His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd) was sworn in as the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 July 2019 and is the FFFAIF Patron-in-Chief, succeeding the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK AC(Mil) CVO MC (RETD). FFFAIF thanks His Excellency General for granting us this honour and welcomes him to our association.
Major General Matthew Sykes (MoD), Lt General David Hurley (Vice Chief of the Australian Defence Force) and Major General Mike O’Brien (ADF) reflect on the commencement of the Fromelles exhumation process Tuesday 5 May 2009.
[Images from Mirror.com.uk and Philippe Pauchet- Click on images to enlarge]
Biography from: https://www.gg.gov.au/about-governor-general/governor-generals-biography
His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd)
Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia
David Hurley joined the Australian Army in January 1972, graduating from the Royal Military College, Duntroon into the Royal Australian Infantry Corps. In a long and distinguished 42-year military career, his service culminated with his appointment as Chief of the Defence Force.
He commanded the 1st Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment during Operation SOLACE in Somalia in 1993, receiving the Distinguished Service Cross. Following promotion to Colonel, he was appointed Chief of Staff, Headquarters 1st Division in June 1994, attending the U.S. Army War College in 1996 and 1997. He commanded the 1st Brigade from 1999-2000 in Darwin, supporting Australian-led operations in East Timor. He was appointed the inaugural Chief of Capability Development Group from 2003-07, Chief of Joint Operations Command in October 2007, and Vice Chief of the Defence Force in July 2008. Promoted to General, he succeeded Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston as Chief of the Defence Force on 4 July 2011 until his retirement on 30 June 2014. In 2010, he was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia for eminent service to the Australian Defence Force.
Prior to being sworn in as Governor-General, David Hurley served as the 38th Governor of New South Wales from October 2014 – May 2019.
David Hurley was born in Wollongong, New South Wales on 26 August 1953, the son of Norma and James Hurley. His father was an Illawarra steelworker and his mother worked in a grocery store. He grew up in Port Kembla and 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 from the Royal Military College, Duntroon in 1975. He is married to Linda with whom he has three children: Caitlin, Marcus and Amelia.
He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of Wollongong in 2013; a Doctor of the University, honoris causa, from the University of New South Wales in 2015; made a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering in 2016; and awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Macquarie University in 2017.
Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley’s biography
Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley (nee McMartin) was born and raised in Sydney. She was educated at Kingsgrove High School and went on to become a teacher, commencing in 1976. She married David Hurley in 1977.
In the course of their married life, Mrs Hurley has supported her husband throughout his career on a wide variety of postings in Australia and overseas, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Malaysia.
Mrs Hurley’s own career in education has been in both the public and private school systems, until her retirement from full time teaching in July 2011. She has been an active member of the community as a Pastoral Carer at the Canberra Hospital and Hospice. Mrs Hurley holds a Bachelor of Education from the University of Canberra.
Mrs Hurley has an interest in the Arts, especially music. She is passionate about singing, and showing how singing, especially in a group, can have a positive impact on individuals and the community.
Mrs Hurley is a member and Patron of ‘Solid Rock’, a Christian Ministry to women in Defence. She has been a member of the St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church choir in Canberra and is a member of the Australian Military Wives Choir.
Mrs Hurley is dedicated to championing causes that are developing new technologies to recycle rubbish, and ways to reduce our use of plastic, particularly plastic packaging and plastics used for single use items, which are not only harmful to the environment but add unnecessarily to landfill sites.
Their Excellencies have three children: Caitlin, Marcus and Amelia.
