Cormann, who served as finance minister in the Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison governments before taking up the role of OECD secretary-general, will use the address to urge both sides of politics to adopt a reform agenda stretching from the GST to planning regulations.
He is expected to argue that rising support for populist political movements such as One Nation is driven in part by the failure of major parties to improve living standards through difficult but necessary economic reforms. He will also concede that many of the problems now facing the country developed while he was in office, when the appetite for reform was suppressed by a mining boom that filled budget coffers and boosted incomes.
His intervention follows the release of a biography by former treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who has this week warned the Liberal Party must reconnect with the political centre to remain relevant to voters. Frydenberg has also called for an increase in the GST and the scrapping of some exemptions, with the revenue used to fund substantial income tax cuts.
The core of Cormann's warning is that simply copying the policies of populists will leave Australians poorer, rather than address the discontent driving support for those movements.