Michael Gerard L'Estrange (born 12 October 1952 in

North Sydney North Sydney is a suburb and commercial district on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. And is the administrative centre for the local government area of North Sydney Council. History The Indigenous people on the s ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

) is an Australian academic and former public servant. He is the former Head of the National Security College at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

, in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

. L'Estrange had earlier served a long career in the Australian public service including as a

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

and as

Secretary A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...

of the

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is the department of the Australian government responsible for foreign policy and international relations, development aid (under the name Australian Aid), consular services, overseas trad ...

Early life

L'Estrange attended St Aloysius' College in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and then studied history at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

residing at St John's College, and graduated in 1974. He went on to win a

Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Established in 1902, it is ...

in 1975, studying

Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Philosophy, politics and economics, or politics, philosophy and economics (PPE), is an interdisciplinary undergraduate or postgraduate degree which combines study from three disciplines. The first institution to offer degrees in PPE was the Unive ...

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms was ad ...

, graduating in 1979 with first class honours. While at Oxford, he played first-class

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

for

Oxford University Cricket Club Oxford University Cricket Club (OUCC), which represents the University of Oxford, had held first-class status since 1827 when it made its debut in the inaugural University Match between OUCC and Cambridge University Cricket Club (CUCC). Follo ...

Public service and politics

Returning to Australia, L'Estrange worked for the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, focusing on foreign policy and also undertaking staff work with the Royal Commission on Australia's security and intelligence agencies. In 1987 he was awarded a

Harkness Fellowship The Harkness Fellowship (previously known as the Commonwealth Fund Fellowship) is a program run by the Commonwealth Fund of New York City. This fellowship was established to reciprocate the Rhodes Scholarships and enable Fellows from several co ...

(he had applied for the Harkness in 1986, but that year it was awarded to Eleanor Hall) and attended the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service of

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

, where the supervisor of his studies was

Madeleine Albright Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Körbelová, later Korbelová; May 15, 1937 – March 23, 2022) was an American diplomat and political science, political scientist who served as the 64th United States Secretary of State, United S ...

. He also studied at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. After this fellowship, he worked as a policy adviser to Australian

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

leaders between 1989 and 1994, and became the executive director of the

Menzies Research Centre The Menzies Research Centre (MRC) is an Australian centre-right public policy think tank aligned with the Liberal Party of Australia, Liberal Party. History The Menzies Research Centre was founded in 1994 and is named in honour of Sir Rob ...

, a conservative think tank, in 1995. In 1996, with the election of the

Howard Howard is a masculine given name derived from the English surname Howard. ''The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names'' notes that "the use of this surname as a christian name is quite recent and there seems to be no particular reason for ...

coalition government, L'Estrange was appointed as Secretary of Cabinet and the head of the Cabinet Policy Unit. L'Estrange and Howard had been neighbours in the 1970s. From 2000 to 2005, he was the Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, after which time he returned to become the Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, between 2005 and 2009. In December 2009 he was appointed as the inaugural Executive Director of the National Security College at the Australian National University. He stepped down from the role in November 2014 and was replaced by Professor Rory Medcalf.

Private sector

On 29 May 2014, Rio Tinto announced that, as of 1 September 2014, he would join the Rio Tinto board as a non-executive director. On 7 April 2016, he was appointed to the Qantas board as a non-executive director. On 30 April 2017, he became the Deputy Chancellor of the

University of Notre Dame Australia The University of Notre Dame Australia (known simply as Notre Dame; ; French language, French for 'Mary, mother of Jesus, Our Lady') is a Private university, private Catholic university with campuses in Perth, Sydney and Broome, Western Austr ...

. During L'Estrange's time as a director of Rio Tinto in May 2020 the mining company deliberately destroyed the Australian Aboriginal sacred site at

Juukan Gorge Juukan Gorge is a gorge in the Hamersley Range in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, about from Tom Price, Western Australia, Tom Price. It was named by the daughter of Puutu Kunti Kurrama man Juukan, also known as Tommy Ashburton, who w ...

- the only inland site in Australia to show signs of continuous human occupation for over 46,000 years. L’Estrange wrote an internal review of the decision to destroy the Juukan Gorge site, which was criticised by Australian Senator Pat Dodson as an “unsatisfactory piece of work” and by indigenous leader Noel Pearson as a "whitewash". He subsequently announced that he would step down from the Rio Tinto board in 2021.

Honours

In 2007, L'Estrange was appointed an Officer of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

for service to the development and implementation of public policy in Australia, particularly national security and foreign policy, and to international relations through fostering diplomatic, trade and cultural interests including strengthening Australia's relationship with the United Kingdom.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:L'Estrange, Michael University of Sydney alumni Harkness Fellows Australian Rhodes Scholars Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni Officers of the Order of Australia Australian chief executives 1952 births Living people Oxford University cricketers High commissioners of Australia to the United Kingdom Permanent representatives of Australia to the International Maritime Organization People educated at St Aloysius' College (Sydney) Australian cricketers Cricketers from Sydney British Universities cricketers 20th-century Australian sportsmen