List of ambassadors of Australia to the United States

The Ambassador of Australia to the United States is an officer of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the director of the Embassy of Australia to the United States of America in Washington, D.C.. It is Australia's third-oldest ambassadorial post, after the High Commissions in London (1910) and Ottawa (1939). The job has the rank and status of an Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and is currently Arthur Sinodinos, who has held the position since 7 February 2020.[1] The ambassador's work is assisted by multiple consulates throughout the country that have visiting and reporting responsibilities, as well as consular and trade matters for the embassy.

Ambassador of Australia to the United States
Incumbent Arthur Sinodinos since 7 February 2020
Style	His Excellency
Nominator	Prime Minister of Australia
Appointer	Governor-General of Australia
Inaugural holder	The Lord Casey
Formation	1 March 1940
Website	Embassy of Australia

The Australian Embassy on 1601 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, D.C.

On 26 May 2019 Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced, along with new Cabinet nominations, that he would recommend Senator for New South Wales Arthur Sinodinos to replace Hockey as Ambassador to the United States when Hockey's term ends in early 2020.[2][3] Sinodinos replaced Hockey in February 2020.[4]

Posting history

The United States and Australia have had official diplomatic relations since 1 March 1940, when Australia established a legation in Washington as one of its first independent postings. Prior to that, Australia had been represented by the British Embassy in Washington, either through a representative of the Australian government or simply by British officials on Australia's behalf. During 1929, Prime Minister Stanley Bruce appointed Herbert Brookes as "Commissioner-General to the United States", with a mandate to promote "Australian achievements in economic, musical, artistic, literary and intellectual fields". However, Brookes was recalled the next year by James Scullin (Bruce's successor), as a cost-saving measure during the Depression.[5][6] During 1937, Joseph Lyons (Scullin's successor) appointed Keith Officer as a liaison officer posted with the British Embassy, with the diplomatic rank of "Counsellor". Officer continued in the job until February 1940 when he became the charge d'Affaires, pending the arrival of Casey as the first Minister.[7][8]

First established as a legation directed by an Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, on 19 July 1946 the diplomatic representative was promoted to embassy status and the Australian Minister, Frederic Eggleston became the first Ambassador. The job is seen as very desirable, and political appointees are regularly posted. Several distinguished Australians have served as Ambassador to the United States, including a future Governor-General of Australia (Richard Casey), a future Chief Justice of Australia (Sir Owen Dixon), a future Governor of Tasmania (James Plimsoll), two former federal leaders of the opposition (Andrew Peacock and Kim Beazley), and a former Treasurer of Australia (Joe Hockey).[9]

Office-holders

Commissioner/Commissioner-General

Image	Name	Office	Term start date	Term end date
	Sir Henry Braddon	Commissioner for Australia in the United States of America	19 September 1918	31 July 1919
	Mark Sheldon		31 July 1919	11 September 1924
	Sir James Elder[10]		11 September 1924	17 May 1926
	Sir Hugh Denison[11]	Commissioner-General for Australia in the United States of America	17 May 1926	10 February 1928
	Herbert Brookes		13 June 1929	23 January 1931

Counsellor/Charge d'Affaires

Image	Name	Office	Term start date	Term end date
	Keith Officer	Australian Counsellor, British Embassy, United States of America	February 1937	February 1940
		Charge d'Affaires, Australian Legation	February 1940	1 March 1940

Minister/Ambassador

Image	Name	Office	Term start date	Term end date
	Richard Casey	Minister to the United States of America	1 March 1940	1 June 1942
	Owen Dixon		3 June 1942	1 October 1944
	Frederic Eggleston		1 November 1944	19 July 1946
		Ambassador to the United States of America	19 July 1946	5 September 1946
	Norman Makin		5 September 1946	1 January 1951
	Percy Spender		31 May 1951	1 January 1957
	Howard Beale		20 March 1958	1 April 1964
	Keith Waller		20 April 1964	1 June 1970
	James Plimsoll		8 June 1970	1 January 1973
	Patrick Shaw		21 February 1974	27 December 1975
	Gordon Noel Upton	Chargé d'affaires	27 December 1975	8 March 1976
	Nick Parkinson	Ambassador to the United States of America	8 March 1976	1 February 1976
	Alan Renouf		9 February 1976	20 May 1979
	Robert B. Birch	Chargé d'affaires	20 May 1979	13 November 1979
	Nick Parkinson	Ambassador to the United States of America	13 November 1979	15 July 1982
	Geoffrey J. Price	Chargé d'affaires	15 July 1982	16 August 1982
	Bob Cotton	Ambassador to the United States of America	16 August 1982	1 June 1985
	Rawdon Dalrymple		26 June 1985	1 April 1989
	Michael Cook		20 April 1989	1 August 1993
	Don Russell		22 August 1993	1 December 1995
	John McCarthy		5 December 1995	1 February 1997
	Andrew Peacock		2 February 1997	27 February 1999
	Michael Thawley		2 February 2000	1 June 2005
	Dennis Richardson		20 June 2005	1 February 2010
	Kim Beazley		17 February 2010	22 January 2016
	Joe Hockey		29 January 2016	30 January 2020
	Arthur Sinodinos		7 February 2020	incumbent

Consulates

Location	Open	Consul	Reporting responsibility
Consulate-General, Chicago	1971	Michael Wood	Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin[12]
Consulate-General, Honolulu	1973	Jane Hardy	Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, USPACOM[13]
Consulate-General, Houston (Austrade)	1982	Peter McGauran	Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana
Consulate-General, New York	1945	Alastair Walton	New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Ohio, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands
Consulate-General, Los Angeles	1971	Chelsey Martin	California (south of the 36N latitude), Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada (Clark County), Utah
Consulate-General, San Francisco (Austrade)	1946	Chris Oldfield	California (north of 36N latitude), Nevada (except Clark County), Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming
Honorary Consulate, Miami	1999	Don Slesnick	Florida[14]

From 1993 to August 2012, there existed a Consulate-General in Atlanta, Georgia, which was managed by Austrade. The consulate's closure was due to a realignment of resources "to growing and emerging markets like Mongolia and Colombia." After its closure, the consulate's reporting responsibilities for the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina were transferred to the Australian Embassy in Washington.[15] From 12 September 1994 to his death on 11 June 2017, there existed an Honorary Consulate in Denver, Colorado, held by Mark O'Regan, an Australian-born Denver realtor and former civil servant in the Territory of Papua New Guinea.[16] From 7 December 1999 to his death on 6 November 2013, the Honorary Consul in Miami, Florida, was Thomas Flynn.[17] Flynn was appointed as an Honorary Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for his service as honorary consul in 2005.[18]

Consuls-General

Atlanta

The consulate-general was opened in 1993 under Austrade management.[19] The consulate was closed in August 2012 following an Austrade restructure.

Name	Start of term	End of term	References
Ian Wing	14 September 1993	May 1997	[20]
Geoff Gray	14 August 1997	2000
David Crook	2000	22 November 2004	[21][22]
Amanda Hodges	7 January 2005	June 2009
Duncan Cole	June 2009	31 August 2012	[23]

Chicago

Originally opened in 1971, the consulate-general was closed in 1993 due to budget constraints after being transferred to Austrade, but re-opened under DFAT in 2001.[24]

Name	Start of term	End of term	References
T. W. Collis	1971	1974
F. B. Hall	1975	1978
D. C. Goss	1979	1980
B. B. Hickey	1981	1985
Terry McCarthy	1986	1987
Jeremy Hearder	1988	1990	[25]
Kevin Gates	1991	6 August 1993
Consulate closed
Ron Harvey	2001	2004	[26]
Bob Charles	2005	2008	[27][28]
Elizabeth Schick	April 2008	April 2011
Roger Price	November 2011	31 March 2015	[29]
Michael Wood	1 April 2015	date	[12]

Honolulu

Originally opened as a Consulate in January 1973, the posting was upgraded to a Consulate-General on 26 March 1978.[30][31]

Name	Start of term	End of term	References
David Wadham (Consul)	January 1973	June 1975	[32]
William Rowe (Consul)	June 1975	26 March 1978	[33]
William Rowe MBE	26 March 1978	June 1979	[34]
Brian Meade	June 1979	February 1983
Bill Fisher	February 1983	April 1987
Richard Smith	April 1987	August 1989	[35]
Robert Tyson	August 1989	January 1993
Murray Cobban	January 1993	October 1995
Colin McDonald	October 1995	May 1998	[36]
Peter Woolcott	May 1998	July 2001	[37]
Paul Robilliard	July 2001	September 2004	[38]
John Quinn	September 2004	August 2007	[39]
David Binns	August 2007	August 2011	[40]
Scott Dewar	August 2011	February 2015	[41]
Jeff Robinson	8 February 2015	22 December 2017
Jane Hardy	22 December 2017	present	[42]

Los Angeles

Originally a Trade Commission from 1965, the post was upgraded to a Consulate-General from 3 March 1971 and was closed during a period of budget cuts to Foreign Affairs on 1 July 1976. The consulate reopened in September 1978 and management was transferred from DFAT to Austrade in October 1992. DFAT resumed management from November 1999.[43]

Name	Start of term	End of term	References
A. I. Macrae (Trade Commissioner)	1964	1966	[44]
M. J. Long (Trade Commissioner)	1967	3 March 1971
Philip Searcy OBE	3 March 1971	September 1975
Harold Marshall	September 1975	1 July 1976
Consulate closed
Peter Barbour	September 1978	April 1981
John McLeay Jr.	April 1981	February 1984
Basil Teasey	February 1984	June 1988
John Kelso	June 1988	October 1992
Colin Hook	October 1992	May 1995
Robert O'Donovan	June 1995	1997
Michael Johnson	1997	November 1999
Allan Rocher	November 1999	November 2002	[45]
John Olsen	November 2002	September 2006	[46]
Innes Willox	September 2006	March 2009	[47]
Chris De Cure OAM	March 2009	July 2012	[48]
Karen Lanyon	July 2012	October 2015	[49]
Chelsey Martin	22 October 2015	date	[50]

San Francisco

Since 1993, the consulate-general has been managed by Austrade.[19]

Name	Start of term	End of term	References
Edward Smart	July 1946	October 1949	[51]
N. N. Frewin (acting)	October 1949	1952	[52]
Stewart Wolfe Jamieson	June 1952	1955
Melville Marshall	May 1955	1960
Bill Cutts	December 1960	1963
Frederick Homer	February 1963	1966
Neil Truscott	February 1966	1970	[53]
Roger Dean	April 1970	1974
John McCredie	August 1974	1977
Geoffrey Brady	August 1977	1982
Leslie Sellars	November 1982	1983
John Melhuish	May 1983	1986
David Rutter	October 1986	1990
David Charles	August 1990	September 1993	[54]
John Paul McCaffrey	29 September 1993	May 1995
Dr Joe Hlubucek	25 May 1995	1998
Peter Lewis	1998	October 2002
Peter Frank	16 October 2002	2005
David Lawson	2005	June 2009
Nigel Warren	June 2009	June 2015
Sally-Ann Watts	June 2015	October 2015
Chris Oldfield	October 2015	March 2019	[55][56]
Nick Nichles	Mar 2019	date	[57]

See also

• United States Ambassador to Australia
• Australia-United States relations

References

1. Shields, Bevan (26 May 2019). "Arthur Sinodinos to be appointed US ambassador". The Sydney Morning Herald. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
2. "Scott Morrison unveils new ministry as Coalition prepares for majority government". ABC News. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
3. "Arthur Sinodinos to be appointed US ambassador". Sydney Morning Herald. 26 May 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
4. "Greg Norman, Tony Abbott fly to US for Joe Hockey's farewell". 9News. 18 January 2020. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
5. Alison Patrick, 'Brookes, Herbert Robinson (1867–1963)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/brookes-herbert-robinson-5372/text9089, published first in hardcopy 1979, accessed online 13 August 2017.
6. CA 242: Commissioner for Australia in the United States of America/ (by 1928) Commissioner-General for Australia in the United States of America, National Archives of Australia, retrieved 26 January 2018
7. Kathleen Dermody, 'Officer, Sir Frank Keith (1889–1969)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/officer-sir-frank-keith-11289/text20145, published first in hardcopy 2000, accessed online 13 August 2017.
8. CA 1939: Australian Counsellor, British Embassy, United States of America [Washington], National Archives of Australia, retrieved 26 January 2018
9. Norington, Brad (25 February 2010). "New ambassador Kim Beazley meets Barack Obama from wheelchair". The Australian. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
10. E. A. Beever, 'Elder, Sir James Alexander (1869–1946)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/elder-sir-james-alexander-6099/text10449, accessed online 26 January 2018.
11. "SIR HUGH DENISON". The Sydney Morning Herald (27, 571). New South Wales, Australia. 18 May 1926. p. 10. Retrieved 26 January 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
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15. Gartrell, Adam (2 August 2012). "Australia's consulate in Atlanta closes". News.com.au. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
16. "Obituary: Mark V. O'Regan". The Denver Post. 11 June 2017. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
17. "Obituary: THOMAS EDWARD FLYNN". The Miami Herald. 10 November 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
18. "FLYNN, Thomas Edward - Member of the Order of Australia". It's an Honour. Australian Government. 19 April 2005. Retrieved 24 June 2017. For service to the Australian Government as the Honorary Consul for Miami, Florida.
19. "ParlInfo - QUESTIONS ON NOTICE: Australian Consulate-General: Chicago" (House Hansard). Parliament of Australia. 27 June 2001. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
20. Pierson, Mark (13 May 1997). "Australia's Wing, Consul General Here, Heading for Tokyo". Global Atlanta. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
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29. Emerson, Craig (13 September 2011). "Diplomatic Appointment — Consul-General in Chicago" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 29 March 2015.
30. CA 7957: Australian Consulate-General, Honolulu [United States of America], National Archives of Australia, retrieved 24 June 2016
31. "Consulate". The Canberra Times. 47 (13, 238). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 26 September 1972. p. 8. Retrieved 24 June 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
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33. "VICE-REGAL". The Canberra Times. 52 (15, 530). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 10 March 1978. p. 2. Retrieved 24 June 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
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36. McMullan, Bob (12 July 1995). "AUSTRALIAN Consul-General in Honolulu" (Press release). Australian Government.
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40. Downer, Alexander (18 June 2007). "Diplomatic Appointment: Consul-General in Honolulu" (Press release). Australian Government.
41. Rudd, Kevin (30 July 2011). "Diplomatic appointment - New Consul-General in Honolulu" (Press release). Australian Government.
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46. Downer, Alexander (3 June 2002). "Diplomatic appointment: Consul-General in Los Angeles" (Press release). Australian Government.
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48. Smith, Stephen (24 February 2009). "Diplomatic appointment: Consul-General in Los Angeles" (Press release). Australian Government.
49. Carr, Bob (29 April 2012). "Diplomatic appointment: Consul-General in Los Angeles" (Press release). Australian Government.
50. Bishop, Julie (22 October 2015). "Consul-General in Los Angeles" (Press release). Australian Government.
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Further reading

• Lowe, David; Lee, David; Bridge, Carl, eds. (2016). Australia goes to Washington: 75 Years of Australian Representation in the United States, 1940-2015. Acton, ACT: ANU Press. ISBN 9781760460785.

External links

• Embassy of Australia United States of America
• Australian Consulate-General - Chicago
• Australian Consulate-General - Los Angeles