Bryan Dawe: Thanks for your time, Prime Minister.
John Clarke: Always a pleasure, Bryan. Always happy to have a chat about good government.
Dawe: Prime Minister, you’ve just promoted Greg Moriarty, the Defence Secretary, to be Australia’s ambassador in Washington.
Clarke: That’s right, Bryan. It’s a strong appointment. It sends the right message.
Dawe: Which message is that?
Clarke: That we take accountability very seriously in this government.
Dawe: By promoting the people you might otherwise hold accountable.
Clarke: No, no, you’ve misunderstood me completely there, Bryan, which is understandable. When we reward someone after controversy, that’s actually a form of discipline.
Dawe: It is.
Clarke: Oh yes. Canberra discipline. Much tougher than the normal kind.
Dawe: How does that work?
Clarke: Well, you move someone from a very powerful, poorly scrutinised job in Defence to a very powerful, poorly scrutinised job in Washington. That sends a strong signal.
Dawe: To whom?
Clarke: To everyone still in Canberra wondering how this system works.
Dawe: I see. What, in your view, qualifies Mr Moriarty for Washington?
Clarke: Experience, Bryan.
Dawe: In what exactly?
Clarke: In being there.
Dawe: In Washington?
Clarke: No, in the system. He’s been in the system a long time. You need someone who understands how to move people around without anyone ever quite leaving.
Dawe: So this is about continuity.
Clarke: Exactly. We went to the cupboard and asked, “Who truly represents continuity?” and the cupboard replied, “Greg Moriarty.”
Dawe: Some people say he was deeply involved in decisions and cultures that have since been criticised.
Clarke: That’s why he’s the right man for the job, Bryan. You can’t send a novice to Washington. The Americans expect someone who’s seen a few inquiries in their time.
Dawe: He understands scrutiny.
Clarke: He understands avoiding it, Bryan. That’s a valuable diplomatic skill.
Dawe: Did you consider anyone else?
Clarke: Oh yes, a wide field. We had a thorough process.
Dawe: What did that involve?
Clarke: We thought of some names and then picked the one we were going to pick in the first place.
Dawe: And that was Mr Moriarty.
Clarke: After careful consideration, yes. And some phone calls.
Dawe: With whom?
Clarke: People who agreed with me.
Dawe: I notice, Prime Minister, that when there’s a scandal or a controversial report, senior people don’t seem to go down. They go sideways, or up.
Clarke: That’s unfair, Bryan. Sometimes they go diagonally.
Dawe: Diagonally.
Clarke: Yes. That’s when you move from one important job to a different important job, possibly in another time zone, so that by the time anyone finishes reading the report, you’re already at a cocktail party with the US State Department.
Dawe: So Washington is… what? A demotion? A promotion?
Clarke: It’s a sideways-upwards transitional accountability enhancement.
Dawe: I see.
Clarke: Very modern. Very reformist.
Dawe: Some people might say it looks like rewarding failure.
Clarke: Only to people who don’t understand success, Bryan.
Dawe: How do you define success in Canberra?
Clarke: Survival. If you’re still there at the end of the royal commission, that’s merit.
Dawe: And if you’re promoted?
Clarke: That’s outstanding merit.
Dawe: Did it worry you at all that this appointment might make people think nothing has really changed?
Clarke: We’ve changed the letterhead, Bryan. It now says “Labor Government” at the top. Completely different culture.
Dawe: But the people?
Clarke: They’re very experienced. You don’t want inexperienced people running the same old system. It wouldn’t be safe.
Dawe: So to change the system, you keep the same people.
Clarke: Exactly. They know where everything is.
Dawe: Including the bodies.
Clarke: Well, the filing cabinets, Bryan. Let’s keep it collegial.
Dawe: Why Washington specifically? Why not, say, a quiet role in a smaller post?
Clarke: Because that would look like a punishment, and we’re not about punishment. We’re about learning.
Dawe: Learning.
Clarke: Yes. We send them to Washington to learn how valued they are.
Dawe: Who learns that?
Clarke: Everyone watching.
Dawe: The Americans are very keen on your AUKUS arrangements. Was that a factor?
Clarke: It’s important to send someone who is deeply invested in AUKUS, Bryan.
Dawe: So deeply invested they helped design it.
Clarke: Well, yes, that’s optimal. You don’t want someone going over to Washington and asking whether it’s all a good idea.
Dawe: You want someone who already knows it’s a good idea.
Clarke: Precisely. It saves time.
Dawe: So Mr Moriarty will represent Australia’s interests by representing the policy he helped create.
Clarke: That’s what we call alignment.
Dawe: Others might call it conflict of interest.
Clarke: Only if they’re not on the email chain, Bryan.
Dawe: Prime Minister, you came to office promising integrity and a different way of doing politics.
Clarke: And we’ve delivered that.
Dawe: By doing things the same way.
Clarke: But with a more serious expression.
Dawe: I see. So the difference between old politics and new politics is the facial expression.
Clarke: And the press release. The fonts are different now.
Dawe: Fonts.
Clarke: Very modern fonts. That’s reform.
Dawe: What do you say to public servants down the line who see someone implicated in controversy going to Washington and think, “That’s the career path”?
Clarke: I say to them: work hard, keep your head down, and one day, if there’s enough public outrage, you too could be posted somewhere very nice.
Dawe: On a very good salary.
Clarke: Well, it’s not about the money, Bryan, it’s about service.
Dawe: To whom?
Clarke: To the alliance.
Dawe: The US alliance.
Clarke: The only alliance that really matters, Bryan.
Dawe: And the Australian public?
Clarke: They’re very supportive once we’ve explained it to them.
Dawe: Have you explained it to them?
Clarke: We’ve issued a statement.
Dawe: Saying what?
Clarke: That Greg is highly qualified. And we’re not taking any further questions.
Dawe: That’s the explanation.
Clarke: That’s transparency.
Dawe: Prime Minister, thank you for your time.
Clarke: Thank you, Bryan. You don’t know anyone who’d want to work closely with Richard Marles, do you? We’ll need a new Secretary of Defence. Needs to be good at signing cheques.
This article was originally published on URBAN WRONSKI WRITES
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Very good David, John Clarke would be pleased.As for Marles, there’s a position at Malabar for apprentice turd bobber.BYO pole.
“We” have so little policy, talent, flexibility, comprehension and so little debate, awareness, analysis, that one might wonder at our ability to actually move on serious issues, no matter who “decides.” We wear thongs because tying laces is a bit of an intellectual challenge. Barnaby?
Shades of Kathryn Campbell, former Secretary of the Department of the Human Services, responsible for the robotdebt scandal, promoted to Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade until her resignation in July 2023 following the findings against her in the Royal Commission enquiry into the scandal. The findings of the Royal Commission were “scathing” and “damning” of Campbell, who herself never acknowledged responsibility, instead blaming the victims.
Promoted, not brought before the courts, found guilty, and imprisoned. She should be thankful she’s not Chinese, where an entirely different fate would have awaited her.
Canguro, it was as if all those Robodebt victims were given another kick in the guts. Then there’s the spook dimension. The secrecy, an unhealthy obsession with confidential security. And military: Major General Campbell, would command up to $900 per diem from when she used to be in the army reserve. Doing top-secret Reserve work. And it must be a great club to belong to. For victims, it comes at the same time as the latest absurd explanation from a high-ranking APS wallah, that FOI is a direct threat to effective government. Crikey’s Bernard Keane reports: “Albanese’s hand-picked Public Service Commissioner Gordon De Brouwer began laying the groundwork for this claim in 2024. The Australian Public Service Commission is the body ostensibly in charge of, among other things, the integrity and accountability of the public service. De Brouwer told a Mandarin conference in early 2024 that robodebt showed public servants weren’t putting “frank and honest advice” in writing because they were too scared it would be revealed under FOI. He furnished no evidence of any kind to back this up.”
Harry, Richard Marles is described by Bernard Keane as a talentless, party hack. But Marles is of the Right faction. We are still waiting for him to clear up the mess in Defence. Others also find him mediocre, evading accountability amid procurement failures and US-related humiliations under the Trump administration. Defence is a bit of an MP’s grave-yard, and the appointment is clearly a poisoned chalice, but I’d be scratching to find a single, compelling reason to defend Labor’s Deputy leader.
Phil, I agree, but I’m not sure if your man Barnaby is your proposed alternative. Brilliant suggestion. He’d go down well with the Trump Administration. Trump would be a big fan of Joyce’s work in water rights. His Envoy skills commend him, above all. No long briefing papers, just the odd, missing tweet. And it’s far more than he’s currently being paid.
This article is too close to the truth in Australian politics. The other comments are excellent.
@ Harry Lime: You are expecting too much of the talents of Retched Mediocrity ….. he would not be able to determine which end of the pole to use.
@ Phil Pryor: Beetrooter wears riding boots for image and overcoming the need to tie laces.
@ Canguro: Another Robodebt perpetrator who has so far escaped accountability despite the huge 2025 LABOR election win. Without a doubt, this ALBANESE LABOR GOVERNMENT is as gutless as the COALition is useless.
@ David Tyler: Bernard Keane is far too generous when describing the most underwhelming LABOR minister since Jim Cairns. Perhaps our PP will more accurately describe the Retched Mediocrity.
But Beetrooter’s role in the Anus Failure $80 MILLION empty glass of MDB water has never been fully researched by the Mainstream Media Manipulation Monopoly. The only comments that I have seen suggest Beetrooter was too busy with drinking and philandering to worry about the details at that time.
A dead drover’s dog is preferred by those in New England with first-hand experience.
“a sideways-upwards transitional accountability enhancement”, what an elegant description for Moriarty’s job, or was it Kathryn Campbell’s tenure running the subs? NEC while ai agree with most of your comments I think you are being unfair to Jim Cairns whose attention was somewhat distracted. I can think of many worse Ministers than him, from PM big ears to the wanker who held five (or was it six?) portfolios.
R Marles, so orthodox and carefully careerist, something of a likely Liberal colt type, being disappointing and returning as a labor hopeful horse for the Cup, after gelding…Pothinus would have said it was a “small sacrifice”…: (No Barnaby, ever.)