Blair Robert Comley is an economist. He is a former Secretary of the New South Wales Government Department of Premier and Cabinet, replaced by a new Secretary upon the election of the then Premier of NSW, The Hon Gladys Berejiklian.

Life and career

Blair Comley was born in the late 1960s. He holds a Bachelor of Economics (Honours) and a Master of Economics from Monash University and a Graduate Diploma in Legal Studies from the Australian National University. Comley joined the Department of the Treasury in 1994. For three years, he represented Australia on economic policy at the OECD. In 2008, Comley was appointed Deputy Secretary of the Department of Climate Change. He was elevated to become head of the Department—by then known as the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency—in 2010. Comley was appointed Secretary of the

Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism The Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism was an Australian Government department. It was formed in December 2007 and dissolved on 18 September 2013. The majority of its functions were assumed by the Department of Industry; with the excep ...

in February 2013, to commence 11 March that year. In September 2013, after the Abbott government was sworn in, new Prime Minister

Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott was born in Londo ...

sacked Comley and two other departmental secretaries. Comley was hired by

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounti ...

in April 2014 as a Special Adviser in the Canberra Economics and Policy Team. By September 2014, he had been appointed head of the New South Wales Department of Premier and Cabinet. In November 2017, the NSW Premier, Hon Gladys Berejiklian MP announced he would be replaced by a new Secretary.

Awards

Comley was awarded a Public Service Medal in January 2012 for outstanding public service in the development of public policy, particularly in the areas of

carbon pricing Carbon pricing (or pricing), also known as cap and trade (CAT) or emissions trading scheme (ETS), is a method for nations to reduce global warming. The cost is applied to greenhouse gas emissions in order to encourage polluters to reduce the co ...

and emissions trading, tax policy design and debt management.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Comley, Blair Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Australian public servants Recipients of the Public Service Medal (Australia) Place of birth missing (living people) Monash University alumni Australian National University alumni