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