Mr. Pat Barrett, AM took over as Auditor General of Australia on May 2, 1995.
Mr. Barrett, born in 1939, commenced his Service career in 1957 in the then Department of the Interior. After periods in the Departments of Civil Aviation and Health, the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, the Treasury and the Tariff Board, he was promoted to the Senior Executive Service in the Tariff Board in 1972. He then moved to the Industries Assistance Commission in 1974 and was transferred in April 1979 to the Department of Finance. He became head of the Transport and Industry Division of Finance in May 1979. He moved to the Defence and Government Division in 1983, and in 1985 took over the Social Security Division. During that time he also spent nine months on interchange as Deputy Secretary in the then Department of Housing and Construction. He was appointed Deputy Secretary in Finance in December 1985.
Mr. Barrett gained a degree in economics from the University of Queensland in 1962 and a diploma in business administration in 1969. He is a member of the Commonwealth Superannuation Boards of Trustees No. 1 and No. 2 and a Trustee of "he Commonwealth Superannuation Scheme Additional Contributions Trust Fund. He is a Fellow of the Australian Society of CPAs and Australian Institute of Management, and an Associate of the Institute of Corporate Managers, Secretaries and Administrators, and of the Australian Computer Society. He is also a member of the Economic Society and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Public Administration. In 1992 he received the award of Member of the General Division of the Order of Australia (AM).
Mr. Guo Zhenqian was appointed Auditor General of China on May 12, 1994 by presidential decree upon the endorsement of the National People's Congress, succeeding Mr. Lu Peijian who retired after many years of distinguished Service.
Mr. Zhenqian brings to his new assignment a wealth of experience in public finance and economics. He earned a bachelor's degree in economics from the People's University of China in 1954. After graduation, he served in the Bureau of Commerce and then in the office of Public Finance and Trade of Hubei Province. He was later promoted as the president of the Hubei branch of the People's Construction Bank of China.
In 1983, Mr. Zhenqian was appointed as Vice-Governor and concurrently Head of the Commission of Economy of Hubei Province. He was subsequently appointed the Governor of Hubei province in 1985. In 1990 he became Vice President of China's Central Bank, the People's Bank of China, before his transfer in 1993 to the Audit Administration of the People's Republic of China (now renamed the National Audit Office of the People's Republic of China) as Deputy Auditor General.
Dr. Abed Kharabsheh was appointed the President of the Audit Bureau of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan by a Royal Decree upon the recommendations of the Council of Ministries, with effect from July 1, 1994 . He succeeds Mr. Adel Kodah, who has been appointed as a Minister to the Ministry of Supply.
Dr. Kharabsheh holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Missouri, Columbia (USA). He has served as a I Professor of Economics in the Faculty of Economics of the University of Jordan.
Dato' Mohd. Khalil bin Dato' Mohd. Noor was appointed as Auditor General of Malaysia on July 1, 1994, succeeding Tan Sri Ishak Tadin on his retirement.
Dato Mohd. Khalil joined the Malaysian Civil Service in 1964 after graduating from the University of Malaya with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) degree. He has worked in several important positions in the Civil Service, before his appointment as Head of the Malaysian SAL Among the posts held by him are Dy. Secretary General, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Secretary of Finance Division, Ministry of Finance, Director General, Road Transport Department and Secretary to Foreign Investment Committee, Economic Planning Unit of the Prime Minister's Department.
Mr. David Macdonald took over as the Controller and Auditor General of New Zealand on April 24,1995.
Mr. Macdonald was previously a senior audit partner in the financial institutions group for London accountants, Touche Ross. He has had 23 years experience as a partner with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu in Wellington and London. He is a Fellow of the New Zealand Society of Accountants and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.
In 1984, Mr. Macdonald had headed a three member team appointed by the then Controller and Auditor General of New Zealand, Brian Tyler, to undertake a major examination of the Audit Office which included a wide ranging review of the Audit department's mandate and procedures.
As reported in our 1994 issue, Mr. Celso D.Gangan was appointed the Chairman of Commission on Audit of the Philippines on March 25,1994, succeeding Mr. Pascasio S.Banaria.
Born on July 28, 1934 in Ilagan, Isabela, Mr. Gangan took a bachelor's degree in commerce in 1964, followed by a degree in law in 1968. In his long and distinguished career, he has served as a Municipal Secretary of Ilagan , OIC Vice-Governor of the Province of Isabela, Chairman on the Organic Committee on Government Auditing (tor which he was awarded a Plaque of Appreciation by the Commission on Audit) and Resident Ombudsman, Commission on Audit, before his appointment as Assistant Commissioner in the Commission on Audit in 1988. He has also worked as a trial lawyer, corporate legal counsel, certified public accountant, finance and management consultant and professor of law. Mr. Gangan is a member of a number of professional organizations in the Philippines, including the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Philippines Association of Management Accountants, Lions Club, Knights of Rizal and the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
Even as we go to the press, we haw received the news that Mr. Hikmat Mizban Al-Azawi has taken over as the President of the Board of Supreme Audit of Iraq, succeeding Mr. Daham Abid Al-Rashid.