John Durie: ACCI boss brings in former Costello staffer as economics policy chief

Amid the focus on COSBOA and industrial relations, Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) chief Andrew McKellar has quietly restructured his shop, hiring former Peter Costello staffer David Alexander as his economics policy chief and replacing long-term executive Jenny Lambert.

Lambert, who served as director of economics and training at ACCI for more than a decade, left earlier this month.

Alexander has served a number of roles since working for the former treasurer, most recently with government relations firm Barton Deakin.

The change comes as Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA) chair Matthew Addison is preparing to release next week his “Statement of Intent” on industrial relations.

He is consulting with his membership about the document ahead of its release.

This comes after some concern was expressed at reports COSBOA had formed an alliance with the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) ahead of the federal government’s Jobs Summit.

Addison has since gone into overdrive to “clarify” the small business group’s position on industrial relations, which will be detailed in next week’s paper.

McKellar joined ACCI last year after a career representing the automobile industry in different roles in Australia and overseas.

ACCI and the Australian Industry Group are traditional business leaders in industrial relations.

COSBOA’s annual meeting is in late October and Addison is not up for re-election under the the group’s three-year director rotating policy.