Sanctus – Over three years after Secretary Kathryn Stewart announced she would be creating the Disaster Management Agency, the Government have finally announced who they are nominating to be the inaugural Director-General of the body. Secretary Stewart announced this morning that the Government has approved Commissioner Thomas Grealish of the Sanctarian Federal Police to be their nominee, and they will be sending the nomination to the Senate in the next weeks.
The Disaster Management Agency, created by legislation in June, replaces the Office of Emergency Planning within the Department of Homeland Security as a standalone agency with a Director-General that reports directly to the Secretary. With an estimated annual budget of almost S£30bn, the DMA will have a bigger footprint than the old OEP, with considerably more resources.
In announcing Grealish’s nomination, Stewart said they wanted someone with experience of managing a large organisation with a large budget, but also that Grealish brought “the added experience of law enforcement, knowing what it’s like on the ground, in a crisis, and how to triage and manage that crisis with the staff available”. Prior to serving as Commissioner of the Sanctarian Federal Police, Grealish was also Commissioner of the preceding Sanctarian Police Force, and has spent his entire life as a police officer. This will be his first role outside of law enforcement.
Commissioner Grealish said it was an honour that the Government had tapped him for the role, and that he looked forward to the nomination approval process in the Senate. He also said that, in the meantime, he would continue to work “diligently and effectively as ever” as the SFP Commissioner.
JOEY SESSIONS, Political Editor
