Initially dismissed as a one-in-10 longshot whose conservative approach to climate change would render him ineligible, Mathias Cormann heads into the final round of negotiations for the OECD’s top job neck-and-neck with Sweden’s Cecelia Malmstrom.

The race has reached a “very delicate” closing stage, according to sources familiar with the situation, and there’s cautious optimism in Canberra the former finance minister might just prevail amid a frantic round of last minute high-level lobbying.