List of Australian ambassadors to Indonesia

Ambassador to Indonesia
Incumbent Paul Grigson since March 2015
Style	His Excellency
Residence	Jakarta
Inaugural holder	John Hood
Formation	1950

The Australian ambassador to Indonesia is the Australian Government's foremost diplomatic representative in Indonesia.^[1] 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.^[2]

The first Australian ambassador to Indonesia was John Hood appointed by Australian External Affairs Minister Percy Spender in April 1950. Previously, Australia had maintained a consulate-general in Indonesia which had operated between 1947 and 1950 in the post-World War II period in Jakarta.

List of heads of mission

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

Name of ambassador	Start of term	End of term
John Hood	1950	1953
Charles Kevin[3][4]	1953	1955
Walter Crocker	1955	1957
Laurence McIntyre	1957	1960
Patrick Shaw	1960	1962
K.C.O. Shann	1962	1966
Max Loveday	1966	1969
Gordon Jockel	1969	1972
Robert Furlonger	1972	1975
Richard Woolcott[5]	1975	1978
Tom Critchley[6]	1978	1981
Rawdon Dalrymple[7]	1981	1985
Bill Morrison	1985	1989
Philip Flood	1989	1993
Allan Taylor[8]	1993	1996
John McCarthy[9]	1996	2001
Richard Smith	2001	2003
David Ritchie[10]	2003	2005
Bill Farmer[11]	2005	2010
Greg Moriarty	2010	2014
Paul Grigson[12]	2015	ongoing[13]

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

See also

• Australia–Indonesia relations
• List of Indonesian ambassadors to Australia

References

1. CA 2744: Australian Embassy, Republic of Indonesia [Djakarta/Jakarta], National Archives of Australia, retrieved 11 January 2016
2. 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. Beaumont, Joan, "Kevin, John Charles George (1909–1968)", Australian Dictionary of Biography (Australian National University), archived from the original on 22 September 2015
4. "Mr. C. Kevin for Indonesia". The Canberra Times (ACT). 6 January 1953. p. 2.
5. 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
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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 Allan Taylor, AM noting that Taylor had been ambassador "... at a challenging time in the bilateral relationship, when Allan's patience, resilience and commitment were crucial in helping to maintain close ties between our two governments."
9. 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.
10. 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..
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. 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. Grigson returned to his post in Jakarta in early June after being in Canberra for consultations for about six weeks.