A new Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection has been announced by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbot.
Michael Pezzullo, currently chief executive officer of the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (ACBPS), will take up his position on Monday 13 October 2014.
He has been working closely with Immigration and Citizenship Minister Scott Morrison on the government’s border protection reforms, and more recently on enforcing increased national security measures at the border.
He has also been a driving force behind the internal reform of the ACBPS, and more recently, the government’s larger border protection reforms announced in May.
It has also been announced that Roman Quaedvlieg will become the new ACBPS chief executive officer until 30 June 2015. This tenure coincides with the proposed commencement of the Australian Border Force on 01 July 2015.
Quaedvlieg, a career police officer, joined the ACBPS in May 2013 as its deputy chief executive officer of border enforcement, and has focused on building the agency’s law enforcement capability, establishing the foundations for the future Australian Border Force.