David Hurley

General David John Hurley AC, DSC (born 1953) is a former senior officer in the Australian Army, and the 38th and current Governor of New South Wales. In a 42-year military career, Hurley was deployed on Operation Solace in Somalia in 1993, commanded the 1st Brigade (1999–00), and was appointed the inaugural Chief of Capability Development Group (2003–07). His career culminated with his appointment as Chief of the Defence Force (CDF) on 4 July 2011, in succession to Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston.^[1] Hurley retired from the Defence Force in June 2014, and succeeded Dame Marie Bashir as Governor of New South Wales on 2 October the same year.

Early life and education

David Hurley was born in Wollongong, New South Wales, the son of Norma and James Hurley. His father was an Illawarra steelworker and his mother worked in a grocery store. Hurley grew up in Port Kembla, attended Port Kembla High School where he completed his Higher School Certificate in 1971. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and Graduate Diploma in Defence Studies. He is married to Linda and has three children.^[2]

Military career

Hurley joined the Australian Army in January 1972,^[3] and graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon in December 1975 into the Royal Australian Infantry Corps. His initial posting was to the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR). Promoted to captain, he was appointed Adjutant of the Sydney University Regiment before becoming Regimental Adjutant of the Royal Australian Regiment. He went on exchange to the 1st Battalion, Irish Guards (British Army) before serving with 5th/7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (5/7 RAR).^[2]

Promoted to lieutenant colonel, he was posted as the Senior Career Adviser (Armour, Artillery, Engineers and Infantry) in the Office of the Military Secretary in 1990, appointed SO1 (Operations) Headquarters 2nd Division in early 1991 and in November 1991 assumed command of 1 RAR which he led during Operation SOLACE (Somalia) in 1993. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for this service.^[4] In 1994 he became SO1 (Operations), Headquarters 1st Division.^[5]

Following promotion to colonel, he was appointed Chief of Staff, Headquarters 1st Division in June 1994, attended the U.S. Army War College in 1996 and 1997, became Military Secretary to Chief of Army, and was posted to Australian Defence Headquarters as Director of Preparedness and Mobilisation in December 1997.^[6]

As a brigadier, he assumed command of the 1st Brigade in Darwin in January 1999. During this period he oversaw the Brigade's transition to a higher degree of operational readiness and its support to Australian led operations in East Timor. He went on to be Director General Land Development within Capability Systems in January 2001.^[5]

He was promoted to major general in 2001 and served as Head Capability Systems Division from July 2001, and as Land Commander Australia (LCAUST) from December 2002.^[5]

Promoted to lieutenant general, he assumed the new appointment of Chief of Capability Development Group (CCDG) in December 2003, went on to take the newly separated appointment of Chief of Joint Operations (CJOPS) in September 2007, and became Vice Chief of the Defence Force (VCDF) in July 2008.^[7]

Hurley was promoted to general and succeeded Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston as Chief of the Defence Force (CDF) on 4 July 2011.^[1]

In January 2012 Hurley completed 40 years service to the Australian Defence Force,^[3] and on 20 January whilst in Paris, he was presented with the insignia for Officer of the Legion of Honour by the French CDF.^[8] In February he was presented with his fifth bar to the Defence Force Service Medal, and with the DFSM ribbon with the Federation Star, in recognition of his 40 years of service.^[3] Hurley retired from the Australian Army on 30 June 2014, and was succeeded as CDF by Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin.^[9]

David Morrison (Australian of the Year 2016), has attributed, "one of the most quoted phrases" in his anti-misogyny speech, "the standard you walk past is the standard you accept" to David Hurley.^[10]

Post-Defence activities

Hurley is a Honorary Patron of the ACT Veterans Rugby Club.^[11]

Governor of New South Wales

On 5 June 2014, New South Wales Premier Mike Baird announced that General Hurley would replace Dame Marie Bashir as Governor of New South Wales: he was sworn in by the Premier on 2 October 2014 after Bashir's term as Governor expired.^[12] On 17 March 2015, he was invested as a Knight of the Order of St John by the Lord Prior, Dr Neil Conn, at a ceremony at Government House, Sydney.^[13]

Titles, styles and honours

Titles

Viceregal styles of David Hurley
Reference style	His Excellency
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Alternative style	Sir

The Governor's style and title in full is: His Excellency General The Honourable David John Hurley, Companion of the Order of Australia, Distinguished Service Cross, Governor of the State of New South Wales in the Commonwealth of Australia.^[14]

Honours and awards

	Companion of the Order of Australia (AC)	26 January 2010[15]
	Officer of the Order of Australia (AO)	26 January 2004[16]
	Distinguished Service Cross (DSC)	26 November 1993[4]
	Knight of the Order of St John	17 March 2015[13]
	Australian Active Service Medal	with SOMALIA clasp[17]
	Australian Service Medal	with SOMALIA clasp[17]
	Defence Force Service Medal with the Federation Star	40–44 years service[3]
	Australian Defence Medal	[17]
	Officer of the Legion of Honour (France)	20 January 2012[8][18]
	Commander of the Legion of Merit (United States)	10 May 2012[18]
	Knight Grand Commander of the Order of Military Service (Malaysia)	24 September 2012[18]
	Defence Meritorious Service Star – 1st Class[19] (Indonesia)	19 November 2012[18][20][21]
	Distinguished Service Order (Singapore)	13 February 2013[18][22]
	Gold Medal of the Order of the Crown of Thailand (Thailand)	June 2014[18]
	Gold Decoration of Merit (Netherlands)	June 2014[18]

Badges

• Infantry Combat Badge

Honorary appointments

• 2 October 2014: Regimental Colonel in the Royal New South Wales Regiment.
• (Previously): Honorary Colonel for Sydney University Regiment.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to David Hurley.

• ADF Leaders page entry
• Official biography
• Official photo (copyright)

Governors of New South Wales
	Before Federation	Phillip Hunter King Bligh Macquarie Brisbane Darling Bourke Gipps FitzRoy Denison Young Belmore Robinson Loftus Carrington Jersey Duff Hampden Beauchamp
	After Federation	Rawson Chelmsford Strickland Davidson de Chair Game Gowrie Anderson Wakehurst Northcott Woodward Cutler Rowland Martin Sinclair Samuels Bashir Hurley

Chiefs of the Defence Force
Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee	Sir Henry Wells Sir Roy Dowling Sir Frederick Scherger Sir John Wilton Sir Victor Smith Francis Hassett
Chief of Defence Force Staff	Sir Francis Hassett Sir Arthur MacDonald Sir Anthony Synnot Sir Neville McNamara Sir Phillip Bennett
Chief of the Defence Force	Sir Phillip Bennett Peter Gration Alan Beaumont John Baker Chris Barrie Peter Cosgrove Angus Houston David Hurley Mark Binskin

Vice Chiefs of the Defence Force
Vice Chief of the Defence Force	Ray Funnell Ian Knox Alan Beaumont John Baker Robert Walls Chris Barrie Douglas Riding Desmond Mueller Russ Shalders Ken Gillespie David Hurley Mark Binskin Ray Griggs

Chiefs of Joint Operations
Chief of Joint Operations	David Hurley Mark Evans Ash Power David Johnston