Tony Cole

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Tony Cole

AO
Secretary of the Department of Human Services and Health
In office
23 December 1993 –1 July 1994
Secretary of the Department of Health, Housing, Local Government and Community Services
In office
24 March 1993 –23 December 1993
Secretary of the Department of the Treasury
In office
14 February 1991 –24 March 1993
Personal details
Born
Anthony Stuart Cole

(1947-03-17) 17 March 1947 (age 71)
Macksville, New South Wales
Nationality Flag of Australia.svg Australian
Alma mater University of Sydney
OccupationPublic servant

Anthony Stuart Cole AO (born 17 March 1947) is a retired senior Australian public servant. He served the Commonwealth in various capacities for over 25 years.

Contents

Early life

Cole was born in Macksville, New South Wales, on 17 March 1947. [1] He attended Macksville High School. [1]

Macksville, New South Wales Town in New South Wales, Australia

Macksville is a small town on the Nambucca River in Nambucca Shire, New South Wales, Australia. It is halfway between Sydney and Brisbane, along the Pacific Highway, approximately 40 minutes north of Kempsey, 40 minutes south of Coffs Harbour, 1 hour 10 minutes north of Port Macquarie, 5 hours south of Brisbane and 5 hours north of Sydney.

Macksville High School school in New South Wales, Australia

Macksville High School is an Australian public high school in Macksville, New South Wales.

Career

In 1968, Cole graduated with a Bachelor of Economics degree from the University of Sydney and joined the Department of the Treasury. [2] [3]

University of Sydney university in Sydney, Australia

The University of Sydney is an Australian public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it was Australia's first university and is regarded as one of the world's leading universities. The university is colloquially known as one of Australia's sandstone universities. Its campus is ranked in the top 10 of the world's most beautiful universities by the British Daily Telegraph and The Huffington Post, spreading across the inner-city suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington. The university comprises 9 faculties and university schools, through which it offers bachelor, master and doctoral degrees. In 2014 it had 33,505 undergraduate and 19,284 graduate students.

Department of the Treasury (Australia) Australian government department

The Department of the Treasury is the Australian Government department responsible for economic policy, fiscal policy, market regulation, and the Australian federal budget. The Treasury is one of only two government departments that have existed continuously since Federation in 1901, along with the Attorney-General's Department.

From 1979 Cole spent two years as a senior World Bank official, saying these years were crucial in developing his views on economic policy. [4] Shortly after in 1983 Cole was appointed principal private secretary to Treasurer Paul Keating, working in the role until October 1985. [3] [5]

The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to countries of the world for capital projects. It comprises two institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), and the International Development Association (IDA). The World Bank is a component of the World Bank Group.

Treasurer of Australia Australian government minister in charge of economic policy

The Treasurer of Australia is the minister in the Government of Australia responsible for government expenditure and revenue raising. The Treasurer plays a key role in the economic policy of the government. The current holder of the position is Josh Frydenberg, whose term began on 24 August 2018.

Paul Keating Australian politician, 24th Prime Minister of Australia

Paul John Keating is a former Australian politician who served as the 24th Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1991 to 1996 as leader of the Labor Party. He had earlier served as Treasurer in the Hawke Government from 1983 to 1991.

He was appointed the thirteenth Secretary of the Department of the Treasury in 1991, remaining in the role until 1993 when he transferred to another role as Secretary of the Department of Health, Housing, Local Government and Community Services (later Department of Human Services and Health). [3] [6] There was speculation at the time that Cole was removed as Treasury Secretary due to evidence he gave to a Senate inquiry into Victoria's debt blowout, the Treasurer, John Dawkins, denied the suggestion, stating that his move was just a normal part of the re-establishment of administration following an election. [7]

The Department of Health, Housing, Local Government and Community Services was an Australian government department that existed between March and December 1993.

The Department of Human Services and Health was an Australian government department that existed between December 1993 and March 1996.

John Dawkins Australian politician

John Sydney "Joe" Dawkins, AO, Australian politician, was Treasurer in the Keating Labor government from December 1991 to December 1993. He is notable for his reforms of tertiary education as Minister for Employment, Education and Training, his period as Treasurer when he attempted to increase taxes in order to balance the budget and his abrupt exit from politics.

Cole left the public service in 1994, aged 47. [3] When he left, John Taylor, the Commonwealth Auditor-General at the time, told media "it's a tragedy that somebody of the standing and even future potential of Tony Cole should be lost to public service". [8]

After leaving the public sector, Cole was a Senior Investment Consultant and Executive in the Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation’s investment consulting business for 17 years, including heading the business in the Asia Pacific region for more than five years. [2]

In 2013 and 2014, he was a member of the Abbott Government's National Commission of Audit, which was established to improve the Australian government's budget. [9]

Awards

In 1995, Cole was honoured as an Officer of the Order of Australia, in recognition of service to the development of public sector policy. [10]

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References

  1. 1 2 CP 617: Anthony Stuart COLE, National Archives of Australia, retrieved 17 January 2014
  2. 1 2 "Executive Profile: Anthony Stuart Cole AM", Bloomberg BusinessWeek, archived from the original on 30 December 2013
  3. 1 2 3 4 Department of the Treasury (2001), "1991 - 2001 Key outcomes and developments", The Treasury Annual Report 2000–2001, Department of the Treasury, archived from the original on 4 July 2012
  4. ↑ Goldfinch, Shaun (2000), Remaking New Zealand and Australian Economic Policy: Ideas, Institutions and Policy Communities, Victoria University Press, p. 49, ISBN   0 86473 393 3
  5. ↑ Burgess, Verona (8 February 1991). "'Open mind' over Treasury posting". The Canberra Times. p. 3.
  6. ↑ CA 7660: Department of Health, Housing, Local Government and Community Services, Central Office, National Archives of Australia, retrieved 2 December 2013
  7. ↑ "Dawkins denies Cole was 'punished'". The Canberra Times. AAP. 30 March 1993. p. 2.
  8. ↑ Burgess, Verona (26 June 1994). "Departure of Cole 'should not have been allowed'". The Canberra Times. p. 3.
  9. ↑ Hurst, Daniel (15 January 2014). "Australia's budget is deteriorating, says commission of audit head". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014.
  10. ↑ Search Australian Honours: COLE, Anthony Stuart, Australian Government, retrieved 31 December 2013
Government offices
Preceded by
Himself
as Secretary of the Department of Health, Housing, Local Government and Community Services		 Secretary of the Department of Human Services and Health
1993 – 1994		Succeeded by
Stephen Duckett
Preceded by
Chris Conybeare
as Secretary of the Department of Immigration, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs		 Secretary of the Department of Health, Housing, Local Government and Community Services
1993		Succeeded by
Himself
as Secretary of the Department of Human Services and Health
Preceded by
Stuart Hamilton
as Secretary of the Department of Health, Housing and Community Services
Preceded by
Chris Higgins 		Secretary of the Department of the Treasury
1991 – 1993		Succeeded by
Ted Evans


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