Mr Philip Green OAM has been appointed as my Senior Adviser on Foreign Affairs, Defence and National Security. He will commence in the position in early March.
Mr Green is a senior officer of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and a former High Commissioner to South Africa (2004-2008) and to Kenya (1998-2000).
He was head of the Secretariat of the Flood Review into Australia's Intelligence Agencies (2004).
He holds the degrees of Bachelor of Arts with Honours and Bachelor of Laws from the University of Sydney. He was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in 2003 for his work on Australia's response to the Bali bombings in 2002.
Mr Green will replace Gary Quinlan, who will be Australia's new Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) in New York.
I thank Mr Quinlan for his valued service as my senior adviser over the past 15 months.