The Australian high commissioner to Tonga is an officer of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the head of the High Commission of the Commonwealth of Australia in the Kingdom of Tonga. The position has the rank and status of an ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary and the high commissioner resides in Nukuʻalofa.[1] The high commissioner, since March 2019, is Adrian Morrison.
List of high commissioners
[edit]
# |
Officeholder |
Residency |
Term start date |
Term end date |
Time in office |
Notes
|
1
|
R. N. Birch
|
Suva, Fiji
|
1970 (1970)
|
1970 (1970)
|
0 years
|
|
2
|
Rowen Osborn
|
1970 (1970)
|
1973 (1973)
|
2–3 years
|
[2][3]
|
3
|
H. W. Bullock
|
1973 (1973)
|
1976 (1976)
|
2–3 years
|
[4][5]
|
4
|
Gordon Upton
|
1976 (1976)
|
1979 (1979)
|
2–3 years
|
[6]
|
5
|
Maris King
|
Nukuʻalofa
|
1980 (1980)
|
1984 (1984)
|
3–4 years
|
|
6
|
Brian Smith
|
1984 (1984)
|
1986 (1986)
|
1–2 years
|
|
7
|
Rodney Hills
|
1987 (1987)
|
1990 (1990)
|
2–3 years
|
[7][8]
|
8
|
Howard Craig Brown
|
1990 (1990)
|
1992 (1992)
|
1–2 years
|
|
9
|
Jennifer E. Rawson
|
1993 (1993)
|
1995 (1995)
|
1–2 years
|
|
10
|
Andrew Mullin
|
1995 (1995)
|
1999 (1999)
|
3–4 years
|
[9]
|
11
|
Angus Macdonald
|
1999 (1999)
|
2003 (2003)
|
3–4 years
|
[10]
|
12
|
Colin Hill
|
2003 (2003)
|
2006 (2006)
|
2–3 years
|
[11]
|
13
|
Bruce Hunt
|
2006 (2006)
|
2011 (2011)
|
4–5 years
|
[12]
|
14
|
Thomas Roth
|
2011 (2011)
|
2013 (2013)
|
1–2 years
|
[13]
|
15
|
Brett Aldam
|
2013 (2013)
|
2016 (2016)
|
2–3 years
|
[14]
|
16
|
Andrew Ford
|
2016 (2016)
|
2019 (2019)
|
2–3 years
|
[15]
|
17
|
Adrian Morrison
|
18 March 2019 (2019-03-18)
|
incumbent
|
5 years, 239 days
|
[16]
|
- ^ CA 7221: Australian High Commission, Tonga [Nuku'alofa], National Archives of Australia, retrieved 7 January 2016
- ^ "Fiji envoy appointed". The Canberra Times. 20 November 1970. p. 7.
- ^ Osborn, Francis d’Arenberg. "Francis d'Arenberg OSBORN" (PDF) (Interview). Interviewed by Susan Marsden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 March 2015.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Ambassador". The Canberra Times. 12 March 1973. p. 3.
- ^ "Appointment". The Canberra Times. 26 May 1976. p. 3.
- ^ Hayden, Bill (28 November 1986). "Diplomatic appointment: Tonga" (Press release). Australian Government. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
- ^ "Tonga posting". The Canberra Times. 30 November 1986. p. 3.
- ^ Evans, Gareth (13 October 1995). "Diplomatic Appointment: High Commissioner to Tonga" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014.
- ^ Downer, Alexander (31 August 1999). "Diplomatic Appointment: High Commissioner to Tonga" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 6 January 2015.
- ^ Downer, Alexander (16 August 2002). "Diplomatic Appointment: High Commissioner to Tonga" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014.
- ^ Downer, Alexander (13 October 2006). "Diplomatic Appointment: High Commissioner To Tonga" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 12 April 2015.
- ^ Rudd, Kevin (9 November 2010). "Diplomatic Appointment – High Commissioner to Tonga" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 7 January 2016.
- ^ Carr, Bob (10 January 2013). "High Commissioner to Tonga" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 3 April 2015.
- ^ Bishop, Julie (29 January 2016). "High Commissioner to Tonga" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 29 January 2016.
- ^ Payne, Marise (23 January 2019). "High Commissioner to Tonga". Minister for Foreign Affairs (Press release). Australian Government. Retrieved 11 March 2021.