New Productivity Commission chair given the job of firing up growth

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A fresh face has been picked for the task of guaranteeing Australia’s future prosperity and lifting living standards.

Accomplished economist and public servant Chris Barrett has been installed in the top job at the Productivity Commission to replace outgoing chair Michael Brennan.

Barrett has held senior positions within the public service, including deputy secretary of the economics division of the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance.

He’s also been an ambassador to the OECD, held a key climate change position for a European organisation and served as chief of staff for former Labor treasurer Wayne Swan.

A pressing task for the recruit will be modernising the independent body in line with the Albanese government’s agenda to overhaul of key economic institutions.

This started with a major shake-up of the Reserve Bank, including a dual-board structure for setting monetary policy and running day-to-day operations.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the renewal project at the Productivity Commission would be key to kickstarting Australia’s sluggish growth.

Productivity growth, which is linked to Australia’s future prosperity and living standards, has been limping along at its slowest pace in 60 years, averaging at 1.1% a year over the decade to 2020.

It’s become a focal point in the battle against high inflation, with RBA governor Philip Lowe repeatedly warning slow productivity growth has been fuelling high labour costs.

Chalmers said productivity was not growing strongly enough.

“If we want to see rising living standards and we want to see decent wages, productivity needs to be part of that,” he said.

The treasurer said it would take time to kickstart the engine.

“Nobody pretends that there’s a switch that you can flick to turn around what has been disappointing performance on the productivity side.”

Treasury has been leading a consultation process into the commission, with Chalmers unable to provide timing on the release of its review.

He said the appointment of a former Labor staffer was not about better aligning the commission with his government’s priorities.

“There’ll be some people that say leave the PC exactly as it is, others will say abolish it entirely,” he said.

The treasurer has made it clear there’s been some divergence in views between the government and the commission, with Labor accepting some, but not all, of the institution’s recommendations in its five-year inquiry.

The inquiry, released in March, laid out 71 ideas to get sluggish productivity growth moving.

At the time, Chalmers said not all of the report’s recommendations would be acted on, but most aligned with his government’s values and priorities.

The Mandarin will publish a three-part series on the productivity challenges facing Barrett later this week.