Senator the Hon Mathias Cormann

QUESTION: So how does it feel Mr Cormann, last day, a little bit surreal?

MATHIAS CORMANN: It has been a while coming. I announced in July that I would be leaving later in the year. I have given this job my everything. I leave very much happy and at peace and satisfied that I have given it the best I can. I am very confident that there are a lot of people in our team who can step up and work on meeting all of the challenges and maximising all of the opportunities moving forward.

QUESTION: One bit of advice to Simon Birmingham who is going to take your role today? What would you say to him?

MATHIAS CORMANN: Talk to your colleagues about how you can spend less money on achieving the same outcomes. That is the key job. People often say that being the Finance Minister is about saying no. It is actually about how we do it better and how we might be able to reprioritise the effort that we are putting in place so far. Simon is an accomplished politician. He is a very experienced senior Minister. He will do a great job.

QUESTION: Fondest memory?

MATHIAS CORMANN: I feel really satisfied that I have been able to help repair the Budget in our first six years in Government to the point where we went into this coronavirus crisis in a position of comparative economic and fiscal strength. We went into this crisis and through this crisis in a better position than just about any other advanced economy in the world. I leave this place with a great sense of personal pride and satisfaction that I have played my little part in that. 

Thank you.