Chalmers’ brutal reply to Coalition threat

Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers has slammed the Coalition for opposing reforms to the Reserve Bank, despite shadow treasurer Angus Taylor previously backing them.

Mr Chalmers’ reforms would split the bank’s board, with one group responsible for setting interest rates and the other attending to governance matters.

Mr Taylor had previously called the reforms “essential”, saying it was “the Coalition’s intention” to implement them “with a spirit of bipartisanship.”

But the Liberal MP told the Australian Financial Review on Monday the reforms would “leave open the option for a stitch up of the Reserve Bank board”, and the opposition would not support them.

“He has been rolled once again, this is becoming a very regular occurrence,” Chalmers told reporters early on Tuesday.

“The position that has been reported from the Coalition is irresponsible, it’s disappointing, but it’s not especially surprising.”

Mr Chalmers said he had met with Mr Taylor several times to discuss the Coalition’s concerns and made a plethora of amendments.

“He wanted the chair of the governance board to be the governor and I facilitated that,” Mr Chalmers said.

“He wanted flexibility in term limits and I facilitated that as well.

“He wanted senior RBA executives to have oversight of the operation, I made sure that the deputy governor was a member of the governance board.”

The Treasurer dismissed the Mr Taylor’s concerns the government could sway the RBA, saying that the reforms had the support of the bank’s governor, Michele Bullock.

“I have absolutely no intention of making political appointments to these boards … (Michele) Bullock has made it very clear that she would like to see the legislation passed and obviously the Coalition has not taken her view on board,” Mr Chalmers said.

He said it showed the Coalition was “never serious on Reserve Bank reform and it shows that they can’t be taken seriously on the economy as a consequence.”

More to come.