Anthony Stuart Cole (born 17 March 1947) is a retired senior Australian public servant. He served the Commonwealth in various capacities for over 25 years.
Early life
Cole was born in
Macksville, New South Wales, on 17 March 1947.
He attended
Macksville High School
Macksville High School is a government-funded co-educational comprehensive secondary day school, located in Macksville, in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia.
Established in 1950, the school enrolled approximately 500 s ...
.
Career
In 1968, Cole graduated with a Bachelor of Economics degree from the
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...
and joined the
Department of the Treasury.
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
official, saying these years were crucial in developing his views on economic policy. Shortly after in 1983 Cole was appointed principal private secretary to Treasurer
A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance.
Government
The treasury o ...
Paul Keating
Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He previously serv ...
, working in the role until October 1985.[
He was appointed the thirteenth Secretary of the Department of the Treasury in 1991, remaining in the role until 1993 when he transferred to another role as Secretary of the (later ]Department of Human Services and Health
The Department of Human Services and Health was an Australian government department that had existed between December 1993 and March 1996.
The Department was created when the Department of Health, Housing, Local Government and Communi ...
).John Dawkins
John Sydney "Joe" Dawkins, AO (born 2 March 1947) is an Australian former politician who was Treasurer in the Keating Labor government from December 1991 to December 1993. He is notable for his reforms of tertiary education as Minister for E ...
, denied the suggestion, stating that his move was just a normal part of the re-establishment of administration following an election.
Cole left the public service in 1994, aged 47.[ When he left, John Taylor, the Commonwealth Auditor-General at the time, told media "it's a tragedy that somebody of the standing and even future potential of Tony Cole should be lost to public service".
After leaving the public sector, Cole was a Senior Investment Consultant and Executive in the Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation’s investment consulting business for 17 years, including heading the business in the Asia Pacific region for more than five years.]National Commission of Audit
The National Commission of Audit was a commission formed by the Abbott Government on 22 October 2013 as an independent body to review and report on the performance, functions and roles of the Commonwealth government. The chair of the Commission wa ...
, which was established to improve the Australian government's budget.
Awards
In 1995, Cole was honoured as an Officer of the Order of Australia, in recognition of service to the development of public sector policy.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Tony
Living people
1947 births
Officers of the Order of Australia
Secretaries of the Department of the Treasury of Australia
Secretaries of the Australian Government Health Department