List of High Commissioners of Australia to the United Kingdom

Last updated

High Commissioner of Australia to the United Kingdom
Coat of Arms of Australia.svg
Stephen Smith DFAT.jpg
Incumbent
Stephen Smith
since 26 January 2023
Style His/Her Excellency
Reports to Minister for Foreign Affairs
Residence Stoke Lodge, Hyde Park Gate
Seat High Commission of Australia, London
Nominator Prime Minister of Australia
Appointer Governor-General of Australia
Inaugural holder Sir George Reid
Formation22 January 1910
Website Australian High Commission, United Kingdom
Australia House in London, opened by King George V on 3 August 1918. Australia House.jpg
Australia House in London, opened by King George V on 3 August 1918.

The high commissioner of Australia to the United Kingdom is an officer of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the head of the High Commission of the Commonwealth of Australia to United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in London. The position has the rank and status of an ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary. The high commissioner also serves as Australia's permanent representative to the International Maritime Organization (since 1959), [1] a trustee of the Imperial War Museum and Australia's Commonwealth War Graves Commissioner.

Contents

On 30 September 2022, the former defence and foreign affairs minister, Stephen Smith, was named as the next high commissioner, and took up office on 26 January 2023. [2] [3] [4]

Posting history

From Federation in 1901, the new Commonwealth government arranged to have all federal matters and communications handled by the various Agents-General of the states in London (acting with shared responsibility). Prior to federation, each of the Australian colonies were represented through the Agents-General, the oldest being South Australia from 1856. From 1905 the Agents-General formed a committee to jointly deal with Australian matters but on 20 February 1906, the Prime Minister, Alfred Deakin, announced the establishment of a dedicated Australian office in London, with the Secretary of the Department of Defence, Muirhead Collins, as the new office head. [5] The States of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia continue to be represented by agents-general. Since the revival of the NSW agent-general in 2021, Tasmania is the only state that does not have an agent-general in London, having abolished its post in 1981 as a cost-saving measure. [6] [7]

The High Commission of Australia in London is Australia's oldest diplomatic posting, and was created through the passage of the High Commissioner Act 1909 on 13 December 1909, which established the role as appointed by the Governor-General and defined that they would "act as representative and resident agent of the Commonwealth in the United Kingdom, and in that capacity exercise such powers and perform such duties as are conferred upon and assigned to him by the Governor-General [and] carry out such instructions as he receives from the Minister respecting the commercial, financial, and general interests of the Commonwealth and the States in the United Kingdom and elsewhere." [8] After the appointment of Reid as High Commissioner, Collins continued to serve as Official Secretary to the High Commissioner until his retirement in 1917. On 24 July 1913, King George V laid the foundation stone of Australia House, the future site of the Australia mission, which he also officially opened five years later on 3 August 1918. [5]

The High Commissioner Act was amended several times (1937, 1940, 1945, 1952, 1957, 1966) and was repealed by the High Commission (United Kingdom) Act Repeal Act 1973, when Foreign Minister Don Willesee placed the High Commission under the terms of the Public Service Act like all other diplomatic posts. [9] The new act altered the status of the High Commission to one of equality with all other bilateral posts, in recognition of the fact that Australia's relationship with the United Kingdom had changed. [5] Four of Australia's early prime ministers served terms as High Commissioner after leaving office: Reid, Fisher, Cook and Bruce. The position has also been filled by five people who have served as the leader of the opposition in the Australian parliament: Reid, Fisher, Cook, H.V. Evatt and Alexander Downer. Until 1973, every high commissioner was a former government minister. Since then, a number of senior career diplomats have held the post, although former politicians are still regularly appointed.

From 1975 to 2001, the work of the High Commission was assisted by the Australian Consulate in Manchester. Established on 1 August 1975, the consulate largely dealt with trade and migration matters. [10] [11]

Residence

Prior to 1950, the high commissioner lived in various rented premises. From 1910, the first high commissioner, Sir George Reid, rented the residence of John Henniker Heaton at 33 Eaton Square, Belgravia. [12] [13] In 1927, the government of Prime Minister Stanley Bruce acquired the lease of 18 Ennismore Gardens in Knightsbridge, from the Earl of Listowel (and succeeding Lord Castlemaine as lessee), a four-storey 1858 terrace house, as the residence for high commissioner Sir Granville Ryrie. [14] [15] [16] This remained the official residence until 1940, when high commissioner Stanley Bruce downsized to a smaller flat during the war years, and it remained empty until 1946, when high commissioner Jack Beasley took up residence. [17] [18] However, the Beasleys did not favour the size, style, and expense of this residence, and in late 1946 they moved to a smaller terraced house in Ilchester Place, Holland Park, which remained the official residence until 1950. [19] [20] [21] [22]

However, a need for a standalone official residence was identified by the Department of External Affairs, and a two-storey, 20-room, circa 1838 Georgian style residence known as "Stoke Lodge" at 45 Hyde Park Gate in Kensington was acquired in December 1950, with Resident Minister Eric Harrison, and his wife, being the first occupants. [23] [24] [25] [26] Since 1950, Stoke Lodge has been the official residence of all subsequent high commissioners, and often serves as an official reception venue. On 29 January 1952, high commissioner Sir Thomas White hosted Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh prior to their departure on a tour of Kenya, where Elizabeth would become Queen on 6 February. [27] [28] Stoke Lodge was originally built in 1838 by Robert Thew, a major of artillery in the East India Company, and in 1851 was the residence of Italian opera singer, Giulia Grisi. [29] Caroline Ashurst Stansfeld was also resident when she died in 1885. [30]

High commissioners

#OfficeholderImageTerm start dateTerm end dateTime in officeNotes
1 Sir George Reid Sir Geo. Reid LOC 25482767766.jpg 22 January 191010 January 19165 years, 353 days [31] [32] [33]
2 Andrew Fisher AndrewFisher.jpg 22 January 191621 April 19215 years, 89 days [34]
Malcolm Shepherd
(Acting)
Malcolm Lindsay Shepherd, Secretary of the Prime Minister's Department c. 1920.jpg 21 April 192111 November 1921204 days [35]
3 Sir Joseph Cook Sir Joseph Cook.jpg 11 November 192110 May 19275 years, 180 days [36]
4 Sir Granville Ryrie Granville ryrie.jpg 11 May 192730 July 19325 years, 80 days [37] [38] [39]
J. R. Collins
(Acting)
30 July 19327 September 193239 days [40]
5 Stanley Bruce
(Resident Minister until 6 October 1933)
StanleyBruce2.jpg 7 September 19325 October 194513 years, 28 days [41] [42] [43] [44] [45]
H. V. Evatt
(Resident Minister)
Herbert V. Evatt.jpg 5 October 194517 October 194512 days [46] [47]
John Shiels Duncan
(Acting)
17 October 194524 January 194699 days [48] [49]
6 Jack Beasley
(Resident Minister until 14 August 1946)
Jack Beasley.jpg 24 January 19462 September 19493 years, 221 days [50] [51] [52] [53] [54]
Sir Norman Mighell
(Acting)
Norman Mighell, portrait as Commonwealth Coal Commissioner, published in Pix magazine (March 1946).jpg 2 September 194923 April 1950233 days [55] [56]
7 Eric Harrison
(Resident Minister)
Eric John Harrison.jpg 23 April 195030 March 1951341 days [57] [58] [59] [60] [61] [62]
Edwin McCarthy
(Acting)
Edwin McCarthy, official portrait as Secretary of the Department of Commerce and Agriculture, published in Overseas Trading (June 1948).jpg 30 March 195121 June 195183 days [63] [64]
8 Sir Thomas White Thomas Walter White.jpg 21 June 195120 June 19564 years, 365 days [65] [66]
Sir Edwin McCarthy
(Acting)
Edwin McCarthy, official portrait as Secretary of the Department of Commerce and Agriculture, published in Overseas Trading (June 1948).jpg 20 June 195625 October 1956127 days [67]
Sir Eric Harrison Eric John Harrison.jpg 25 October 195625 October 19648 years, 0 days [68] [69] [70] [71]
9 Sir Alexander Downer AlexanderDowner1958.jpg 25 October 196424 October 19727 years, 365 days [72] [73] [74] [75] [76]
Bill Pritchett
(Acting)
24 October 197228 January 197396 days [77]
10 John Armstrong John Ignatius Armstrong.jpg 28 January 197331 January 19752 years, 3 days [78] [79] [80] [81] [82]
11 Sir John Bunting Sir John Bunting.jpg 1 February 1975March 19772 years, 1 month [82] [83] [84] [85]
12 Sir Gordon Freeth Gordon Freeth 1969.jpg March 1977March 19803 years [86] [87] [88]
13 Sir James Plimsoll James Plimsoll 1958-02 (cropped).jpg March 198025 March 19811 year [89] [90] [91]
Frank Murray
(Acting)
25 March 1981April 19810 months [92]
14 Sir Victor Garland Vic Garland 1971.jpg April 198121 December 19832 years, 8 months [93] [94] [95]
15 Alfred Parsons 22 December 1983March 19873 years, 2 months [96] [97]
16 Doug McClelland Doug McClelland 1971.jpg 21 March 1987March 19913 years, 11 months [98] [99] [100]
17 Richard Smith March 1991April 19943 years, 1 month [101]
18 Neal Blewett Neal Blewett.jpg April 199420 March 19983 years, 11 months [102]
19 Philip Flood Philip Flood.jpg 20 March 1998August 20002 years, 4 months [103]
20 Michael L'Estrange Michael L'Estrange.jpg August 2000February 20054 years, 6 months [104]
21 Richard Alston Richard Alston.jpg February 2005September 20083 years, 7 months [105]
22 John Dauth John Dauth (1).jpg September 200823 August 20123 years, 11 months [106]
23 Mike Rann Mike Rann (smiling).jpg 23 August 201231 March 20141 year, 220 days [107]
24 Alexander Downer Alexander Downer (1).jpg 31 March 201427 April 20184 years, 27 days [108] [109]
25 George Brandis George Brandis DFAT 2017 1.jpg 3 May 201830 April 20223 years, 362 days [110] [111]
Lynette Wood
(Acting)
Ambassador Lynette Wood 02.jpg 30 April 202226 January 20231 year, 100 days [112]
26 Stephen Smith Stephen Smith DFAT.jpg 26 January 2023Incumbent194 days [2] [3] [4]

See also

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Further reading