How Treasury Lost its Intellectual Standing

Before beginning my review proper of Chan­ging Fortunes, several things should be said. First, this book has involved an enormous amount of painstaking research by Paul Tilley—a former Treasury officer—and contains, in its nine appendices alone, a wealth of carefully ordered factual information which, to my knowledge, has never before been made so readily available.

Second, it is accurately described as “a” history of the Treasury. Professional historians would doubtless write the history differently, in terms of coverage or perspective. Nevertheless, and whatever my criticisms below, the book is valuable, being the first real attempt at a history of one of Australia’s great institutions. Greg Whitwell’s The Treasury Line (1986) was valuable but much more limited. The production of the only previous history of the department, The Centenary of Treasury 1901–2001: 100 Years of Public Service (2001), written to celebrate the centenary of Australia’s founding, was…