When Gordon Brown became Prime Minister he hit the ground reviewing. From education to health, welfare to security no policy area was too large or small. One such area was national security where he promised both a review and a strategy, and he delivered both, if not exactly on time.
9000 miles away in Australia, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will soon publish his long awaited review of national security. According to some analysts, one of the first things he will do is appoint Duncan Lewis as his national security adviser. Major General Lewis will co-ordinate Australia’s long-term security planning. Interestingly, one of Brown’s first decisions on becoming PM was to do away with a similar post in the Cabinet Office (Permanent Secretary on Security, Intelligence and Resilience) preferring instead to have three individuals at the same level: Robert Hannigan (security adviser to Gordon Brown) plus Jon Cunliffe and Simon MacDonald).
According to various internal and media reports Kevin Rudd is due to publish a ground-breaking national security statement this coming week. By the sound of it, the strategy will be pretty similar in nature and scope to the UK Government’s work. There is also a likelihood that that Kevin Rudd will outline some of the changes to the national security apparatus which many believe has focused too much on counter terrorism.
Australian public servants will also want to thank Ric Smith, who was put in charge of the review into Homeland Security. This could have been a major opportunity to rearrange bureaucratic deck chairs – and cause all sorts of problems – which the DHS is currently facing. Instead he has recommended against the creation of a department of homeland security, saving precious time and resources and a major headache for public servants and Ministers.
