Ted Evans (public servant)

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Ted Evans
AC
Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund
In office
29 April 1989 – 28 April 1993
Secretary of the Department of the Treasury
In office
24 May 1993 – 26 April 2001
Personal details
Born
Edward Alfred Evans

(1941-03-04)4 March 1941
Ipswich, Queensland, Australia
Died12 April 2020(2020-04-12) (aged 79)
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
NationalityAustralian
Spouse(s)First Heather (dec); Second Judith[1]
Alma materUniversity of Queensland
OccupationPublic servant

Edward Alfred Evans AC (4 March 1941 – 12 April 2020) was an Australian senior public servant and economist. From 1993 to 2001, he was Secretary of the Department of the Treasury.

Career and public life[]

Evans was born into a humble background. His father was a fitter and turner.[2] Evans first studied at Ipswich High School in Queensland in the late 1950s and trained as a technician in the 1960s working in the Ipswich branch of the Postmaster-General's Department.[3] Studying economics while working, Evans graduated with a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Queensland in 1969 with first class honours and a University Medal.[3][4] One of his colleagues in his student honours group in the University of Queensland in 1967 was Adrian Pagan who later became a well-known Australian academic economist. Upon graduation, Evans joined the Department of the Treasury and moved to Canberra.[3]

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Evans held various positions in the Australian Treasury in Canberra and in several overseas posts.[5] Between 1976 and 1978 he was posted from Treasury as the Economic Counsellor at Australia's Permanent Delegation to the OECD in Paris.[6] Later, between 1989 and 1993, he was posted as an executive director to the IMF in Washington.[7] One of his contributions while on the Board of the IMF was to support the establishment of an evaluation office at the Fund. In speaking in favour of the proposal at a Board meeting in January 1993, Evans suggested that the new office be called the "Independent Evaluation Office", a suggestion later adopted by the Fund.[8]

His colleague David Morgan noted that Evans was one of a small team of officials who were extremely influential within Treasury for many years:[2]

He was at the centre of a small extremely tight group in Treasury that saw Treasury rise to unprecedented power and influence in the 1980s. Chris Higgins was part of that cadre, as was I. The three of us were extremely close friends. Ted also nurtured a group of the best and brightest within Treasury, including Ken Henry and Martin Parkinson, both of whom went on to become successful secretaries to the Treasury.

Evans was appointed secretary of the Treasury in March 1993[9] having previously been offered the job in 1991 when he turned it down.[10] During the time he was secretary of the Treasury, he gave various public talks focusing on economic policy. Evans entered into the debate attracting much attention at the time about the significance of the national current account deficit (CAD), arguing that key aspects of worries about the CAD were misplaced. His central argument was that while it was true that the CAD reflected the difference between national savings and investments, more attention should be given to the ways that funds were invested rather than to worries about the need to increase savings.[11] Later, following the Asian financial crisis in 1998, he took part in public discussions about economic challenges in Asia and the implications for Australia.[12]

As secretary of the Treasury, he was ex officio member of the boards of several financial institutions. He was a director of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia between 1993 and 1996, and a member of the board of the Reserve Bank of Australia from 10 May 1993 to 26 April 2001.[13]

Retirement[]

Evans retired from the public service in April 2001, having served eight years as Treasury head.[1] He said that one of his proudest achievements as Secretary of Treasury was introducing the Taxation Review Board.[14]

After retiring from the public sector, Evans joined the Westpac board. He served as a board member between 2001 and 2011 and as chairman between 2007 and his retirement.[15]

In 2013, Evans was outspoken over the sacking of Martin Parkinson and three other public service secretaries, saying that the Abbott Government was wasting good people and politicising the bureaucracy.[16]

Evans died on 12 April 2020.[17] In a message of tribute, Australian prime minister Scott Morrison said that Evans "was renowned for his sharp intellect, modesty, integrity and the quiet fearlessness and forcefulness of his advice, earning the respect of Prime Ministers and Treasurers on all sides of politics".[18] Treasurer Josh Frydenberg recalled that "It was his powerful advocacy and intellectual leadership which was behind many of the key economic reforms in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. The floating of the dollar, the deregulation of the financial sector, labour market flexibility and the development and implementation of the goods and services tax were all shaped by Ted's contributions."[19]

Awards[]

In June 1999, Evans was made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in recognition of service to Australian economic policy development.[20] In 2001, at a ceremony in Brisbane, the University of Queensland recognised Evans as Alumnus of the Year.[21]


Government offices
Preceded by
C.R. Rye
 Executive Director to the IMF
1989-1993 		Succeeded by
E.L. Waterman
Preceded by Secretary of the Department of the Treasury
1993–2001 		Succeeded by

References[]

  1. ^ a b Howard, John (26 April 2001). "Retirement of Ted Evans as Secretary to the Treasury" (Press release). Archived from the original on 25 February 2014.
  2. ^ a b David Morgan, 2020, 'Ted Evans changed the nation in a selfless way', The Canberra Times, 18 April.
  3. ^ a b c Costello, Peter (26 April 2001). "Retirement of Edward Evans AC - Secretary to the Treasury" (Press release). Archived from the original on 29 March 2012.
  4. ^ Mr Ted Evans AC, Chairman of Westpac, University of Queensland, 2010, archived from the original on 30 April 2013
  5. ^ "Former Treasury secretary Ted Evans dies aged 79". Canberra Times. 13 April 2020.
  6. ^ "Ted Evans remembered as a public servant who left his mark". The Australian. 13 April 2020.
  7. ^ "'Great Australian' Ted Evans dies, aged 79". AFR. 13 April 2020.
  8. ^ Ruben Lamdany and Hali Edison (editors). 2012. Independent Evaluation at the IMF: The First Decade. Washington, D.C.: International Monetary Fund, p. 56.
  9. ^ Keating, Paul (24 March 1993). "Statement by the Prime Minister, the Hon P.J. Keating MP" (Press release). Archived from the original on 25 February 2014.
  10. ^ (1 February 1991). "Top Treasury job is offered, rejected". The Canberra Times. p. 3. Archived from the original on 28 February 2014.
  11. ^ Ian Henderson. 2001. 'Ted Evans to the Rescue', Agenda, 8 (3), pp. 277-288, provides a useful summary of the debates about policy at the time and the role that Evans played.
  12. ^ Ted Evans. 1998. Asia, the IMF and Australia., address to the Sydney Institute, 17 February,
  13. ^ Reserve Bank of Australia, 'Past and Present Reserve Bank Board Members', accessed 13 April 2020.
  14. ^ Durie, John (1 December 2011). "The world according to Westpac chairman Ted Evans". The Australian.
  15. ^ "Westpac chairman Ted Evans to retire at general meeting in December". News.com.au. News Corp Australia. 11 May 2011. Archived from the original on 25 February 2014.
  16. ^ Tingle, Laura; Greber, Jacob; Burgess, Verona (18 September 2013). "Ted Evans slams public service chief sackings". The Australian Financial Review. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 25 February 2014.
  17. ^ Eryk Bagshaw, 'Former Treasury secretary Ted Evans dead at 79', Sydney Morning Herald, 12 April 2020.
  18. ^ Scott Morrison, 'Ted Evans AC', press release, 13 April 2020.
  19. ^ "Ted Evans AC", press release by Josh Frydenberg, 13 April 2020.
  20. ^ Search Australian Honours: EVANS, Edward Alfred, Australian Government, archived from the original on 25 February 2014
  21. ^ University of Queensland News. 2001. 'Former Secretary to Treasury is UQ Alumnus of the Year', 22 August.

Further reading[]


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