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Talking at length about past federal treasurers might not be a vote winner. But Labor's shadow treasurer, Chris Bowen, took time off from the hustings to do just that at the Sydney Writers' Festival on Thursday.
Bowen was quizzed about his recent book, Money Men, which takes an in-depth look at the contribution of Australia's 12 most "notable" Treasurers.
"The lessons of history, I think, are very useful," he told a big crowd at Walsh Bay.
Bowen's choice of best-ever treasurer is predictable: Paul Keating.
"He was constantly putting change on the table," he said.
But it was the eighth man to hold the job - and they have all been men - that Bowen found the most interesting to write about.
William Watt became treasurer in 1918 and clashed frequently with his prime minister, Billy Hughes. Bowen found the acrimonious exchange of cables between Watt and Hughes in the National Archives while researching his book.
"This was the worst relationship between treasurer and prime minister that you could imagine," said Bowen.
Watt eventually quit the job from London in 1920 in what Bowen calls "the most spectacular resignation of the treasurer in history."
Bowen himself was treasurer for 83 days in 2013 during the dying days of the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd government. It was one of the shortest stints in the post on record.
Bowen says it is a "cop out" to claim big reforms are no longer possible because of the added scrutiny of the 24-hour media cycle and the advent of social media.
"As a politician you have to try and use the media cycle to communicate your policies and not let it dominate you," he said. "Some people blame social media, they say "everybody's got Twitter and Facebook and all the critics can get on' but so can you - and make your case. If Twitter was around when Keating was treasurer, he would have taken it for a spin I suspect."
Bowen pointed out that several effective treasurers had little formal education, including Keating who left school at 16 and Ted Theodore - the treasurer during the Depression - who left school aged just 12.
Bowen, who has a bachelor in economics while his opposite number Scott Morrison has a science degree with honours in applied economic geography, says it still is possible for those without an economics degree to be an effective treasurer.
"You obviously have to show an understanding of economics, to have a feel for the job and the imagination for the job," he said. "Whether or not you have an economics degree is less relevant."
