Labor’s Chris Bowen has slammed Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s “offensive” remarks about potential candidates who have been floated as the next Reserve Bank governor.

Mr Dutton poured cold water on two of the leading contenders to replace Philip Lowe when his term expires, saying the job shouldn’t go to a senior public servant.

Two speculated candidates for the position are Treasury secretary Steven Kennedy and Finance secretary Jenny Wilkinson.

As an announcement looms about whether Mr Lowe will be replaced when his term expires, Mr Dutton said any potential successor should not come from the public service.

Mr Dutton said the next governor should be someone from a non-political background given the importance of the position.

“We don’t believe it should be somebody who is familiar, if you like, to the government, somebody who has been working very closely with the treasurer or the finance minister or the prime minister,” he told Sydney radio station 2GB on Thursday.

“We don’t want somebody there who’s been involved in the political process at a senior level.”

Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen said Mr Dutton’s comments were insulting.

“It’s an insult to departmental people, I’m not going to speculate on the RBA governor appointment,” Mr Bowen told the ABC.

“Mr Dutton should respect that whoever is RBA governor at any given time will conduct themselves with all the rigour and independence that other governors have,” Mr Bowen said.

Dr Lowe’s term as Reserve Bank governor expires in September. He has said he is happy to stay on if he asked, with Treasurer Jim Chalmers promising an announcement before the end of July.

RBA deputy governor Michele Bullock is also seen as a leading contender.

Dr Chalmers said on Wednesday he had also spoken to shadow treasurer Angus Taylor about the decision, which was yet to be discussed at Cabinet.

Dr Lowe has faced criticism following multiple interest rate hikes in the past year, after previous comments saying the cash rate would not increase until 2024.

Mr Dutton said bipartisan support for the appointment was critical.

“The Reserve Bank is one of the country’s most important institutions, like the High Court – we don’t want political appointments,” he said.

He said the governor needed to be independent because they made tough calls on interest rates “in our country’s interest, even if they’re unpopular calls”.

– with AAP