I am pleased to announce that on 6 November 2019 the Governor-General, His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd), appointed two new secretaries to departments of the Australian Public Service: Mr David Fredericks has been appointed to lead the Department of the Environment and Energy, and Mr Simon Atkinson has been appointed to lead the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Cities and Regional Development. Both appointments are for five years, commencing on Monday 11 November 2019.
Mr Fredericks is currently a Deputy Secretary at the Department of Finance, previously having served as a Deputy Secretary in the Attorney-General's Department from 2011 to 2015. He was a ministerial adviser from 2008 to 2010, and prior to that served in the Solomon Islands' Ministry of Treasury and Finance.
Mr Atkinson is currently a Deputy Secretary in the Treasury. He has held extensive senior roles in the Infrastructure and Regional portfolios - including leading the establishment of Infrastructure Australia - as well as in the Departments of Defence and Finance. He served as Cabinet Secretary from 2017 to 2018 and as a ministerial adviser from 2013 to 2016.
I congratulate them both and look forward to working with them in their new roles.
