newzealandinc.com Informed. Influential. Indispensable.
Kevin Rudd’s new chief of staff Jim Murphy has strong links with New Zealand’s policy and business elites, even if his boss doesn’t.
Murphy, an Australian Treasury deputy secretary, was at Peter Costello’s side when the former Australian Liberal Treasurer co-launched the Australasia single market process with former NZ Finance Minister Michael Cullen a decade ago. A taciturn man, he was an able steward of Australia’s interests during the initial single market policy formation period, and a realist on the prospects for transtasman mutual recognition of dividends which he pointed out would put an $A1 billion hole in Australian tax revenues.
His appointment should go down well with the Australian business community as he has been the long-term executive director of the Australian Treasury’s markets group, which oversees issues relating to financial systems, foreign investment, infrastructure, and corporations and capital markets.
But Liberal shadow treasurer Joe Hockey has accused Kevin Rudd of politicising the Treasury, describing the recruitment of a senior official as “a joke” and “wrong on so many fronts”.
Murphy has been a regular attendee at the Australian New Zealand Leadership Forum .