Mr O'brien Sadly Mistaken

The Minister of Defence, Hon Max Bradford, expressed his sadness over allegations by Mr Terence O'Brien, the departing director of the Centre for Strategic Studies (CSS), of political interference in the centre's management.

"Whilst Mr O'Brien is understandably unhappy at not being re-appointed, his allegations of political interference in the process are totally without foundation," Mr Bradford said.

"Mr O'Brien has served an agreed five year term, which was in fact rolled over for a further six months until he retired from the Foreign Service.

"Is he saying that was a result of 'political interference' too?"

The CSS Director reports to a Management Committee chaired by the Director of the Institute of Policy Studies and includes the Professor of International Relations at Victoria University, the Director of the Institute of International Affairs, the Vice-Chancellor of the University, as well as the Secretaries of Foreign Affairs and Defence and the Chief of Defence Force.

"As I understand it, the Management Committee set up an independent Appointments Panel, chaired by an assistant Vice-Chancellor, to interview the applicants, including Mr O'Brien. Their recommendation was unanimous and was accepted by the Committee," Mr Bradford said.

"I have written to Mr O'Brien twice in my tenure as Minister of Defence. The correspondence related to arrangements for a roundtable discussion on defence that CCS was organising.

"I simply asked that invitations be widely extended for equitable treatment of all points of view, and for an agenda to be published for a discussion panel being run by Mr O'Brien," Mr Bradford said.

"The agenda and invitee list wasn't provided until three days prior to the event, which I found to be very poor organisation. After receipt of Mr O'Brien's assurances of impartiality, I wished him well for the day and understand that the discussion panel proved to be a success," Mr Bradford said.

Mr Bradford said Mr O'Brien had served the Centre to the best of his ability, but perhaps the management committee and independent reviewers believed that it was time for a change, noting that any think tank organisation regularly needs a fresh perspective.