Outgoing Aus Finance Minister nominated to lead OECD

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday announced the nomination of outgoing Finance Minister Mathias Cormann as Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

In July, Cormann announced his retirement after serving as the Finance Minister for seven years, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) said in a news report.

“We believe the OECD needs the sort of leadership that we think Australia and an Australian can provide. And so I am announcing our intention to nominate Mathias Cormann, for the position of secretary-general of the OECD,” the report quoted Morrison as saying in a statement.

“Mathias’s seven-year experience as our longest-serving Finance Minister, Belgium-born, French-German and Flemish to boot, I think ideally equips him for the challenging role.”

Following the Prime Minister’s announcement, Cormann called the nomination a “great honour” to serve in one of the most “consequential” governing global bodies.

“The importance of practical cooperation has never been greater whether when dealing with a pandemic, the challenge of climate change, education and skills’ needs, the promising challenges of the digital economy and narrowing differences on taxation policy,” the ABC news report quoted him as saying in a statement.

“These are big challenges and I have accepted this nomination because I believe I can make a real difference.”

After Cormann’s exit later this month, Trade Minister Simon Birmingham will take over the Finance portfolio.

Founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade, the OECD is an inter-governmental economic organisation comprised of 37 member countries.