Skip to content
Sign in
Politics · Asia Pacific

Cormann warns Brisbane speech will urge reforms over One Nation economics

Mathias Cormann warned that mainstream parties adopting One Nation’s economic policies could leave Australians poorer and lose voters to populist parties and the political centre. In a planned Brisbane speech, he will argue for reforms including more housing near public transport and changes to migration settings.

AI-assisted synthesis · Based on 3 outlets' reporting · Article text read from 1 of 3 outletsHow it's made

View timeline · 7 entries
3 outlets2 regionsLatest reporting 4 min read
Coverage: Too few ratedL 1 · C 1 · R 0 · 1 unrated
File photo
Photo: G20 Argentina / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

What happened

Key facts

  • Mathias Cormann, now head of the OECD, is due to address the Centre for Independent Studies in Brisbane.
  • Cormann argues that failing to improve living standards through economic reform is contributing to increased support for populist movements.
  • Cormann warned that mainstream parties copying populist economic policies could lose voters both to the original parties and to the centre.
  • Cormann said many of the problems facing Australia developed while he was in office, when a mining boom reduced the appetite for reform.
  • Josh Frydenberg recently warned that the Liberal Party must reconnect with the political centre to remain relevant to voters.

The brief

Mathias Cormann will use a planned speech in Brisbane to argue that mainstream parties risk losing voters and leaving Australians poorer if they adopt One Nation’s economic policies. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Cormann, now head of the OECD, is due to address the Centre for Independent Studies.

The Centre’s headline also identifies the event as a Cormann speech, without giving further details. Cormann links the rise in support for populist movements to weak progress on economic reform and living standards.

He argues that parties copying populist economic positions may lose support not only to the parties that first advanced those policies, but also to the political centre. His warning is about the electoral and economic risks he sees in that approach; it is not a claim that any particular party has already adopted a specific policy.

He traces Australia’s reduced appetite for reform to 2005, when John Howard was prime minister. Cormann argues that revenue from the mining boom made it easier for political parties to avoid difficult decisions. He also says the failure was not confined to one side of politics, adding that many problems facing Australia developed while he was in office.

Housing and migration feature in the policy examples in the Sydney Morning Herald’s account. Cormann supports allowing medium-density homes near major rail and bus routes in capital cities, with approvals against a code completed within 30 days.

He also connects public concern about migration to what he describes as a long-term failure to build enough homes and infrastructure to keep pace with population growth. The Coalition has promised to reduce net overseas migration to 100,000 for two years before gradually increasing it to 160,000.

Those are the Coalition’s stated targets; the account does not describe them as Cormann’s own proposal. It presents them alongside his argument that housing and infrastructure capacity are central to public concern about migration. Cormann also points to longer-term demographic and economic pressures.

He says Australia is among the few advanced economies whose workforce is still projected to grow over the next 40 years. He says the population aged over 85 is expected to triple, while health spending is projected to increase from 4 per cent to more than 6 per cent of national income, regardless of other changes.

The Sydney Morning Herald also notes that Josh Frydenberg recently urged the Liberal Party to reconnect with the political centre to remain relevant to voters. That warning echoes Cormann’s concern about electoral losses at the centre, though it is Frydenberg’s separate position.

Cormann’s address is the occasion for his argument that reform, housing supply and migration policy are linked to living standards and political support.

Why it matters

  • Cormann’s argument links the welfare of Australians to living standards and economic reform, and warns that adopting One Nation’s economic policies could leave Australians poorer.
  • The Coalition’s migration pledge sets out targets of 100,000 for two years, followed by a gradual increase to 160,000; Cormann connects public concern about migration with housing and infrastructure supply.
  • Cormann says the population over 85 is expected to triple and health spending to rise from 4 per cent to more than 6 per cent of national income, pointing to the stakes he associates with long-term reform.

What to watch next

  • Whether Cormann’s Brisbane speech sets out further economic reform proposals.
  • Whether the Coalition carries out its promise to reduce net overseas migration to 100,000 for two years and then gradually raise it to 160,000.
  • Whether the Liberal Party follows Josh Frydenberg’s call to reconnect with the political centre.
  • Whether housing approvals near major rail and bus routes meet the proposed code-based 30-day process.

How it's being covered

Coverage analysisShow details
3 source articles · 3 unique outlets
Outlet political mix: Too few rated· 1 Left · 1 Center · 1 unrated
Where the outlets are based: Asia 67% · Europe 33%
Outlet political mix
Too few rated
Left
Center
Right
1 outlet
1 outlet
0 outlets
The marker shows coverage balance: each unique outlet counts once. 1 unrated outlet is not included.
Geography
Where the outlets covering this story are based.
3 unique outletsDominant coverage: Asia
How we measure coverage

How outlets' accounts compare

Updat3 does not yet have enough full reports to compare how outlets framed this story.

Timeline

Developments from this story's sources, dated background we compiled and fact-checked, and our earlier coverage. Each row says which.
  1. Australia’s postwar immigration program began in 1945 under Immigration Minister Arthur Calwell, while responsibility for planning and providing local infrastructure remained divided among levels of government.
    Background · from our historical context
  2. The Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement established a federal and state framework for public housing construction.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  3. The Hawke government floated the Australian dollar.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  4. The National Competition Policy, agreed by Australian governments in 1995, extended competition reforms across sectors including energy and transport.
    Background · from our historical context
  5. Pauline Hanson founded One Nation.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  6. The Howard government introduced the goods and services tax.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  7. Mathias Cormann began his term as secretary-general of the OECD.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3

How we got here

In 2005, during John Howard’s prime ministership, Australia’s mining boom was expanding government revenues; Mathias Cormann later identified that year as a point when the political appetite for difficult reforms began to weaken.

The boom gathered force as demand for Australian resources rose, particularly from China, and the terms of trade climbed sharply between 2003 and 2008. Howard’s Coalition government and the Labor opposition both operated during that period of rising revenue, though Cormann has said the retreat from reform was not the failure of one political side.

Original sources

1 of 3 articles · Europe · Show all

Every story links to the reporting it was built from. How we choose sources

Spotted a factual error, a broken link or a misleading summary? Tell us.