Roman quaedvlieg biography
Home / Political Leaders & Public Figures / Roman quaedvlieg biography
Tour de Force reveals Quaedvlieg as an attentive, witty, intelligent, and dedicated professional shaped by his operational experience, with a genuine passion for public service.
Regardless of political persuasions or personal opinion on the man himself, Tour De Force is an enjoyable and thought-provoking read. It also highlights the hypocrisy of key figures involved in Quaedvlieg's referral and investigation for alleged corruption.
While it's clear Quaedvlieg never sought to be part of the "boys' club" even in his early days as a beat constable, by the final chapter of Tour de Force, there's a real sense of disappointment and intrigue over his excoriating downfall.
It's an autobiography which covers three decades of extraordinary political and social times in the context of ideologically driven governments from an otherwise undocumented perspective. Roman was co-opted as an enforcement and tactical specialist into a Commonwealth-led review of national arrangements to respond to national Active Shooter incidents and was concurrently the architect of the Federal Government's 2017 National Firearms Amnesty program.
Roman has extensive experience across the four pillars of critical infrastructure, including an intimate knowledge of global supply chain vulnerabilities and the establishment of insider threat and corruption programs.
Tour de Force: My history-making Tour de France
Roman Quaedvlieg was always destined to make a mark. The first few chapters are entertaining with a mix of amusing stories and observations of uniformed policework, undercover operations and drug stings.The anecdotes offer an insight into classic police culture and lay the groundwork for his later career.
It also offers a carefully catalogued insight into the personalities and relationships of senior bureaucrats and ministers. He was a substantive member of the Australia and New Zealand Counter Terrorism Committee (ANZCTC), the Chair of both its Operational Response Capability and its Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosives sub-committees, and participated in the development of ANZCTC's Mass Gathering policy guidance to industry.
This is a personal and political story that exposes a deeply conflicted national security system and doesn't shy away from his notorious sacking from the top job.
Tour de Force is a detailed and explosive memoir, revealing a lifelong quest for justice in the face of cronyism, unbridled ambition, politics and vested interests.
.
He has run very large organisations with direct reporting responsibility to the Federal Minister and the Australian Parliament for a range of functions including customs, immigration, Australian trade flows, maritime enforcement and combating transnational crime.Roman was responsible for the merger of the federal Customs and Immigration organisations and the associated multi-year reform programs including the co- design of the Federal Department of Home Affairs.
Tour de Force: The explosive journey from street cop to chief of Australian Border Force
While only one chapter in Quaedvlieg's recently released memoir, Tour de Force, covers his notorious sacking, the book provides operational insight into some of the government's most controversial policies, including boat turn backs, asylum seeker resettlement, and citizenship cancellation.
While some chapters are challenging to read, Quaedvlieg strips away the government rhetoric and exposes previously unreported detail about "on water matters" and national security policy. There's also a strong implication that Quaedvlieg was subject to a brutal character assassination orchestrated by someone within his former circle of confidantes for the sole purpose of making his reinstatement to ABF Commissioner untenable.
Key themes flow through, particularly Quaedvlieg's propensity to stand by his principles, even to his detriment, and his pragmatism at balancing professional expectations and personal discomfort.
In these roles, he was responsible for the protection of the Australian community and Australian public assets, including its critical infrastructure. The reasons provided by the government for his sacking are remarkably underwhelming. Personal descriptions are generally considered, couched in objectivity or at least tactful. Quaedvlieg has named a lot of names and recounted many conversations.
Right up to being appointed as the very first head of the Australian Border Force, Roman Quaedvlieg’s story is one of a tough, resourceful and disciplined policeman rising through the ranks to the very top of law enforcement in Australia. This includes a swathe of information and analysis which a few senior public servants and ministers probably wished had stayed out of the public domain.
Quaedvlieg is unashamedly self-assured and confident, but there's enough witty self-deprecation to balance it out.
As the narrative moves through policing law enforcement into customs and border protection operations and politics, readers will recognize a bunch of names of crooks, public figures, and politicians.
As ABF Commissioner he oversaw an operating budget of $2.5 billion and led a 6,000-strong workforce. The narrative balances factual accounts with personal reflection and humour, which makes it an easy read, despite the complex subject matter.
Quaedvlieg is clear about his responsibilities and accountabilities at a professional level, and differentiates between his personal opinion and the implied and professional expectations of his various roles.