No guessing where you stand with political warrior Phil Gaetjens

Phil Gaetjens is a polarising figure, seen by many — even inside the Coalition — as a political warrior for the Treasurer.

He is tenacious, crisp and efficient in ensuring the Treasurer’s mission is executed. Nobody ever leaves a meeting with him wondering where he stands.

Under Scott Morrison, Treasury has been drawn into providing much more openly political advice than under previous treasurers, being asked on several occasions to prepare costings of Labor Party policies that had already been independently assessed by the Parliamentary Budget Office.

It is not unprecedented for ministerial advisers to be appointed department secretaries. Malcolm Turnbull appointed his own chief of staff, Greg Moriarty, to head the Defence Department, while he put the foreign affairs adviser within his office, Frances Adamson, in charge of the Department of Foreign Affairs.

However, both Mr Moriarty and Ms Adamson made their reputations within the Foreign Affairs Department. Neither had the least sense of partisanship, which it is harder for Mr Gaetjens to escape after 13 years in Coalition treasurers’ offices.

While Labor sees political motives behind Mr Gaetjens’ appointment in what is now an election year, the fact that he had been named as Australia’s ambassador to the OECD suggests his appointment was forced by an unplanned departure of John Fraser.

Mr Gaetjens’ experience brings him a deep understanding of the political realities of Treasury advice, of budget preparation and of the implementation of government policy.

He was seen as an able, if cautious, head of the NSW Treasury department. Although aided by a runaway housing boom, he can fairly claim some credit for the restoration of the state’s budget strength.

His supporters note that he would be one of the first Treasury secretaries with a background in micro-economic reform. Mr Fraser, the outgoing secretary, aspired to make a bigger impact in this area, establishing a structural reform division within Treasury.

However, his career has not given him carriage of major Treasury policy areas, other than within political offices, and the challenge for him will be to provide the leadership required to drive the department responsible for delivering national economic policy.