Defence department chief Greg Moriarty to succeed Kevin Rudd as Australian ambassador to US | Australian foreign policy

Defense department chief Greg Moriarty will replace Kevin Rudd as Australia’s ambassador to the US.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and foreign secretary Penny Wong announced Moriarty’s appointment on Sunday. A former chief of staff to Malcolm Turnbull and former Australian envoy to Iran and Indonesia, he has led the defense ministry since 2017. He will start working in Washington in April.

Moriarty was Australia’s first counter-terrorism coordinator and had previously worked at US Central Command in the Gulf during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

He represented Australia in Papua New Guinea and served as a negotiator for the Bougainville peace monitoring group.

Rudd will complete his term on March 31.

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Albanese said Moriarty would represent Australia’s interests with distinction to the Trump administration, including the progress of the Aukus nuclear submarine deal.

He described Moriarty as “an outstanding Australian public servant”.

“He served both the Labor and Coalition governments and was defense secretary, and the Aukus agreement is central to our relationship with the United States,” he told ABC TV.

“I know Mr. Moriarty very well. I was impressed by the dignified manner in which he conducted himself, as well as by his contacts in the United States. I have participated in extensive discussions about who is the right person.”

Albanese confirmed that members of the Trump Administration were consulted on the appointment.

Moriarty has been included on the list of potential candidates for the job, along with former Labor ministers Joel Fitzgibbon and Stephen Conroy. Former Australian ambassador to Japan Justin Hayhurst and trade minister Don Farrell were also among the possible candidates.

Rudd will leave Washington a year earlier than planned. The former prime minister and foreign minister will take on the role of global chairman of the Asian Community think tank and head the community’s China Analysis Centre.

Albanese said Rudd could “look back with real pride”. He praised Rudd for taking Aukus “from an idea to a reality”, praising his work on critical mineral deals and investing in Australian pension funds in the US.

Rudd’s social media comment about Trump proved to be a diplomatic disagreement with the White House. His 2020 characterization of Trump as “the most destructive president in history” led to an awkward moment during Albanese’s first face-to-face meeting with Trump in October.

Moriarty’s successor in defense will oversee a major overhaul planned by Labor aimed at tackling budget and timeline blowouts on major procurement projects.

Defense minister Richard Marles in December announced the biggest changes to Australia’s defense bureaucracy since the mid-1970s. It will see the merging of three agencies: the capability acquisition and sustainment group, the guided weapons and explosives orchestration group, and the navy shipbuilding and sustainment group.

A new independent delivery agency will be created to manage multibillion-dollar complex defense and military projects, bringing together organizations responsible for overseeing about 40% of the department’s current functions.

Albanese also confirmed that Canadian prime minister Mark Carney has been invited to address federal parliament in March.