Mike Rann, former Premier of South Australia, has just arrived in London as Australia’s new High Commissioner. For ambassadors, your counterpart in your home country is an important partner and ally. Luckily I had got to know Mike during my regular visits to Adelaide, and before he set off for the UK I hosted a dinner for him to meet Brits involved in business, academia, tourism and the arts here. It will be good working with him.
I’m sure Mike is going to do a great job. He was really looking forward to it. There is a neat symmetry to the appointment as he emigrated from England with his parents, exactly 50 years ago, first to New Zealand, then to Australia.
Australia has more of a tradition of political ambassadors than we do, regularly sending them to a small number of key posts. Canberra has been a bit of an exception for the FCO, as my three immediate predecessors here were all former cabinet ministers (one Tory and two Labour). I don’t think you can say one species is better than another; both politicians and career diplomats bring different strengths and experience. For me here, my background in Asia has been particularly useful as Australia increasingly orientates itself towards the region.
Mike’s predecessor, John Dauth, is retiring at the end of a long, distinguished diplomatic career. He was a member of the famous “class of 69” – a group who joined DFAT in that year, and went on to hold many of the top jobs in Australian foreign and security policy. John obviously enjoyed his time in the UK: together with his British partner he is staying on in London.