Mathias Cormann has allies for OECD top job

Outgoing Finance Minister Mathias Cormann is likely to have the support of Japan and potentially Britain to take the role of OECD secretary-general.

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann. Picture: Martin Ollman

Outgoing Finance Minister Mathias Cormann is likely to have the support of Japan and potentially Britain to take the role of OECD secretary-general, but could face competition from the US can­didate, and those of Sweden and Estonia.

Scott Morrison announced on Thursday that Senator Cormann would be nominated by Australia to take the Paris-based post following his retirement from politics on October 30.

The Prime Minister said the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development — dubbed the “club of rich nations” — would be more critical than ever to shape global economic policy in the post-COVID era.

“We believe the OECD needs the sort of leadership that we think Australia and an Australian can provide,” Mr Morrison said.

The Belgian-born, multilingual West Australian will go up against at least five other candidates for the role, making his pitch to the dean of the OECD’s ambassadors, the UK’s Christopher Sharrock, before a vote of all 37 member countries by March next year.

The other already nominated candidates are White House deputy chief-of-staff Chris Liddell; Sweden’s Cecilia Malmström, a former EU trade commissioner; Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid; former Canadian foreign minister Bill Morneau; and the Czech Republic’s former minister for the economy Vladimir Dlouhy.

There has never been an OECD secretary-general from the southern hemisphere, and neither has the post been occupied by a woman.

Mr Morrison said Senator Cormann was “uniquely qualified” for the job. “Mathias’s seven-year experience as our longest-serving Finance Minister, Belgian-born, French-German and Flemish to boot, I think ideally equips him for the challenging role of the secretary-general of the OECD.

“His belief fundamentally in these market principles and the way they can drive a global recovery is I think essential for the job.”

Mr Liddell, a dual US-New Zealand national, is a potential front­runner. The former General Motors chief financial officer, who is head of a transition planning unit in the White House in case of a Donald Trump election loss, is said to be well-regarded internationally.

Senator Cormann said the OECD was “without any doubt one of the most consequential international economic policy and governance bodies in the world today”.

“I have accepted this nomination because I believe I can make a real difference,” he said.