Australia’s new Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Michele Bullock is the first female but not the first UNE alumnus appointed to this all-important monetary role.
Two of the nine Governors in the bank’s 64-year history* have been educated with us.
Back in the economically fraught late 1980s and early ’90s, Bachelor of Arts (Economics) graduate Bernard (Bernie) Fraser led Australia through “the recession we had to have”. He served as the fifth RBA Governor, from September 1989 until September 1996.
Like Michele, Bernie was a country kid – from Junee in the NSW Riverina. After graduating from UNE in 1961 he joined the Commonwealth Public Service. And began a 25-year career that included posts in Treasury, the Department of Finance and as Director of the National Energy Office.
Image: Former RBA Governor, Bernie Fraser, November 1993. (Image attributed to the RBA Archines PN-015057)
But, unlike Michele, who takes the helm with the RBA cash rate at 4.10%, Bernie guided monetary policy when interest rates topped a staggering 18%. The national unemployment rate jumped from 6.6% to 11% during the recession that ensued, forcing Bernie’s RBA board to cut interest rates 15 times in a row. By mid-1993 the cash rate was down to 4.75%.
Bernie oversaw a period of immense policy transformation within the RBA as the bank sought freedom to adjust interest rates without political interference, and to target inflation.
Deputy Head of UNE’s Business School and Senior Lecturer in Macroeconomics Dr Shawn Leu said UNE should be immensely proud to have two prominent graduates serve in the top RBA role. “It amply demonstrates the university’s academic environment, which is both intellectually stimulating and policy-oriented,” he said. “I hope the appointment of Michele Bullock encourages more female students and those from the regions to consider the study of Economics at UNE.”
Bernie received an Honorary Doctorate from UNE in 1993.
*Legislation in 1959 enshrined the RBA’s central banking functions, when it replaced the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
