A legion of retired US military leaders have picked up work as consultants to Australia’s Navy. 

Retired senior American military officials have been hired by Australia’s Department of Defence for their expertise, some receiving high salaries of up to $7,500 a day, according to reports this week. 

Details were recently disclosed by the Pentagon for the first time, with documents provided to Congress last month showing that dozens of retired US military figures have been granted approval to work for Australia since 2012.

One such official, retired Admiral John Richardson, who headed the US Navy from 2015 to 2019, receives $5,000 a day as a part-time consultant under a contract with Australia's defence department, which was awarded without tender “due to an absence of competition for technical reasons”. 

Richardson provides advice on the best pathway for Australia to acquire a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines.

Another former vice-admiral, William Hilarides, has been paid almost $2.5 million for advice given through the Naval Shipbuilding Advisory Board and Naval Shipbuilding Expert Advisory Panel since 2016. 

Hilarides, who charges a daily rate of $4,000, has also been hired to lead a snap review of the Royal Australian Navy's surface fleet.

Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy defended Hilarides’ appointment, saying he had “a long association with Australia” and would do a good job. 

The Australian government has relied heavily on high-priced American consultants in recent years to guide its naval policies, according to The Washington Post.

The Pentagon documents also revealed that former US director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, was paid to work for Australia's new Office of National Intelligence in 2018, a year after resigning from his role in the US due to Donald Trump becoming president. 

Clapper was appointed as a visiting Distinguished Professor at the Australian National University in 2017 and praised then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull's decision to create ONI as a single point of intelligence coordination which would bring Australia into line with its Five Eyes partners the US and UK.

The Australian government’s hiring of these American consultants has raised some concerns, with critics questioning the high costs and whether Australia is being too reliant on foreign expertise. 

However, the government defends the hiring of these officials as necessary for their specialist knowledge and experience in defence and naval matters.