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List of ambassadors of Australia to East Timor

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Ambassador of Australia to
Timor-Leste
Incumbent
Peter Roberts OAM
since 4 January 2018
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
StyleHis Excellency
Reports toMinister for Foreign Affairs
ResidenceDili
NominatorPrime Minister of Australia
AppointerGovernor-General of Australia
Inaugural holderJames Batley
Formation
  • 8 June 1999 (Consulate)
  • 30 May 2002 (Embassy)
WebsiteAustralian Embassy in Timor-Leste

The ambassador of Australia to Timor-Leste is an officer of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the head of the Embassy of the Commonwealth of Australia to Timor-Leste. The position has the rank and status of an ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary and the embassy in Dili has been operating since 1999 when a consulate was established in the Indonesian Province of Timor Timur and upgraded in May 2002.[1]

Posting history

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See also: Australia–East Timor relations

Representation in Portuguese Timor

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The Australian diplomatic presence in East Timor dates back to 13 April 1941, when Group Captain David Ross, was officially appointed as a Technical Representative of the Australian Department of Civil Aviation in Dili, the capital of Portuguese Timor, officially tasked with managing the Qantas Empire Airways Flying boat route to Dili, which had been established in January 1941. Ross had also been secretly tasked by the Australian Government from 5 November 1941 to act as Australia's representative in the colony to report on any matters relating to the political situation there. At the instigation of Herbert Evatt, Minister for External Affairs, Ross was also serving as the British Consul in Dili and was later arrested when Japanese forces invaded the colony in February 1942.[2] The establishment of a consulate with Ross as its head had been mooted prior to the Japanese invasion.[3]

With the end of the war and the return of Portuguese authority to Timor, the Australian Government established a consulate in Dili, commencing operations on 1 January 1946 with the appointment of Charles Eaton as consul.[4] Australia had been approached by the Portuguese Government of António de Oliveira Salazar to accept the establishment of an embassy in Canberra, but this was not approved, with Australia citing that it was unable to reciprocate owing to a lack of resources, instead suggesting an Australian consulate in Dili, which was agreed to.[5] Prior to the establishment of an Australian Embassy in Portugal in 1970, the consulate dealt with various matters relating to Australia's relations with Portugal. Following the establishment of the embassy in Lisbon, the consulate became much less important and on 3 May 1971, the Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs, Reginald Swartz, announced the consulate's closure, which took effect on 31 August 1971.[2]

In August 1975, the Foreign Affairs Caucus Committee of the Australian Labor Party visited Timor and produced a report noting that Governor Mário Lemos Pires had made several requests for the consulate to be reopened: "We asked for a consul in November [1974] and have asked about ten times since. Mr Taylor of the Australian Embassy [in Jakarta] was asked last week. [Australian Ambassador] Mr Woolcott was asked this week. We have asked Lisbon and I believe Dr Matias, Portuguese Ambassador in Canberra, has, or will be, asking again in Australia." Governor Pires also noted to the committee that these requests were made in order to make Australia more able to engage with the increasingly unstable situation in the colony prior to the Indonesian invasion of East Timor: "At present Australia cannot compensate for Indonesian propaganda or understand the day-to-day happenings in the colony."[6]

Indonesian Timor and independence

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Graffiti on the outside wall of the Australian Embassy in Dili

In early April 1999 Prime Minister John Howard and Indonesian President B. J. Habibie met in Bali to discuss matters relating to the unrest in the Province of Timor, which had Indonesian-occupied since Timor's brief independence from Portugal in 1975. Howard initially requested Habibie to agree to a peacekeeping force in the province, which was refused, but Habibie agreed to allowing the establishment of an Australian Consulate in Dili.[7] On 4 June 1999 Foreign Minister Alexander Downer announced the appointment of James Batley as consul in Dili, noting that the consulate "will allow us to service the consular needs of the increasing number of Australians in East Timor, and will facilitate Australia's considerable support to the United Nations Assistance Mission in East Timor."[8] However, with the establishment of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) on 25 October 1999, Batley's role was changed to be Australia's Head of Mission to the UNTAET and following independence was appointed as Australia's first ambassador on 20 May 2002, the first foreign diplomatic appointment to the new Republic of Timor-Leste.[9]

Lists of officeholders

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Consuls in Portuguese Timor

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# Name Term start date Term end date Time in office Notes
1 Charles Eaton 1 January 1946 (1946-01-01) 18 October 1947 (1947-10-18) 1 year, 290 days [10]
2 Doug White 18 October 1947 (1947-10-18) 24 June 1950 (1950-06-24) 2 years, 249 days
3 N. Elliot (Vice Consul) 7 January 1951 (1951-01-07) 26 February 1952 (1952-02-26) 1 year, 50 days [10]
4 Francis Whittaker 4 November 1953 (1953-11-04) 27 November 1959 (1959-11-27) 6 years, 23 days [10]
5 W. A. Luscombe 27 November 1959 (1959-11-27) 24 January 1962 (1962-01-24) 2 years, 58 days
6 James Dunn 24 January 1962 (1962-01-24) 12 August 1964 (1964-08-12) 2 years, 201 days
– D. W. Milton (Acting) 12 August 1964 (1964-08-12) 16 December 1965 (1965-12-16) 1 year, 126 days
7 John Colquhoun-Denvers 16 December 1965 (1965-12-16) 27 November 1968 (1968-11-27) 2 years, 347 days
8 Max Berman 27 November 1968 (1968-11-27) 20 January 1970 (1970-01-20) 1 year, 54 days
9 G. W. Shannon 20 January 1970 (1970-01-20) 14 January 1971 (1971-01-14) 359 days
10 D. W. Milton 14 January 1971 (1971-01-14) 31 August 1971 (1971-08-31) 229 days
Closure of consulate

Heads of mission

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# Name Office Term start Term end Time in office Notes
1 James Batley Consul/Head of Mission 8 June 1999 (1999-06-08) 20 May 2002 (2002-05-20) 2 years, 356 days [8][11]
Ambassador 20 May 2002 (2002-05-20) 30 May 2002 (2002-05-30)
2 Paul Foley 30 May 2002 (2002-05-30) 7 April 2004 (2004-04-07) 1 year, 313 days [1]
3 Margaret Twomey 7 April 2004 (2004-04-07) 2008 (2008) 3–4 years [12]
4 Peter Heyward 2008 (2008) 2011 (2011) 2–3 years [13]
5 Miles Armitage 2011 (2011) 2014 (2014) 2–3 years [14][15]
6 Peter Doyle 12 February 2014 (2014-02-12) 4 January 2018 (2018-01-04) 3 years, 326 days [16][17]
7 Peter Roberts OAM 4 January 2018 (2018-01-04) incumbent 6 years, 300 days [18]
7 Bill Costello April 2021 (2021-04) incumbent
7 Bryce Hutchesson, Charge d’affaires September 2022 (2022-09)
7 John Feakes, charge D’affaires December 2022 (2022-12) incumbent
7 Caitlin Wilson, Charge d’affaires April 2023 (2023-04) incumbent

References

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  1. ^ a b Downer, Alexander (30 May 2002). "Diplomatic Appointment: Ambassador to East Timor" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014.
  2. ^ a b Metcalf, Karl (2001), "Chapter 2: External Affairs records", Near Neighbours: Records on Australia's Relations with Indonesia, Canberra: National Archives of Australia, archived from the original on 30 August 2014
  3. ^ "REPRESENTATION IN TIMOR". The Advertiser (Adelaide). South Australia. 25 November 1941. p. 8. Retrieved 25 June 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "CONSUL IN TIMOR". Tweed Daily. Vol. XXXIII, no. 23. New South Wales, Australia. 26 January 1946. p. 3. Retrieved 25 June 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ NAA: A1838, 377/1/1 Part 4.
  6. ^ Mário Lemos Pires quoted in Scott, David, 'Last Flight Out of Dili: Memoirs of an Accidental Activist in the Triumph of East Timor', Melbourne: Pluto Press, 2005, p.305.
  7. ^ Cotton, James (2004). East Timor, Australia and Regional Order: Intervention and Its Aftermath in Southeast Asia. Routledge. p. 119.
  8. ^ a b Downer, Alexander (4 June 1999). "Diplomatic Appointment: Consul in Dili" (Press release). Australian Government.
  9. ^ AAP (20 May 2002). "Downer announces new ambassador to East Timor". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  10. ^ a b c Latham, Mark; Downer, Alexander (30 March 1999). "Questions: Australian Consulate, Dili: Closure" (Hansard). Australian House of Representatives. Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  11. ^ Downer, Alexander (20 May 2002). "Diplomatic Appointment: First Ambassador to East Timor" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014.
  12. ^ Downer, Alexander (7 April 2004). "Diplomatic Appointment: Ambassador to East Timor" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014.
  13. ^ Downer, Alexander (4 October 2007). "Diplomatic Appointment - Ambassador to East Timor" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014.
  14. ^ Rudd, Kevin (17 November 2010). "Diplomatic Appointment - Ambassador to East Timor" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014.
  15. ^ Dodd, Mark (18 November 2010). "Miles Armitage new Australian ambassador to East Timor". The Australian. News Ltd.
  16. ^ Bishop, Julie (12 February 2014). "Ambassador To Timor-Leste" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 2 August 2014.
  17. ^ "Tough times for new East Timor ambassador". News.com.au. News Ltd. 12 February 2014. Archived from the original on 17 July 2014.
  18. ^ Bishop, Julie (4 January 2018). "Ambassador To Timor-Leste" (Press release). Australian Government.

Further reading

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