TOP VICTORIAN CIVIL SERVANT TO HEAD DEPARTMENT OF

UNCLAS MELBOURNE 000012 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PINR AS SUBJECT: TOP VICTORIAN CIVIL SERVANT TO HEAD DEPARTMENT OF PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET ¶1. (SBU) Terence "Terry" Francis Moran AO (born October 19, 1947) will replace Peter Shergold AC as Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) in early March. Moran has been Secretary of the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet since 2000, formally Victoria's top civil servant. Previously, he was head of the Queensland Education Department. Observers here note that in the performance of his duties Moran was head and shoulders over anyone in the Victorian civil service, and that nothing happened in state government without having crossed his desk. ¶2. (SBU) Politically, it appears Moran favors the Australian Labor Party, having worked for the Health Minister in the Whitlam government and having headed the office of former Victorian Premier John Cain. When Secretary of the Department of PM&C in Victoria he said that, "It's inappropriate to have a public profile of my sort. Our democracy works best when ministers are the source of public comment and the public service gets on with the job." ¶3. (SBU) In addition to being a highly engaged, even controlling manager (similar to Rudd),Moran is a deep thinker. In his tenure he converted the Victorian civil service into a quasi think-tank, recruiting the best and brightest, even from abroad. He encouraged debate and "thinking outside the box." Subordinates responded energetically to this, even if their ideas sometimes did not fly. It was Moran who came up with the national reform agenda and the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) process, with which former Premier Steve Bracks is credited. Bracks and Moran had excellent professional relations; they saw each other every day. When John Brumby assumed charge of the Victorian government he spoke with Moran only once a week. The two men eventually had a heart-to-heart talk and Moran once again was the first person the new Premier would see in the morning to discuss policy. ¶4. (SBU) Until about three weeks ago, Moran was adamant that he was happy to remain in his position in Victoria, even though the new government in Canberra was plucking members of his staff to place in federal jobs. Apparently Rudd's insistence coupled with the lure of being able to implement his ideas on a national scale proved too great to resist. He has known Rudd for many years, their good relationship commencing when they were both working in the Queensland public service. ¶5. (SBU) A formal and almost shy individual, Moran once reportedly trained for the religious life. He is married to Jennifer Noyce, who is said to be in poor health and will stay in Melbourne while her husband commutes to his job in Canberra. The couple have a son and a daughter; the latter is a Victorian civil servant. IRVING