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Thales Australia has appointed a former secretary of the Department of Defence and Ambassador as chair of the Thales Australia Board.
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Duncan Lewis AO DSC CSC, former secretary of the Department of Defence and Director-General of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation has been appointed as board chair of Thales Australia.
Lewis will replace outgoing chair Belinda Hutchinson AM.
Lewis was appointed to the role following a career in the Australian Army and public service, having served as Commander of the SAS, Secretary of the Department of Defence, and ambassador to Belgium, the European Union Luxembourg and NATO.
He was appointed to the role following three years as a non-executive director at Thales Australia.
“Thales Australia is a great company employing large numbers of Australians in our major cities and in rural and regional Australia. Furthermore, Thales Australia provides leading edge military capability to the Australian Defence Force and makes a major contribution to Australia’s sovereign defence industry base,” Lewis said.
Belinda Hutchinson is expected to remain on the board as a non-executive director.
Hutchinson praised the appointment, acknowledging that Lewis’ depth of knowledge will support Thales’ customer base.
“I am delighted that Duncan Lewis has agreed to become the Thales chair. Given his wide-ranging senior leadership roles serving Australia, he brings extraordinarily valuable experience to the role,” Hutchinson said.
“It has been a privilege to be the chair of Thales over the past eight years. Thales provides important sovereign capability contributing to Australia’s national interest and security through its support of the ADF and its commercial customers. I look forward to the further successful growth of the company.”
Jeff Connolly, chief executive officer of Thales Australia, welcomed the new appointment while expressing his thanks to Hutchinson.
“We are very pleased that Duncan has agreed to take the position of chair of Thales Australia,” he explained.
“Duncan brings with him a wealth of knowledge spanning a 47-year career with the Australian government, both in and out of uniform. Duncan’s experience as one of Australia’s pre-eminent leaders in cyber security, defence and international affairs are all areas of critical importance to Australia’s national security interests in the current geopolitical climate and will only increase in importance into the future.
“I’d like to thank Belinda for her dedication to Thales Australia over the last eight years. We are privileged to have the benefit of her extensive experience, leadership and commitment. I look forward to continuing to work alongside Belinda on the board in the future as we continue to build an even more valuable sovereign capability in Australia.”
In a company announcement marking the appointment, Lewis praised announcements by the Australian government to provide Thales’ locally built Bushmaster to Ukraine, reiterating the need for a strong sovereign defence industry.
