John Pierce
The Prime Minister appointed John Pierce Secretary of the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism on 24 December 2008, and he took up his appointment on 2 March 2009.
Mr Pierce has an honours degree in Economics from the University of New South Wales, and was President of the Economic Society of Australia’s NSW Branch from 1996-9. He joined the NSW Treasury in 1993 as its Chief Economist.
Mr Pierce served as Secretary of the NSW Treasury for nearly 12 years, where he advised the New South Wales Government on a state budget of over $58bn, and net assets of $140bn.
Mr Pierce is committed to productivity-enhancing service delivery, and regulatory and taxation reforms. During the past decade, he has driven significant changes in the energy sector, led the implementation of competition policy in New South Wales and overseen improvements in the budget process.
He was a key adviser to the NSW Government on the reform program of the Council of Australian Governments, strategies to secure the State’s long-term energy supply, transport infrastructure, wages policy, expenditure review, and service delivery performance management.
During 2004-5 Mr Pierce spent six months as a Visiting Scholar at the Boston University, working with Prof. Laurence Kotlikoff on the economic and fiscal implications of an ageing population and Robert D. Behr from the Kennedy School of Government on public sector performance management.