On a mission: Army veteran appointed to head disaster recovery agency
Major General Jake Ellwood has been appointed to lead the Queensland Reconstruction Authority after his work co-ordinating the recovery from last year’s floods in the southeast.
Major-General Jake Ellwood is new chief of the Queensland Reconstruction Authority. (AAP Image/Darren England) NO ARCHIVING
Ellwood will fill a vacancy left by Brendan Moon, who was appointed as the first coordinator-general of the National Emergency Management Agency in September.
The veteran of Kosovo, Timor Leste, Iraq and Afghanistan has been co-ordinating efforts to clean up and rebuild after floods killed 13 people and damaged more than 9000 homes and businesses in early 2022.
He’s also previously co-ordinated the Australian Defence Force’s response to the Black Summer bushfires in 2019-20.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk welcomed Ellwood’s appointment.
“Major General Ellwood was responsible for co-ordinating one of the biggest recovery operations our state has ever seen following last year’s flooding event,” she said in a statement on Friday.
“I was aware of Jake’s significant achievements when I appointed him as recovery co-ordinator and I welcome his appointment as CEO of the leading reconstruction authority in Australia.”
The authority was set up after the devastating 2010-11 season of Queensland floods and Tropical Cyclone Yasi, before being made a permanent agency in 2015.
It has responded to 103 natural disasters since its formation, and was the first state disaster recovery agency to be established.
