Former finance minister Lindsay Tanner will join the Suncorp board as a non-executive director from January, filling one of two vacancies.

“Lindsay brings a wide range of relevant public and private sector experience in financial services, with an acute appreciation of the technological, regulatory and political changes shaping the industry,” Chairman Ziggy Switkowski said.

Mr Tanner was finance minister in the Rudd and Gillard governments, retiring before the 2010 election. Since leaving Parliament he has held business roles in areas including mergers and acquisitions, fintech, life insurance and cyber security.

He began his professional career as a personal injuries lawyer.

The board vacancies were created by the retirements of Bill Bartlett and Ewoud Kulk after the annual general meeting in September.