Bob McMullan quits as Australia’s aid supremo

BY DONALD HOOK

ANOTHER SENIOR Australian politician with strong PNG and Pacific Island links is to quit politics.

Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, Bob McMullan, announced last night he will retire from politics at the federal election later this year.

He says he will look for a new career in the international development area.

McMullan, 62, was national secretary of the Australian Labor Party from 1981-88 before becoming a senator for the Australian Capital Territory (1988-96).

He switched to the House of Representatives and held several ministerial positions including trade and administration services.

He says he’s found over recent months that his enthusiasm is moving more towards the issues of international development, especially global poverty, that he’s been dealing with in his job as parliamentary secretary.

In November, Duncan Kerr resigned as Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs to concentrate on a legal career in Tasmania. No replacement has been announced.

Comment by Keith Jackson ...

When the Rudd government was elected in late 2007, Bob McMullan missed out on a ministerial appointment, and was clearly disappointed by this.

It must be said his stewardship of Australia’s aid program was less than distinguished. In 2009, AusAID’s performance was the object of serious criticism not only from the Auditor-General and a Parliamentary committee but, by implication, from the prime minister himself.

The departure of both Kerr and McMullan within such a short period of time provides Kevin Rudd with the opportunity of a total revamp and renewal of two critical elements of the Foreign Affairs portfolio. He's taking his time getting there.

Comments

[Reginald Renagi]

Noted your comments Susan.

I am having a little rest/break from some of my usual activities before I start blogging on KJ's PNG Attitude. I'm also preparing for the next training course I'm conducting in a weeks time that will take up my time to about mid-Feb when I should have some free spare time.

Its really raining cats and dogs in Port Moresby yesterday and the weather looks very depressing this week... Its the rainy season now in my part of the tropics. We get about 15 minutes of a little ray of sun before its cloudy and overcast again for the rest of the day; and more rain. Its a miserable weather today but a good time now for preparing some future blog notes indoors.

By the way, I'm meeting up with that popular KJ blogger John Fowke and a good friend Graham Pople (both ex-kiaps) in a weeks time for some good yarn to spin; washed down with our popular SP brew. Hopefully over some good food and company, we will talk about a few hot cross-cutting issues of national importance to both PNG and Australia.

Susan, this year is just starting out. So there will be many more good reading stuff on the popular Keith Jackson blog in 2010. Thanks for your nice comments and keep reading; and tell your friends and associates about this great site!

[Keith Jackson]

I'm very grateful that Susan is a regular reader, but her comment is a bit off beam.

Phil posted yesterday, as did Reginald (a comment), John last Thursday, and Paul Wednesday last week.

John is off to PNG tomorrow where, amongst other people, he's secured a meeting with Opposition leader Sir Mekere Morauta on behalf of PNG Attitude. We look forward to his reports from PNG.

I'm very grateful to these prolific contributors to the blog, who work so hard - and needless to say without pay - to make it such a lively forum.

[Susan James]

As an avid reader of this blog, I have noticed a recent trend these past fortnight. The regular writers have all gone very quiet or have kept a low profile for some reasons of their own.

Only Donald Hook and Bruce Copeland are still blogging of late. Bruce still comments on very interesting topics: Aids and education from his personal experiences and perspective; which I enjoy reading.

Hope some of the recent regular commentators come on soon to brighten up our blog as we might get back to the usual boring comments from people just passing the time.

Where are you Paul, John, Phil and Reginald? Get your pencils sharpened and start getting into it because there is so much to tell us about what is happening in our region.

[Robin Mead]

Oh, really, so that's it, is it? So evidently Mr McMullan 'says he’s found over recent months that his enthusiasm is moving more towards the issues of international development'. Well, of course.

So, what prompted this epiphany, this Road to Damascus experience for this fellow about whom, in Keith's delightful phrase, "his stewardship of Australia’s aid program was less than distinguished"?

I would hazard that there are many potential candidates elsewhere, with truly substantial and worthwhile experience and expertise to draw on, let alone with enthusiasm [be it new-found or longstanding] in this area.

Let's see more emphasis on stewardship, and less on relocating the careers of parliamentarians who already have one well-nourished career behind them.

Let's see people who are fair dinkum about development issues, who are not necessarily from the separate political class.

Let's see people who've got real stewardship skills.

And then let's see who is the most suitable.

[Reginald Renagi]

This does not sound good.

Maybe PNG and the Pacific are proving to be too difficult. It may now require some young DFAT fellas with the required drive to push the foreign relations agenda in future, and take it to whole new level from here on.

PNG and the Pacific are not ready to become 'basket cases' yet???