Evan John Williams (born. 1950) is a retired Australian diplomat and public servant who served as the Administrator of the Australian Indian Ocean Territories from 1 November 2003 until 31 October 2005.
Evan John Williams (born. 1950) is a retired Australian diplomat and public servant who served as the Administrator of the Australian Indian Ocean Territories from 1 November 2003 until 31 October 2005.
Evan Williams grew up in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales and was educated at Katoomba High School, graduating in 1968, the first graduating year of the Wyndham Scheme. [1] Williams holds a BA from Australian National University and a Master of Letters from University of New England, Australia. [2]
Williams joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade upon leaving university and took postings in Shanghai, Dar-es-Salaam, Bonn and Tehran. [2]
In 1989 Williams was appointed Consul-General and Counsellor in Jakarta, which was followed by appointments in this position in Manila (1994–1996) and London (1998–2002). From 1992 to 1994 he directed in the Trade Negotiation Division and was Director of the Management Strategy and Coordination Unit (1997–1998). [2]
As Director in the Overseas Property Office from 2002, Williams was appointed in late 2003 as the Administrator of the Australian Indian Ocean Territories, which incorporates Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. As administrator on Cocos, Williams was responsible for proclaiming the adoption of the official flag of the territory on 6 April 2004. Serving until 2005, Williams returned to DFAT and was Director of Consular Operations until 2007, and was appointed High Commissioner to Cyprus on 30 April 2008. [2]
The Territory of Christmas Island is an Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean comprising the island of the same name. It is located approximately 350 kilometres south of Java and Sumatra and about 1,550 km (840 nmi) north-west of the closest point on the Australian mainland. It has an area of 135 square kilometres (52 sq mi). The territory derives its name from its discovery on Christmas Day 1643 by Captain William Mynors.
The Cocos (Keeling) Islands, officially the Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands, are an Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean, comprising a small archipelago approximately midway between Australia and Sri Lanka and relatively close to the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The territory's dual name reflects that the islands have historically been known as either the Cocos Islands or the Keeling Islands.
An administrator in the constitutional practice of some countries in the Commonwealth is a person who fulfils a role similar to that of a governor or a governor-general.
Jonathan Donald Stanhope is a former Australian politician who was Labor Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory from 2001 to 2011. Stanhope represented the Ginninderra electorate in the ACT Legislative Assembly from 1998 until 2011. He is the only ACT Chief Minister to have governed with a majority in the ACT Assembly. From 2012 to 2014 Stanhope was Administrator of the Australian Indian Ocean Territories, which consists of Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands.
Barry Wayne Haase is a former Australian politician who served as a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from October 1998 to August 2013. He initially represented the Western Australian Division of Kalgoorlie, the largest parliamentary constituency by area in the world. In 2010, Kalgoorlie was abolished, and Haase transferred to the newly created Division of Durack, essentially the northern half of his old electorate.
The British Western Pacific Territories (BWPT) was a colonial entity created in 1877 for the administration of a series of Pacific islands in Oceania under a single representative of the British Crown, styled the High Commissioner for the Western Pacific. Except for Fiji and the Solomon Islands, most of these colonial possessions were relatively minor.
The Australian Indian Ocean Territories is the name since 1995 of an administrative unit under the Australian Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts, consisting of two island groups in the Indian Ocean under Australian sovereignty:
The Shire of Cocos (Keeling) Islands is a local government area which manages local affairs on the Australian external territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands. The island is grouped with Western Australia but is administered by the Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities and an Administrator.
The Supreme Court of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands is the de jure superior court for the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, an Australian external territory. The court was originally established in 1958 after the British Government transferred sovereignty for the islands from Singapore to Australia. The court had jurisdiction to deal with all serious crimes and major civil claims for damages occurring on the Island.
Farzian Zainal is a politician from Christmas Island who is a councillor for the Shire of Christmas Island and the treasurer of the Indian Ocean Territories Regional Development Organisation. In June 2023, she was appointed as administrator of Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands.
The COVID-19 pandemic in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus was confirmed to have reached the Cocos (Keeling) Islands on 19 March 2022.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Christmas Island is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus was confirmed to have reached Christmas Island on 6 March 2022.