List of Australian High Commissioners to Singapore

The High Commissioner of Australia to Singapore 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 Republic of Singapore. The High Commissioner has the rank and status of an Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and is currently Bruce Gosper. In 2015, Australia and Singapore celebrated 50 years of diplomatic relations alongside celebrations for 50 years of Singapore's independence.[1]

High Commissioner of Australia to Singapore
Incumbent Bruce Gosper since January 2017
Style	His Excellency
Nominator	Prime Minister of Australia
Appointer	Governor General of Australia
Inaugural holder	Bill Pritchett
Formation	10 August 1965
Website	Australian High Commission, Singapore

History of relations

The earliest diplomatic representation dates from 1 September 1941 (although a Trade Commissioner for the East had been posted in Singapore from 1922–1925), when the Minister for External Affairs, Sir Frederick Stewart, announced the appointment of Vivian Gordon Bowden as Australia's Official Representative at Singapore, the capital of the British Straits Settlements, with the aim of being the official intermediary between the Commonwealth Government and the British authorities.[2] Bowden was supported by a Commercial Secretary, Alfred Wootton, and a Third Secretary, John Quinn.[3] Bowden was captured following the Fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942 and was murdered by his Japanese captors two days later, despite his diplomatic status and being a non-combatant prisoner of war.[4] With the end of Japanese occupation, Australia posted a resident Commissioner and Trade Commissioner in post-war Singapore from 1946 to their federation with Malaysia in 1963, when the post became the Deputy High Commission to Malaysia.[5]

Singapore and Australia have enjoyed official diplomatic relations since 10 August 1965, following Singapore's independence when it was expelled from Malaysia the day before on 9 August. Australia was the first country to recognise Singapore and the serving Prime Minister at the time of recognition, Sir Robert Menzies, announced "I have informed the Singapore Prime Minister that we will be happy to establish full diplomatic relations with Singapore at the level of High Commissioner and that we wish Singapore well in its new sovereignty and look forward to a continuance of close and friendly relations with the new State and with Malaysia."[6] Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew had made his first visit to Australia in March 1965.[7] Bill Pritchett, who had been serving as Deputy High Commissioner to Malaysia in Singapore since January 1964, was appointed as the first High Commissioner three days after recognition, by Foreign Minister Paul Hasluck.[8]

Office-holders

Commissioners

Name	Start of term	End of term	References
Egbert Sheaf (Trade Commissioner)	1922	1925
Posting closed
Vivian Gordon Bowden (Official Representative)	1 September 1941	14 February 1942	[2]
Posting abolished (due to Fall of Singapore)
Claude Massey	4 January 1946	1946	[9]
James Payne (Trade Commissioner)	1946	1951	[10]
A. Jack Day (Trade Commissioner)	1951	1953	[10]
Laurence McIntyre	Nov 1952	March 1954
Sir Alan Watt	March 1954	April 1956
Ralph Harry	April 1956	December 1957
David McNicol	December 1957	November 1960
Gordon Jockel	November 1960	September 1963	[11]

Deputy High Commissioners

Name	Start of term	End of term	References
Richard Woolcott	16 September 1963	8 January 1964	[5]
Bill Pritchett	8 January 1964	13 August 1965	[5]

High Commissioners

Name	Start of term	End of term	References
Bill Pritchett	13 August 1965	February 1967	[8]
Alfred Parsons	February 1967	9 June 1970	[12]
Nicholas Parkinson	June 1970	December 1973	[13]
Robert Birch	December 1973	February 1977	[14]
Laurence Corkery	February 1977	January 1978	[15]
Geoffrey Price	January 1978	April 1981	[5]
Kenneth McDonald	April 1981	December 1983	[5]
Walter Handmer	December 1983	March 1988	[5]
M Rosaleen McGovern	March 1988	September 1990	[5]
Alan Brown	September 1990	October 1993	[5]
Ted Delofski	October 1993	February 1997	[5]
Murray McLean	February 1997	August 2001	[16]
Gary Quinlan	August 2001	July 2005	[17]
Miles Kupa	July 2005	October 2008	[18]
Doug Chester	October 2008	August 2012	[19]
Philip Green	25 August 2012	December 2016	[20][21]
Bruce Gosper	January 2017	incumbent	[22]
Will Hodgman	Due to receive credentials in 2021		[23]

See also

• Australia–Singapore relations
• Foreign relations of Australia

References

1. Bishop, Julie (20 May 2015). "50 years of Australia-Singapore friendship" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 18 January 2016.
2. "Singapore Appointment". The Scone Advocate. NSW. 2 September 1941. p. 2. Retrieved 15 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
3. CA 2944: Official Representative, Singapore, National Archives of Australia, retrieved 16 July 2017
4. Darryl Bennet, 'Bowden, Vivian Gordon (1884–1942)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/bowden-vivian-gordon-9552/text16825, published first in hardcopy 1993, accessed online 15 August 2015.
5. CA 2953: Australian High Commission, Singapore, National Archives of Australia, retrieved 15 August 2015
6. "Australia will still help to defend Singapore". The Canberra Times. 11 August 1965. p. 1. Retrieved 15 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
7. "Singapore P.M. arrives". The Canberra Times. 16 March 1965. p. 3. Retrieved 15 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
8. "Our man for new State". The Canberra Times. 14 August 1965. p. 4. Retrieved 15 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
9. "COMMISSIONER TO SINGAPORE". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 4 January 1946. p. 7. Retrieved 15 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
10. "Australian Trade Changes". Townsville Daily Bulletin. Qld. 18 September 1951. p. 1. Retrieved 15 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
11. "Envoy to Indonesia". The Canberra Times. 25 January 1969. p. 9. Retrieved 15 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
12. "Envoy chosen for Singapore". The Canberra Times. 31 December 1966. p. 3. Retrieved 15 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
13. "Forward defence". The Canberra Times. 5 June 1970. p. 5. Retrieved 15 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
14. "Appointments". The Canberra Times. 14 December 1973. p. 3. Retrieved 15 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
15. "Envoy". The Canberra Times. 19 February 1977. p. 3. Retrieved 15 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
16. Downer, Alexander (29 November 1996). "Diplomatic Appointment: Singapore" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 30 March 2012.
17. Downer, Alexander (6 March 2001). "Diplomatic Appointment: High Commissioner To Singapore" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014.
18. Downer, Alexander (15 June 2005). "Diplomatic Appointment: High Commissioner To Singapore" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014.
19. Smith, Stpehen (30 July 2008). "Diplomatic Appointment – High Commissioner To Singapore" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 6 April 2015.
20. Carr, Bob (24 August 2012). "High Commissioner to Singapore" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014.
21. "Presentation of Credentials Ceremony". Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Singapore). 19 November 2012. Archived from the original on 1 July 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
22. Bishop, Julie (30 September 2016). "High Commissioner to Singapore" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016.
23. "Former Tasmanian premier appointed Australia's next high commissioner to Singapore". www.abc.net.au. 29 November 2020. Retrieved 15 December 2020.

External links

• Australian High Commission, Singapore