List of Australian High Commissioners to Fiji

High Commissioner of Australia to Fiji
Incumbent Margaret Twomey since December 2014 (appointed 15 December 2012)
Style	Her Excellency
Nominator	Prime Minister of Australia
Appointer	Governor General of Australia
Inaugural holder	Rowen Osborn
Formation	1970
Website	Australian High Commission, Fiji

The High Commissioner of Australia to Fiji 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 Fiji. The Australian High Commissioner also has responsibility for relations with Tuvalu, and is Australia's Permanent Representative to the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, which is headquartered in Suva. The position has the rank and status of an Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and is currently held by Margaret Twomey.

As fellow members of the Commonwealth of Nations, diplomatic relations between Australia and Fiji are at governmental level, rather than between Heads of State. Thus, the countries exchange High Commissioners, rather than ambassadors. Between 1987 and 1997, this was not the case; after the Coups of 1987, Fiji was expelled from the Commonwealth, but rejoined after the promulgation of a new constitution in 1997. Hence, from 1987 until 1997, the representative of the Australian Government in Fiji was known as an ambassador.

Between 2009 and 2012, Australia had no diplomatic relationship. In July 2012, the governments agreed to exchange high commissioners, ending the three-year gap,^[1] with an Australian High Commissioner commencing in December 2014.^[2]

List of heads of mission

High Commissioners to Fiji

Name	Start of term	End of term	Notes
Rowen Osborn	1970	1973	[3][4]
H.W. Bullock	1973	1976	[5][6]
Gordon Upton	1976	1979	[7]
Raymond Greet	1979	1982	[8]
Colin McDonald	1982	1984	[9]
Jeremy Hearder	1984	1986
John Piper	1986	1987	[10][11]
Relations suspended following 1987 coups d'état

Ambassadors to Fiji

Name	Start of term	End of term	Notes
Bob Cotton	1988	1991	[12][13]
John Trotter	1991	1995
Greg Urwin	1995	1999	[14]

High Commissioners to Fiji

Name	Start of term	End of term	Notes
Susan Boyd	1999	2003	[15]
Jennifer Rawson	2003	2007	[16]
James Batley	2007	2009	[17][18][19]
Relations suspended due to atmosphere following 2006 coup d'état
Margaret Twomey	December 2014	date	[2][20]

References

1. "Australian high commissioner out of Fiji". The Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Media). 6 March 2013. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014.
2. Fox, Liam (2 December 2014). "Australia's High Commissioner to Fiji, Margaret Twomey, takes up post two years after appointment". Australian Broadcasting Commission. Archived from the original on 29 December 2014.
3. "Fiji envoy appointed". The Canberra Times. 20 November 1970. p. 7.
4. Osborn, Francis d’Arenberg. Francis d’Arenberg OSBORN (PDF). Interview with Susan Marsden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 March 2015.
5. Whitlam, Edward Gough (9 February 1973). "Appointment of High Commissioner to Fiji, Tonga and Western Samoa" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 1 March 2015.
6. "Ambassador". The Canberra Times. 12 March 1973. p. 3.
7. "Appointment". The Canberra Times. 26 May 1976. p. 3.
8. "Diplomatic postings". The Canberra Times. 1 November 1979. p. 11.
9. "High Commissioners’ postings". The Canberra Times. 13 February 1982. p. 7.
10. "High Commissioner". The Canberra Times. 13 June 1986. p. 3.
11. Grutzner, Anna (17 October 1987). "Australian move: Top envoy to Fiji recalled". The Canberra Times. p. 1.
12. Downer, Alexander (25 March 1997). "Diplomatic Appointment: High Commissioner to Malaysia" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 22 February 2015. From 1988 to 1991 he was Ambassador to Fiji and High Commissioner to Tuvalu.
13. "Career diplomat tipped to be ambassador to Fiji". The Canberra Times. 8 February 1988. p. 3. He probably would be called Ambassador rather than High Commissioner, at least at first, the sources said.
14. Evans, Gareth (10 March 1995). "Diplomatic appointment: Fiji and Tuvalu" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014.
15. Downer, Alexander (8 June 1999). "Diplomatic appointment: High Commissioner to Fiji" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014.
16. Downer, Alexander (29 May 2003). "Diplomatic appointment: High Commissioner to Fiji" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014.
17. Hayward-Jones, Jenny (4 November 2009). "Another diplomatic spat with Fiji". Lowy Interpreter (Lowy Institute for International Policy).
18. Merritt, Chris (4 November 2009). "Fiji expels high commissioner". The Australian (News Ltd). Retrieved 27 February 2015.
19. Downer, Alexander (9 January 2007). "Diplomatic appointment – High Commissioner to Fiji" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 11 February 2014.
20. Carr, Bob (15 December 2012). "High Commissioner to Fiji" (Press release). Australian Government.

External links

• Australian High Commission, Fiji