James Hagan

Bachelor of Arts 1981
Honours - Economics 1982

James HaganJames Hagan was a late starter at university. After finishing Year 12 at Bulli High School he spent several years working before deciding that a university education was the pathway to more interesting work.

His theory proved correct, although “interesting” doesn’t really do justice to James’ extraordinary career.

After a stellar public service career in Australia and New Zealand, James is now an Executive Director of the World Bank, based in Washington DC. In March he was given the honour of showing the visiting Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd through the World Bank headquarters during his visit to the US.

As Australia’s nominee on the World Bank Executive Board, James is part of the group that decides on the annual allocation of billions of dollars in loans and grants to assist developing nations.

The World Bank’s mission is to reduce world poverty through development, and James’ four-year role involves representing the interests of a group of countries including Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Mongolia, Cambodia and eight Pacific Island nations as well as overseeing the bank’s group operations.

Currently the World Bank has a strong focus on the how climate change is impacting on developing countries, looking at the opportunities and threats from the physical effects of climate change and the outcomes of international negotiations. The Bank will have a key role in assisting developing nations adapt to climate change and grow on a ‘low carbon’ track.

“The World Bank is an increasingly important partner for Australia in the Pacific, and the government has made very clear its priority for international cooperation on climate change,” James said. “Mr Rudd’s visit gave him the chance to meet the World Bank president Bob Zoellick to talk about how Australia and the bank could work together in the Pacific, and on climate change.”

James is relishing the opportunity to help developing countries and be part of the progress towards stronger regional economic development.

“A large part of my role is understanding what developing countries want and need,” James said. We are dealing with the poorest of the poor, and with countries that have been torn apart by civil strife.

“So I travel to constituent countries to meet government representatives to get an “on the ground” appreciation of the issues and local perspectives. I also work closely with bank staff as they develop and deliver programs in these countries.”

James’ father Professor Jim Hagan was a long-standing academic at UOW (now in semi-retirement, he remains a Professorial Fellow at the Faculty of Arts), but James didn’t rush into university studies when he left school. Instead, he opted to work at the Water Board.

“I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I finished school so went to work for a couple of years,” he said. “Then I realised that university education was a way of getting more interesting work.”

In 1978 he enrolled in at Arts degree at UOW and combined study with work in the UOW Library.

James completed his Honours in Economics in 1982, and moved to Canberra where he joined the Australian Public Service early in 1983. In the national capital he worked on public policy work in the Industry Assistance Commission, and also spent time in the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

While working in Canberra James completing a PhD at the Australian National University, and was headhunted to join the New Zealand Treasury Department in 1992.

“New Zealand was a leader public sector reform at the time, and it was an exciting place,” he recalls. “I worked on departmental restructures, education, social policy, taxation, conservation and the environment, and was part of New Zealand’s negotiating team in the lead-up to and during Kyoto (Climate Chance Convention) in 1997.”

In 1998 James returned to Australia to take up a senior position in the Australian Treasury, where he participated in some of the biggest public policy issues in Australia in decades.

He was awarded the Public Service Medal for his work running the GST Start Up Office – its $500 million program to prepare businesses for the GST the biggest public education program since decimalisation in 1966. He then ran the Foreign Investment Review Board during Shell’s attempted takeover of Woodside Petroleum and the merger between BHP and Billiton, before spending two years running Treasury’s economic forecasting area.

With Australia one of the leaders of the multinational mission in 2004  to restore stability to the government and economy of the Solomon Islands, James was sent to the capital Honiara in 2005 to work with the island nation’s Ministry of Finance.

James said his time in the Solomons was “a real insight into the challenges of building a healthy and sustainable government and economy” and an ideal preparation for this current role with the World Bank.

James says he received a firm grounding from UOW for his career in the public sector.

‘Living in Wollongong and the ethnic mix of the students stimulated an interest in the wider world,” he said. “The public policy interests of my economics lecturers, especially Rob Castle, gave me the sort background that was ideal for working in the public service – a wide sweep of theory while being very practical in focus.

“I have been lucky in my career. The public service is full of opportunities and you can make what you want of many of the jobs on offer, but I have also been lucky that Edwina, my wife of 25 years, has always been prepared to back me.”

Last reviewed: 23 December, 2008