New chief for WA Treasury, acting positions to be filled

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Western Australian Treasurer Mike Nahan today announced Michael Barnes as his new head of the Treasury department.

Barnes has been acting under treasurer since February 2014, and was deputy under treasurer for nearby five years before that.

The appointment will take effect immediately.

The role of under treasurer has been vacant since the departure of Tim Marney in January 2014, three-and-a-half years into a five-year contract.

Additional senior roles filled with acting personnel can now be backfilled.

Dr Nahan said Mr Barnes had done an exceptional job since he started acting in the Under Treasurer position:

“Mr Barnes is the best person to lead Treasury during these challenging fiscal times, having been closely involved with the formulation and implementation of the State Budget for many years.”

Barnes has been a career Treasury official with 23 years’ experience spanning both federal and state governments. Starting out in the Commonwealth Treasury in 1992, he joined the state Treasury in 1997. He’s worked primarily in the areas of revenue policy, economic and revenue forecasting, fiscal strategy and whole-of-government financial management and reporting.

Barnes’ other positions include chairman of the WA Treasury Corporation, chair of the Asset Sales Taskforce, member of the Fiona Stanley Hospital Commissioning and Major Hospitals Transition Taskforce and the WA Health Transition and Reconfiguration Steering Committee. He holds a Bachelor of Business with Honours in Economics from Curtin University.