General Dave Chalmers was the operational commander of the Northern Territory Emergency Response to ''protect children and make communities safe and create a better future for Aboriginal people''. His appointment ended in February when he was replaced by Canberra bureaucrat Mike Zissler, who was in the role for only three months before making a quiet departure.

The Opposition argued the Government had abandoned the ''emergency intervention'' into indigenous communities after it emerged that the bureaucracy would run the scheme rather than a new operational commander.

General Chalmers returned to Defence headquarters in Canberra.

The Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs secretary Dr Jeff Harmer has now appointed the senior soldier to serve as the department's state manager in the Northern Territory.

For more on this story, pick up a copy of today's Canberra Times.