In 2006, Australia’s now Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy wrote a paper on pandemics.
In a cabinet meeting in February this year, he was asked about whether the paper could guide Australia’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak that was spreading in China. He sincerely hoped not, he said at the time, like most of us unable to foresee what we were heading in to.
Appointed to helm Treasury in September last year, Kennedy has played a central role in designing Australia’s fiscal response to the coronavirus recession, including costing the JobKeeper wage subsidy which was criticised for missing the mark by some $60 billion.
In this episode, national editor Tory Maguire is joined by senior economics writer Jessica Irvine to discuss Treasury Secretary Kennedy and his role in mitigating the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Australia.