Changing Fortunes

A History of the Australian Treasury

Paul Tilley
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Changing Fortunes

Published

6 August 2019

ISBN

9780522873887

Pages

526

Imprint

Melbourne University Press

Changing Fortunes

A History of the Australian Treasury

Paul Tilley
Examines how Treasury has evolved: in its economic thinking and with its influence on policy.
Treasury has been at the centre of every major economic policy issue the Australian Government has faced, its role evolving from the government's bookkeeper at Federation in 1901 to the economic policy advising agency it is today.

Throughout its history Treasury has been a robust and stable institution with a consistent market-oriented economic framework - but its policy influence has waxed and waned. It has supported reformist Treasurers such as Keating and Costello, and been a voice of caution when political imperatives have pushed governments down economically damaging paths. At times, though, Treasury advice has been ignored and it has been pushed out into the cold.

Amidst the political chaos of recent times, Treasury has been dragged closer to government and become a less effective policy adviser. The consequent lack of a consistent government economic reform narrative over the last decade is plain for all to see.

Changing Fortunes tracks…
Treasury has been at the centre of every major economic policy issue the Australian Government has faced, its role evolving from the government's bookkeeper at Federation in 1901 to the economic policy advising agency it is today.

Throughout its history Treasury has been a robust and stable institution with a consistent market-oriented economic framework - but its policy influence has waxed and waned. It has supported reformist Treasurers such as Keating and Costello, and been a voice of caution when political imperatives have pushed governments down economically damaging paths. At times, though, Treasury advice has been ignored and it has been pushed out into the cold.

Amidst the political chaos of recent times, Treasury has been dragged closer to government and become a less effective policy adviser. The consequent lack of a consistent government economic reform narrative over the last decade is plain for all to see.

Changing Fortunes tracks Treasury's history since Federation, with a focus on the modern era since its 1976 split with Finance.

Paul Tilley

Paul Tilley

Paul Tilley was an economic policy adviser to governments for thirty years, working mainly in Treasury but also the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Treasurer’s Office, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. He is a Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University’s Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, and a Senior Fellow at the Melbourne Law School. Prior to writing Mixed Fortunes: A History of Tax Reform in Australia, he…

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Paperback
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