Nov 27, 20231 min read

Mathias Cormann

Mathias Cormann is a Belgian-born Australian and former politician who currently serves as the Secretary General for the OECD.

Australian Politics

After settling in Australia in 1996, Mr. Cormann contacted then-Liberal Senator, Chris Ellison, and asked to work in his office as a volunteer, going on to be a paid staffer and advisor.

In 2007 Mr. Cormann was preselected to fill the place of Senator Ian Campbell following his resignation, and went on to serve the remaining 4 years of the senator’s original term. Mr. Cormann would be reelected in 2010 and 2016 as senator for Western Australia.

While in Opposition Mr. Cormann served as Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Health Administration from 2008 to 2009, Shadow Minister for Employment Participation, Apprenticeships and Training from 2009 to 2010 and Shadow Assistant Treasurer and Shadow Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation from 2010 to 2013.

When the Coalition formed government in 2013, Mr. Cormann was appointed as Finance Minister, a role he held throughout the Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison government’s, making him the longest serving Finance Minister .

OECD

On the 2nd of November of 2020 Mr. Cormann was officially nominated as a candidate to be the next Secretary-General of the OECD. He then formally resigned as Senator on the 6th of November. Mr. Cormann was elected as Secretary-General in March of 2021, beginning his 5-year term on June 1st.

As Secretary-General, Mr. Cormann reportedly is engaged in both optimising the post-COVID recovery and responding to the economic and social impacts of the war in Ukraine amongst OECD nations.