Albanese adviser tapped for top national security post
One of Anthony Albanese’s leading foreign affairs advisers is set to become the first woman to lead one of the country’s top intelligence agencies.
Kathy Klugman has been appointed director general of the Office of National Intelligence.
The agency is responsible for advising the prime minister and the federal government on national security and intelligence matters.
Ms Klugman has been the prime minister’s chief adviser on international affairs since Labor’s election in 2022 and has often been seen alongside the prime minister on his visits abroad.
Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles said that the new president has played a very important role in foreign policy in recent years.
“Ms Klugman has had a distinguished career in the Australian Civil Service, holding senior positions in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet,” he said in a statement on Thursday.
“He had a particular focus on the Indo-Pacific region and served as high commissioner in Sri Lanka.”
Ms Klugman will take over from Andrew Shearer, who has been tipped as Australia’s next ambassador to Japan, in December.
Mr. Shearer had served as chief security officer since 2020.
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong announced on Thursday her intention to nominate Mr Shearer for the ambassadorial post, which must be approved by Japan’s government.
Due to the importance of the National Intelligence Agency, the government is required to consult the opposition leader on the appointment of the director general.
But a spokesman for Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said discussions regarding Ms Klugman’s promotion had not been conducted properly.
“The deputy prime minister briefed the leader on this appointment earlier this week; this was not a meaningful consultation,” the spokesman said.
“It is incumbent on the government to explain why a long-term Labor Party staffer was placed directly from the prime minister’s office into an intelligence agency tasked with providing deeply controversial advice to the government on matters of deep strategic importance to our national security and decision-making.”
