I rise this morning to acknowledge the retirement of the chief executive officer of the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office, Dr Peter Frost.
Dr Frost of course not only was the CEO but also served as the acting Auditor-General for two extended periods, first following the retirement of Des Pearson and second following the resignation of John Doyle. The role is never straightforward, and Peter did an excellent job filling the gap left by Des Pearson.
His second stint after the resignation of John Doyle was, I am sure, even more testing. I do not wish to dwell on that time, but I simply say that under exceptionally difficult circumstances Dr Frost did a wonderful job to keep the office and the critically important work it does constantly moving forward.
Peter was not of course a career auditor. His Victorian public service roles included first assistant secretary to the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, head of the Office of Public Sector Management and deputy secretary of the Department of Premier and Cabinet.
In academia he served as deputy vice-chancellor at RMIT. He worked in 33 countries as a project director and consultant for the World Bank, and he was a special adviser of public sector reform for the Commonwealth Secretariat in London.
Peter is a former Menzies scholar and completed his doctorate in public policy and education at Harvard University.
Unfortunately I was not able to attend the farewell function for Peter at the end of last year, but I did not want his retirement to pass un-noted, as it marks the conclusion of a long and distinguished career of service not only to the state and people of Victoria but to public service across the globe.
I am sure all members will join me in congratulating and thanking Peter for his service and for his commitment to the public sector and wishing him well in future endeavours.