Meet the new Reserve Bank executive who says it is unfair to blame record immigration for the housing crisis

A business leader who lobbied Anthony Albanese to boost immigration during a housing crisis has been appointed to the Reserve Bank board.

Jennifer Westacott, former head of the Business Council of Australia, is one of four new appointments to the RBA’s new board with a five-year term from March 1 next year.

The former head of the lobby group for millionaire executives called for record high immigration last year as renters struggled to find somewhere to live.

“There is a misconception at the moment that our migration rates are higher than normal,” she said in August 2023.

“It is important to recognize that the migration figures currently recorded simply reflect a rebalancing following the pandemic border closures in 2020 and 2021.”

Ms Westacott made this argument as a record 548,800 migrants moved to Australia in the year to September 2023.

Australia’s net overseas migration figure fell to 445,600 in the period to June 2024, but this was still 50,600 higher than the Treasury’s May forecast of 395,000 arrivals for 2023-2024.

International students make up a large proportion of Australia’s newcomers and Ms Westacott was appointed chancellor of Western Sydney University last year.

The influx of foreign students has made life tough for renters, with capital cities still experiencing an extremely tight rental vacancy rate of 1.4 percent in November, data from SQM Research showed.

Australia’s underlying inflation rose 3.5 percent over the year to October, but rents rose an even stronger 6.7 percent over the same period.

Despite that evidence, Ms Westacott released a report suggesting it was unfair to blame high immigration for Australia’s housing shortage.

“Migration should not be the scapegoat for poor planning and the inability to deliver housing,” the Business Council of Australia said.

‘New housing growth has fallen because national planning systems have failed to facilitate new supply.’

From next year, the Reserve Bank will have a governing council to run the central bank and a new specialist monetary policy board.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced on Monday that Ms Westacott will be appointed to the Reserve Bank of Australia board, along with former Telstra chief executive David Thodey, class action law firm Gilbert+Tobin founder Danny Gilbert and advisory member of the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations Swati Dave.

“These changes show that we can continue to focus primarily on inflation and the cost of living, while keeping reforms going,” Dr Chalmers said.

The former head of the lobby group for millionaire executives called for record high immigration last year as tenants struggled to find somewhere to live (pictured shows a queue outside Bondi rental)

“We have selected top-notch Australians and we believe they have the right skills and experience to help lead this vital economic institution.”

Marnie Baker, former CEO of Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, has been appointed to the RBA’s new monetary policy board, along with Renee Fry-McKibbin, professor of economics at the Australian National University’s Center for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis.

She was a panellist on an RBA inquiry that recommended the creation of a specialist monetary policy board last year, and she is married to former Reserve Bank board member Warwick McKibbin, who is also an ANU professor.

The new appointees to both RBA boards will begin their five-year terms on March 1 next year, until February 2030.

Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock, Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy and former Prime Minister and Cabinet Secretary Martin Parkinson were part of a panel advising the government on potential RBA appointments.

“An open and transparent expression of interest process was conducted and candidates were shortlisted by the panel,” Dr Chalmers said.

‘Candidates were shortlisted based on a skills matrix to ensure there was the right mix of skills and experience across both boards.’

The Reserve Bank of Australia has refused to cut interest rates in 2024, even though their counterparts in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and the European Union have already done so this year.

Canada and New Zealand now have policy rates that are lower than the Australian cash rate of 4.35 percent.