A government minister has criticised the former Treasury secretary for his "over the top" speech about the state of Australian politics.
Ken Henry told a conference in Canberra on Thursday that Australia had become paralysed by political inaction, with politicians more focused on firing insults at one another to cause embarrassment.
He said almost every major infrastructure project announced in every Australian jurisdiction in the past 10 years had been the subject of political wrangling.
"I think this speech was over the top - it was very much a glass-half-empty type speech," Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg told ABC radio on Friday.
He said Mr Henry, who held the position of secretary from 2001 to 2011 before joining the NAB, was right to say there were big challenges ahead with an ageing population, congestion in cities, and the need for more infrastructure.
But he missed the mark when discussing Australia's involvement and engagement with Asia given the recent string of free trade agreements.
"I would say nearly every country in the world would swap its place for Australia's and I think Ken Henry should've restated that fact rather than some of the ones he propagated in his speech."
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