Shadow treasurer’s chief of staff Steven Hamilton criticised by Liberal MPs
The Liberal Party’s leading economist has been accused of ‘hating everything about the Liberal Party’ after labelling Peter Dutton’s policies as ‘terrible’, ‘stupid’, and ‘Soviet-style’.
The Liberal Party’s star economic recruit has been accused of being “more at home in the Labor Party” after he called for new taxes on carbon and mining, suggested Scott Morrison deserved to lose the 2022 election and described Peter Dutton’s policies as “stupid”, “terrible”, and “Soviet-style”.
Dr Steven Hamilton was appointed chief of staff to shadow treasurer Ted O’Brien in July. He was an assistant professor at George Washington University and chief economist at The Blueprint Institute think tank.
Dr Hamilton’s appointment has “raised eyebrows” within the Liberals after yet another horror week that saw Andrew Hastie have to hose down speculation he was going to challenge leader Sussan Ley.
One Liberal MP said Dr Hamilton’s views are “divergent from the mainstream of the (Liberal Party” and “more at home in the Labor Party”.
Another Liberal MP said Dr Hamilton’s appointment “brings into question Ted’s judgment”, suggesting it was the equivalent of “Jim Chalmers appointing Ayn Rand” – the 20th century philosopher and author beloved by libertarians.
Dr Hamilton – who is poised to play a leading role in formulating the Coalition’s economic agenda – dubbed Australia “the grift nation” and accused the National Party of resorting to “full-blown socialism” prior to his appointment.
Dr Hamilton also lauded Labor’s “political bravery” in redesigning the stage-three income tax cuts, cast doubt on the effectiveness of the Instant Asset Write Off and called for a $1.7m cap on super balances.
A senior Liberal insider said it was “pretty concerning the Liberal Party’s leading economist seems to hate everything about the Liberal Party”.
The Saturday Telegraph put questions to Mr O’Brien and Dr Hamilton, including whether the shadow treasurer was aware of the comments prior to the appointment.
A spokesman for Mr O’Brien said: “It’s only elected members that will ultimately make decisions.
“The Coalition is proud to hire many talented professionals who bring a wealth of knowledge, experience and ideas to the table,” the spokesman said.
Dr Hamilton described Chris Bowen’s appointment as Labor’s climate spokesman as “really welcome” during a 2021 interview with Sky News, and called on the Morrison government to “renounce their silly opposition to a carbon price”, in an Australian Financial Review (AFR) opinion piece, declaring “any Liberal who doesn’t support carbon pricing isn’t a true classical Liberal”.
He also accused the National Party of “full blown socialism” over its approach to energy policy, criticising Matt Canavan and Keith Pitt.
“Spare a thought for the classical liberals ... they made a Faustian bargain, selling their beliefs to win government. This illiberal circus is the result”, he wrote in the AFR.
In a separate piece for the AFR in April this year, Dr Hamilton wrote about Peter Dutton, calling the Coalition’s mortgage interest deduction proposal “frankly a terrible tax policy”, while labelling the fuel excise cut “stupid”.
On nuclear, he wrote “we will have a Soviet-style government-funded fleet of nuclear reactors.”
Following the May election, Dr Hamilton wrote: “People not only rejected Peter Dutton and everything he stood for … this is the resounding defeat the Coalition deserved in 2022, just three years late”.
In May 2023, Dr Hamilton told the ABC the petroleum resource rent tax should also include the mining sector.
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Originally published as Shadow treasurer’s chief of staff Steven Hamilton criticised by Liberal MPs
