List of high commissioners of Australia to Bangladesh

Last updated

High Commissioner of Australia to Bangladesh
Coat of Arms of Australia.svg
Incumbent
Nardia Simpson
since January 2024 (2024-01)(acting)
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Style His Excellency
Reports to Minister for Foreign Affairs
Residence Gulshan Thana
Seat Dhaka
Nominator Prime Minister of Australia
Appointer Governor General of Australia
Inaugural holderJim Allen
Formation30 April 1969 (Deputy High Commissioner)
13 March 1972 (Ambassador)
18 April 1972 (High Commissioner)
Website Australian High Commission, Bangladesh

The high commissioner of Australia to Bangladesh 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 the People's Republic of Bangladesh. The high commission is located in Dhaka. The high commissioner has the rank and status of an ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary [1] and is held, since January 2024, by Nardia Simpson, as acting high commissioner.

Contents

Posting history

The first official Australian presence in Bangladesh dates back to April 1969, when a Deputy High Commission (reporting to the High Commission of Australia in Islamabad, West Pakistan) was opened in the city of Dacca, the capital of East Pakistan. [2] Career diplomat James Lawrence (Jim) Allen, was appointed as Deputy High Commissioner, operating from the Purbani Hotel in Motijheel Thana. [3] Allen had previously served as the secretary to Richard Casey during his term as Governor of Bengal (1944–1946). [4]

Australia was one of the first nations to officially recognise Bangladesh as an independent country on 31 January 1972, following the end of the Bangladesh Liberation War on 16 December 1971 and its status as East Pakistan. [5] On 13 March 1972, the former deputy high commissioner in Dacca (renamed Dhaka in 1982) and chargé d'affaires of the Australian mission since the establishment of diplomatic relations, Jim Allen, was appointed as Australia's first Ambassador to Bangladesh, which was quickly upgraded to the rank of high commissioner following Bangladesh's admission to the Commonwealth of Nations on 18 April 1972. [6] [7] Allen presented his letters of commission to the President of Bangladesh, Abu Sayeed Chowdhury, on 21 April 1972. [8] Allen assisted in the first Australian official visit to Bangladesh, with the goodwill visit of the Australian foreign minister, Nigel Bowen, from 28 to 29 May 1972. [9] On 26 January 1983, a new chancery for the High Commission was opened at 184 Gulshan Avenue, Gulshan, Dhaka. [10]

Heads of mission

#OfficeholderTitleResidencyTerm start dateTerm end dateTime in officeNotes
−Jim AllenDeputy High Commissioner Dacca, East Pakistan 30 April 196831 January 19723 years, 276 days [1] [6] [11]
−Chargé d'affairesDacca, Bangladesh31 January 197213 March 197242 days
1Ambassador13 March 197218 April 197236 days
High Commissioner18 April 197231 December 19731 year, 257 days
2 Philip Flood 23 February 197415 June 19762 years, 113 days [1] [12]
3Tim McDonald15 June 1976December 19771 year, 5 months [13]
4 John Hoyle January 1978December 19791 year, 11 months [14] [15]
5Mack WilliamsJanuary 1980June 19822 years, 5 months [16] [17] [18]
6Ian Mitchell Dhaka, BangladeshJune 1982September 19864 years, 3 months [19] [20] [21]
7 Susan Boyd September 198614 September 19893 years [22]
8Richard Gate14 September 198916 August 19933 years, 336 days [23] [24]
9Kenneth Aspinall16 August 19936 August 19962 years, 356 days [23] [25]
10Charles Stuart6 August 199621 June 19992 years, 319 days [26]
11Robert Flynn21 June 199919 June 20022 years, 363 days [27]
12 Lorraine Barker 19 June 200220 September 20053 years, 93 days [28]
13Douglas Foskett20 September 2005December 20083 years, 2 months [29]
14 Justin Lee January 200914 June 20123 years, 5 months [30]
15 Greg Wilcock 14 June 201222 July 20164 years, 38 days [31]
16 Julia Niblett 22 July 2016December 20193 years, 4 months [32] [33]
17 Jeremy Bruer 20 February 2020December 20233 years, 9 months [34] [35]
18 Nardia Simpson (acting)Dhaka, BangladeshJanuary 2024incumbent270 days [36]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 CA 4415: Australian High Commission, Bangladesh [Dhaka], National Archives of Australia, retrieved 10 January 2016
  2. ↑ "Relations with countries of Asia - Pakistan". Department of External Affairs Annual Report 1968/1969 (Parliamentary Paper No. 127). Trove: Parliament of Australia: 15. 25 September 1969. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  3. ↑ "Appendix III Australian Representation Overseas At 30 June 1969". Department of External Affairs Annual Report 1968/1969 (Parliamentary Paper No. 127). Trove: Parliament of Australia: 99. 25 September 1969. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  4. ↑ Bruer, Jeremy (31 January 2022). "50 years of diplomatic relations between Australia and Bangladesh". The Business Standard . Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  5. ↑ "Bangladesh: The First Year - Relations with Australia". Australian Foreign Affairs Record. 44 (1). Department of Foreign Affairs: 23. January 1973. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  6. 1 2 "Appointment of Australian Ambassador to Bangladesh". Current Notes on International Affairs. 43 (3): 115. March 1972. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  7. ↑ "Bangladesh Joins the Commonwealth". Current Notes on International Affairs. 43 (4). Department of Foreign Affairs: 158–159. April 1972. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  8. ↑ "Representation - Australian Representation Overseas". Current Notes on International Affairs. 43 (4). Department of Foreign Affairs: 183. April 1972. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  9. ↑ "Foreign Minister's Overseas Visit". Current Notes on International Affairs. 43 (5). Department of Foreign Affairs: 245–247. May 1972. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  10. ↑ "Dhaka Chancery opened". Australian Foreign Affairs Record. 54 (1). Department of Foreign Affairs: 53. January 1983. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  11. ↑ Juddery, Bruce (15 March 1972). "Diplomatic exchange: Countries name envoys". The Canberra Times. p. 3.
  12. ↑ "Appointments". The Canberra Times. 14 December 1973. p. 3.
  13. ↑ "High Commissioner to Bangladesh". Australian Foreign Affairs Record. 47 (4). Department of Foreign Affairs: 221. April 1976. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  14. ↑ "Diplomatic Appointments". Australian Foreign Affairs Record. 48 (11). Department of Foreign Affairs: 598. November 1977. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  15. ↑ "Australian Representation Overseas". Australian Foreign Affairs Record. 49 (3). Department of Foreign Affairs: 156. March 1978. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  16. ↑ "Diplomatic posting". The Canberra Times. 10 January 1980. p. 3.
  17. ↑ "Diplomatic Appointments". Australian Foreign Affairs Record. 51 (1). Department of Foreign Affairs: 679. December 1979. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  18. ↑ "Australian Representation Overseas". Australian Foreign Affairs Record. 51 (3). Department of Foreign Affairs: 80. March 1980. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  19. ↑ "Bangladesh posting". The Canberra Times. 21 May 1982. p. 3.
  20. ↑ "Appointment of High Commissioner to Bangladesh". Australian Foreign Affairs Record. 53 (5). Department of Foreign Affairs: 325. May 1982. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  21. ↑ "Australian Representation Overseas". Australian Foreign Affairs Record. 53 (9). Department of Foreign Affairs: 580. September 1982. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  22. ↑ "High Commissioner to Bangladesh". Australian Foreign Affairs Record. 57 (9). Department of Foreign Affairs: 856. September 1986. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  23. 1 2 "Diplomatic appointment". The Canberra Times. 14 September 1989. p. 2.
  24. ↑ Evans, Gareth (13 September 1989). "Diplomatic Appointment: Bangladesh" (Media Release). ParlInfo: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australian Government. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  25. ↑ Evans, Gareth (16 August 1993). "Diplomatic Appointment: Bangladesh" (Media Release). ParlInfo: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australian Government. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  26. ↑ Downer, Alexander (6 August 1996). "Diplomatic Appointment: High Commissioner to Bangladesh" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014.
  27. ↑ Downer, Alexander (21 June 1999). "Diplomatic Appointment: High Commissioner to Bangladesh" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014.
  28. ↑ Downer, Alexander (19 June 2002). "Diplomatic Appointment: High Commissioner to Bangladesh" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014.
  29. ↑ Downer, Alexander (20 September 2005). "Diplomatic Appointment: High Commissioner to Bangladesh" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014.
  30. ↑ Smith, Stephen (25 November 2008). "Diplomatic Appointment: High Commissioner to Bangladesh" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 6 April 2015.
  31. ↑ Carr, Bob (14 June 2012). "Diplomatic appointment - High Commissioner to Bangladesh" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 3 April 2015.
  32. ↑ Bishop, Julie (22 July 2016). "High Commissioner to Bangladesh" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016.
  33. ↑ "New Australian High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Ms Julia Niblett". Scope Global. 1 August 2016. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016.
  34. ↑ Payne, Marise (16 December 2019). "High Commissioner to Bangladesh" (Press release). Minister for Foreign Affairs, Australian Government. Archived from the original (Media Release) on 20 March 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  35. ↑ "Australian high commissioner presents credentials to president". Dhaka Tribune. Bangladesh. 20 February 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  36. ↑ "Australian High Commissioner meets Adviser Nahid". Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha . Bangladesh. 1 September 2024. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
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