A business leader who lobbied Anthony Albanese to increase immigration during a housing crisis has been appointed to a Reserve Bank board.
Jennifer Westacott, former head of the Business Council of Australia, is one of four new appointments to the RBA’s new governing board with five-year terms starting on March 1 next year.
Last year, the former head of the millionaire chief executives’ lobby called for record immigration as tenants struggled to find somewhere to live.
“There is currently a misconception that our migration numbers are higher than normal,” he said in August 2023.
“It is important to recognize that the migration figures currently recorded simply reflect a rebalancing following the pandemic border closures in 2020 and 2021.”
Westacott made that argument as a record 548,800 migrants moved to Australia in the year to September 2023.
Australia’s net overseas migration rate moderated to 445,600 in the year to June 2024, but was still 50,600 more than the Treasury’s May Budget forecast of 395,000 arrivals for 2023-24.
International students make up a large proportion of new arrivals to Australia and Ms Westacott was last year appointed chancellor of Western Sydney University.
Jennifer Westacott, former head of the Business Council of Australia, is one of four new members of the RBA’s new governing board (pictured second from the left of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in 2022).
The influx of foreign students has made life difficult for tenants, and in November capital cities still had an ultra-tight rental vacancy rate of 1.4 percent, SQM Research data showed.
Australia’s core inflation rate rose 3.5 per cent in the year to October, but rents rose further by 6.7 per cent over the same period.
Despite that evidence, Westacott published a report suggesting it was unfair to blame high immigration for Australia’s housing shortage.
“Migration should not be the scapegoat for poor planning and housing shortages,” the Business Council of Australia said.
“New housing growth has been falling as national planning systems have failed to facilitate new supply.”
Starting next year, the Reserve Bank will have a governing board that will run the central bank and a new board specializing in monetary policy.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced on Monday that Ms Westacott would be appointed to the Reserve Bank of Australia’s governing board alongside former Telstra chief executive David Thodey, Gilbert+Tobin law firm founder Danny Gilbert, and National Foundation for Australia-China Relations Advisory Fellow Swati Dave.
“These changes show that we can focus primarily on inflation and the cost of living while keeping reforms on track,” Dr Chalmers said.
Last year, the former head of the millionaire CEO lobby group called for record immigration as tenants struggled to find somewhere to live (pictured, a Bondi rental queue)
“We have selected top-notch Australians and are confident they have the right skills and experience to help lead this vital economic institution.”
Former Bendigo and Adelaide Bank chief executive Marnie Baker will be appointed to the RBA’s new monetary policy board alongside Renee Fry-McKibbin, professor of economics at the Australian National University’s Center for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis.
She was a panelist on an RBA review that last year recommended the creation of a specialist monetary policy board and is married to former Reserve Bank board member Warwick McKibbin, who is also an ANU professor.
The new members appointed to both RBA boards will begin their five-year terms on March 1 next year and will serve until February 2030.
Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock, Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy and former Prime Minister and Chief of Staff Martin Parkinson were part of a panel advising the government on potential RBA appointments.
“An open and transparent expression of interest process was carried out and candidates were shortlisted by the panel,” Dr Chalmers said.
“Candidates were shortlisted based on a skills matrix, to ensure there was the right mix of skills and experience across both forums.”
The Reserve Bank of Australia has refused to cut interest rates in 2024, although its counterparts have already done so this year in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and the European Union.
Canada and New Zealand now have official interest rates lower than Australia’s 4.35 per cent cash rate.