Canberra bureaucrats are waiting for a major job restructuring, and the head of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is expected to be replaced due to his role in the robot debt scandal.
Key points:
- Labor opposed Kathryn Campbell’s appointment as head of DFAT last year
- Jan Adams is a career diplomat, having served as ambassador to China and Japan
- Mrs Adams and Foreign Minister Penny Wong worked together when Labor last seized power.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to appoint several new secretaries to head key government departments in the coming days.
Australian Ambassador to Japan Jan Adams is the leading candidate to become the nation’s top diplomat as the next DFAT secretary.
The head of the Department of Defense, Greg Moriarty, had received an inclination to take on the role, but it is understood that the Minister of Defense, Richard Marles, would prefer that he remain in his current role.
Current DFAT secretary Kathryn Campbell has only been in office for a year, having been appointed by the former coalition government in July 2021.
But Labor was not impressed with her appointment at the time, as she oversaw the deployment of the controversial robotic debt program as secretary of the Department of Social Services.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has previously stated that she would prefer the DFAT to be run by someone with a diplomatic background.
A change has been proposed to run a smaller department as an alternative role for Mrs. Campbell.
The new likely head of DFAT previously worked closely with Wong
Prior to being stationed in Tokyo, Ms. Adams served as Australia’s Ambassador to China and has extensive experience in international trade and environmental policy.
He recently accompanied Senator Wong to a Quad meeting in Japan, just days after the Albanian government was elected to power.
Jan Adams is expected to be the next head of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade)
The couple worked closely together when Labor was last in power. Senator Wong was Climate Change Minister and Ms Adam was Australia’s Ambassador for Climate Change, as the Rudd government pushed for a more ambitious approach to global emissions reduction at the Climate Summit. of Copenhagen in 2009.
Albanese is also expected to announce new heads of the Department of Finance and the Department of Health, with the retirement of incumbents Rosemary Huxtable and Brendan Murphy.
Someone has also been hired to head the newly created super department that covers climate change, energy, the environment and water.
The new appointments are expected to be confirmed at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
Albanese has already appointed Glyn Davis, the former vice-chancellor of the University of Melbourne, as head of the Prime Minister’s Office and Cabinet.