Patrick Walters, National security editor | August 12, 2009
Article from: The Australian
THE Department of Defence is about to undergo another leadership shake-up, with the expected departure of Nick Warner from its top civilian post.
Mr Warner is tipped to leave Defence soon to become head of ASIS -- Australia's covert overseas intelligence agency.
The career diplomat is expected to take up his new job within weeks after serving nearly three years as secretary of Defence with responsibility for managing its $26billion budget.
At the top of the shortlist of candidates to succeed Mr Warner at the helm of Defence is Finance Department head Ian Watt, 58, one of Canberra's most experienced and well-regarded departmental secretaries.
The Rudd government wants a tough-minded bureaucrat to manage the department at a time when it has demanded billions of dollars of internal savings and promised a period of financial stringency for Defence over the next four years.
Mr Warner, 59, will leave the job just months after the publication of the Rudd government's new defence white paper and at the beginning of a 10-year, $20bn savings program.
Earlier this year the department became embroiled in political controversy over unfounded allegations that Defence officials spied on former defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon.
Mr Warner directed an exhaustive internal investigation which found no substance to the claims, but his relationship with Mr Fitzgibbon came under severe strain.
Mr Warner's three-year contract as secretary of Defence is due to expire in December, but he could take up the
ASIS post before then, succeeding David Irvine, who left to become ASIO director-general in April.
Before taking up the Defence job, Mr Warner was the Department of Foreign Affairs' top diplomatic troubleshooter, and led the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands. He is also a former high commissioner to Papua New Guinea, ambassador for counter-terrorism and ambassador to Iran.
While the ASIS job is not at the top level of Canberra's bureaucratic pecking order, it has always been held by a senior diplomat. ASIS has trebled in size over the last decade and has enjoyed greatly increased budget funding since 2001 as counter-terrorism has become a top government priority. Mr Warner is seen inside the government as an excellent candidate for the job, which now has closer links with both the military and Australia's other intelligence agencies.
The candidates to succeed him include the department's chief audit executive, David Yarra, and Grant Hehir, head of the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance.
Before taking up the Defence job, Mr Warner was the Department of Foreign Affairs' top diplomatic troubleshooter, and led the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands. He is also a former high commissioner to Papua New Guinea, ambassador for counter-terrorism and ambassador to Iran.
While the ASIS job is not at the top level of Canberra's bureaucratic pecking order, it has always been held by a senior diplomat. ASIS has trebled in size over the last decade and has enjoyed greatly increased budget funding since 2001 as counter-terrorism has become a top government priority. Mr Warner is seen inside the government as an excellent candidate for the job, which now has closer links with both the military and Australia's other intelligence agencies.
The candidates to succeed him include the department's chief audit executive, David Yarra, and Grant Hehir, head of the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance.
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