monetary board this attack should fall flat. Labor can then point quizzically at the Libs and ask what the hysteria is about.
It really seems to be Angus Taylor bargaining with Chalmers in bad faith. These reforms should’ve been agreed to months ago.
maaxwell on
“The treasurer said he would not seek to negotiate an alternative deal with the greens, because he believed the reforms should have the support of both the two major parties” as per the ABC.
5 Comments
*[Capital Brief, Sep 10, 2024](https://www.capitalbrief.com/briefing/treasurer-jim-chalmers-appears-set-to-seek-greens-deal-for-rba-reform-dff819d8-bd2c-4305-bdad-50a13f19a8b4/):* *Treasurer Jim Chalmers has hit back at the Coalition as the opposition prepares to block his planned and historic reforms of the Reserve Bank.**
*He has put all options on the table, including a deal with the Greens, accepting more changes from the Coalition or shelving the changes. But his commentary suggested he would seek a deal with the minor parties.*
*[…] Opposition treasury spokesperson Angus Taylor told the Australian Financial Review that he was questioning the government’s commitment to the independence of the RBA following recent comments from Chalmers that high rates are “smashing the economy”.*
*[…] Chalmers noted that he had not, to date, been seriously negotiating with the Greens as he had been seeking bipartisanship between the major parties.*
*“Unfortunately, the position that the Coalition has taken deals the minor parties into the conversation more than they should be, in my view, and that’s an unfortunate development.”*
___
**[AFR, Apr 23, 2023](https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/most-rba-board-members-not-qualified-to-set-interest-rates-20230421-p5d27y):* *Jonathan Kearns, who worked at the RBA for more than two decades before departing to take up a job as chief economist at Challenger in January, said the existing board members were all “exceptionally well-qualified individuals who have great experience in running complex organisations”.*
*“But I think if you compared the skills of the existing board members to the sort of monetary policy committee members that you have in other central banks, most of them don’t have that skill set,” he told The Australian Financial Review, noting that a few board members including Carolyn Hewson had economics backgrounds.*
*[…] Dr Kearns said the monetary policy committee would ideally comprise people with expertise in a range of areas.*
*“The skills that I would like to see on there is someone who understands the theory of monetary policy, someone with macro-econometrics experience, someone who has a really deep understanding of financial markets, and you need to have someone who has a deep understanding of the labour market,” he said.*
I’m a Labor voter but Chalmers can fuck off – there’s a very good reason the RBA is independent, so when governments grossly mismanage the economy the RBA has the ability to loosen or tighten the economic settings to help offset government irresponsibility and ensure someone is capable of making unpopular decisions without being beholden to an electorate that would sell their baby for mortgage rate cuts
The members of the RBA [https://www.rba.gov.au/about-rba/boards/rba-board.html](https://www.rba.gov.au/about-rba/boards/rba-board.html)
Main criteria for some of them seems to be an ability to be on lots of boards of things. I suspect connections play as much a part as ability.
It seems the Coalition thinks it can hammer Labor on “undermining” the RBA when they implement recommended reforms without Liberal support.
I’m not sure how effective it will be given most people aren’t really interested in this sort of bureaucratic organisation. Perhaps the Libs think After Dark can start some culture war bullcrap to keep this in the public consciousness.
Going for support from the Greens/independents is probably the best play from Labor here. They’d have to maintain provisions for the Treasurer to override the RBA’s decisions to satisfy MCM. But insofar it continues to not ever be used it shouldn’t be an issue. The Libs will scream about jobs for mates and Labor stacking the board with unionists but as long as Chalmers actually appoints economic experts to the monetary board this attack should fall flat. Labor can then point quizzically at the Libs and ask what the hysteria is about.
It really seems to be Angus Taylor bargaining with Chalmers in bad faith. These reforms should’ve been agreed to months ago.
“The treasurer said he would not seek to negotiate an alternative deal with the greens, because he believed the reforms should have the support of both the two major parties” as per the ABC.