Michele Bullock’s historic appointment as first female deputy governor to shatter Reserve Bank glass ceiling

There is an X factor in an accessible and authoritative public face in RBA leadership. The government named Michele Bullock as deputy governor after extensive market soundings.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and new RBA deputy governor Michele Bullock in Melbourne on Thursday. Picture: AAP Image / Diego Fedele via NCA NewsWire

Michele Bullock’s appointment as the first female deputy governor of the Reserve Bank in its 62 years is both well deserved and historic.

While Bullock’s long career at the Reserve Bank and her 13-year role as an assistant governor make her technically the most qualified person for the job, it is impossible not to be accompanied with the excitement of another glass ceiling being shattered in what was has been a very male dominated Australian policymaking environment.

Let Australian history show that on April 1, 2022 the Morrison government made the historic decision which will — almost inevitably — lead to the appointment of the first woman governor of the Reserve Bank in its 62-year history.

She’s not there yet.

But there is a chance she could be in the seat if governor Phil Lowe decides not to extend his current seven-year term in September next year.

While there will inevitably be those who say that the decision was a “quota appointment” by the Morrison government, keen to curry favour with female voters, in the end the decision came down to two highly qualified women: Bullock and Treasury deputy secretary, Jenny Wilkinson who is also a former RBA staffer.

Wilkinson will now be in line to be the first woman secretary of the Federal Treasury whenever Steven Kennedy steps down or retires.

It is significant that former Reserve Bank governor, Ian Macfarlane, who has assiduously kept out of the public debates around the bank since he retired as governor in 2006, has welcomed Bullock’s appointment.

“They made the right choice,” he said.

Macfarlane knows Bullock from his days running the Bank’s economic department when Bullock was a young analyst.

Lest there be any suggestion that Bullock’s appointment was an exercise in Morrison courting the female vote by appointing a woman, it is worth recording Bullock’s career.

She grew up in the northern NSW town of Armidale and studied economics at the University of New England.

She joined the RBA in 1985 in the economics department and did a Masters at the London School of Economics before returning to Sydney.

In 1998 she was appointed to the newly established payments department within the Bank.

In 2010 she was the first woman to become an assistant governor of the bank.

She became assistant governor (currency) and chair of Note Printing Australia, which prints Australia’s bank notes.

In October 2016 she was appointed assistant governor (financial system), having oversight over the bank’s work on financial stability, as well as the Bank’s oversight of the payments system.

In her current role she is a member of the Bank’s senior policy committees and deputy Chair of the Payments Systems Board.

Her role has included working with the banking industry on the launch of the New Payments Platform for real time payments.

She is a member of the Council of Financial Regulators and works extensively with the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the Department of the Treasury.

Bullock not only has the experience, she has a strong grounding within the culture of the Bank.

To call Bullock a safe pair of hands risks sounding patronising, but it is true.

She possesses the calm, steady demeanour which is an essential quality for a central bank governor who will inevitably be in the spotlight — in a role where every word is analysed for its potential implications for monetary policy and where a slip of the tongue can create significant uncertainty in financial markets.

Confidence in regulators and policymakers plays a critical element in a country’s success.

There is an “x” factor in being able to present an accessible while authoritative public face needed of an RBA governor and their heir apparent as deputy, which is hard to define, but it is obvious when it is not there.

The federal government made the appointment after extensive market soundings.

Make no mistake. Come the June board meeting of the RBA life is going to get a lot rockier as it is forced to put up rates – at a time when household indebtedness is high.

For the RBA to handle its next big challenge, market confidence in its leadership is critical.

Bullock’s experience in the payments system is going to become increasingly relevant with the rise of cryptocurrencies and buy now pay later fin techs.

Her role as being in charge of financial stability also means she is also keeping an eye on the ASX’s moves towards a blockchain based share trading and settlement system, expected sometime next year.

That move is not something anyone wants to get wrong, again for its own sake and the sake of the broader economy.

Bullock’s appointment follows the appointment of some very experienced women central banks on a global stage — including the first woman chair of the Federal Reserve Board Janet Yellen (now US Treasury Secretary), and the very impressive Christine Lagarde, the president of the European Central Bank and former managing director of the International Monetary Fund.

Bizarrely enough, Bullock can also thank Fortescue Metals Group founder Perth billionaire Twiggy Forrest for her historic appointment, which was made possible with surprise departure of Guy Debelle. Debelle was considered, until weeks ago, as the man most likely to succeed Lowe as governor to become a senior executive with Forrest’s green energy arm, Fortescue Future Industries (FFI).

Such is fate that what was a shock departure has led to a historic and sensible decision to promote Bullock.

Again ironically, the timing of Debelle’s shock departure has allowed the Morrison government to legitimately argue that it has made an appointment which will pave the way for the country’s first female central bank governor.

The appointment had to be made fast – before the government moved into caretaker mode once it calls the election.

That said, had Debelle decided to quit after the election – and assuming Labor wins in May – there was a high chance it would have made the same decision.

Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers welcomed the appointment while pointing out he was not consulted on it.

“Ms Bullock brings much experience from a distinguished career,” he said.

Somehow, sometimes, fate just gets it right.

Originally published as Michele Bullock’s historic appointment as first female deputy governor to shatter Reserve Bank glass ceiling