List of Australian Ambassadors to Indonesia

The Australian Embassy in Jakarta is Australia's largest embassy and one of Australia's most important overseas posts. Early Australian arrangements to establish diplomatic relations with Indonesia after the Indonesian proclamation of Independence on 17 August 1945 were complicated by the British and Dutch involvement in military activities in Indonesia in the next few years.[1] The First Australian Ambassador to Indonesia was John Hood appointed by Australian External Affairs Minister Percy Spender in April 1950.

This is a list of Australian ambassadors to Indonesia since 1950.

Name of ambassadorStart of termEnd of term
John Hood19501953
J.C.G. Kevin (acting)[2]19531955
Walter Crocker19551957
Laurence McIntyre19571960
Patrick Shaw19601962
K.C.O. Shann19621966
Max Loveday19661969
Gordon Jockel19691972
R.W. Furlonger19721975
Richard Woolcott[3]19751978
T.K. Critchley[4]19781981
Rawdon Dalrymple[5] 19811985
Bill Morrison19851989
Philip Flood19891993
Allan Taylor[6]19931996
John McCarthy[7]19962001
Richard Smith20012003
David Ritchie[8]20032005
Bill Farmer[9]20052010
Greg Moriarty20102014
Paul Grigson[10]2015recalled[11]

Source: Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Statement of Service: Appointments and Biographies, Canberra, various issues.

See also

Reference

  1. ↑ See Metcalf, Karl (2001), Chapter 2: External Affairs records, Canberra: National Archives of Australia, archived from the original on 30 August 2014
  2. ↑ Charge D'Affaires, 11 March 1953-7 April 1955
  3. ↑ Woolcott was Australian ambassador in Jakarta when difficulties over developments in Portuguese Timor, later Timor Leste, came to a head. Extensive information about events during the period is provided in Way, Wendy, ed. (2000), Documents on Australian Foreign Policy: Australia and the Indonesian Incorporation of Portuguese Timor, 1974-1976, Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, ISBN 0 522 84928 8
  4. ↑ A brief review of Critchley's career as a diplomat, including in Indonesia, can be found at Tony Stephens, 'Supported Asian Independence', The Age, 25 July 2009.
  5. ↑ Dalrymple was later posted to Tokyo and Washington as Australian ambassador. He has written about some aspects of Indonesian affairs in Dalrymple, Rawdon (Summer 2000). "Indonesia in the balance". International Journal 55 (3)., and about wider foreign policy issues in his book, Dalrymple, Rawdon (2003), Continental Drift: Australia's Search for a Regional Identity, Aldershot: Ashgate publishing company.
  6. ↑ Taylor died in June 2007. The Australian ambassador to Jakarta at the time, Bill Farmer, paid tribute to Taylor in a media release Death of Ambassador Allen Taylor, AM noting that Taylor had been ambassador "... at a challenging time in the bilateral relationship, when Allen's patience, resilience and commitment were crucial in helping to maintain close ties between our two governments."
  7. ↑ Some observations about his time as ambassador in Indonesia by McCarthy are at Suryodiningrat, Meidyatama (8 December 2000). "Ambassador McCarthy ends 'satisfying' four years in RI". The Jakarta Post. Archived from the original on 22 December 2014. McCarthy also set out his views on the relationship between Australia and Indonesia in some detail on the ANU East Asia Forum at "Overcoming the Australia-Indonesia cultural divide" on 16 March 2015.
  8. ↑ There was initially a slight delay in Jakarta before Ritchie's appointment was approved. This was reportedly because of some concerns in the Indonesian Parliament about the possible approach that Ritchie might take towards Indonesian policy in Papua in responding to problems of regional conflict in the province. See "House approves Australia's new ambassador". The Jakarta Post. 24 January 2003. Archived from the original on 31 December 2014..
  9. ↑ A review of some of the key events in Australian-Indonesian relations during Farmer's posting as ambassador is at Khalik, Abdul; Siagian, Sabam (3 July 2010), "Bill Farmer: Career prepared me for Indonesian assignment", The Jakarta Post, archived from the original on 22 December 2014.
  10. ↑ Credentials received by President Joko Widodo in late March 2015. His appointment was earlier reported in Ririhena, Yohanna (4 December 2014). "PM Abbott appoints Paul Grigson as new envoy to RI". The Jakarta Post. Archived from the original on 21 December 2014. and Bachelard, Michael; Olding, Rachel (2 December 2014). "Paul Grigson appointed ambassador to Indonesia". The Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Media). Archived from the original on 22 February 2015.
  11. ↑ On 29 April 2015 the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced that Grigson would be recalled to Canberra for consultations following the execution of two Australians in Indonesia who had been convicted of drug smuggling.