Bruce Douglas Haigh (6 August 1945 – 7 April 2023) was an Australian political commentator and diplomat. He joined the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs in 1972 and served in South Africa.

Life and career

Haigh was born in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in 1945, and grew up in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

. He was in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

and studied at the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

. Haigh became a diplomat. After an assignment in Pakistan, he was posted to South Africa as Second Secretary (1976–79). He initiated contact by the

Australian Embassy Australian diplomatic missions are posts representing the Commonwealth of Australia in foreign countries. They are mostly maintained by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, with some smaller posts being run by Austrade. There are curr ...

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

with members of the internal resistance to apartheid, including the Black Consciousness Movement in 1976. Included amongst the contacts he made at this time were

Steve Biko Bantu Stephen Biko (18 December 1946 – 12 September 1977) was a South African anti-apartheid activist. Ideologically an African nationalist and African socialist, he was at the forefront of a grassroots anti-apartheid campaign known ...

(murdered by police whilst being held in detention in 1977) and Dr.

Mamphela Ramphele Mamphela Aletta Ramphele (; born 28 December 1947) is a South African politician, an activist against apartheid, a medical doctor, an academic and businesswoman. She was a partner of anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko, with whom she had two chil ...

(Vice Chancellor of the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

and a Director of the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

). Haigh helped banned newspaper editor Donald Woods escape from South Africa into exile in England. His role in that escape was portrayed by Australian actor John Hargreaves in the film ''

Cry Freedom ''Cry Freedom'' is a 1987 epic apartheid drama film directed and produced by Richard Attenborough, set in late-1970s apartheid-era South Africa. The screenplay was written by John Briley based on a pair of books by journalist Donald Woods. The ...

'', produced and directed by

Richard Attenborough Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough, (; 29 August 192324 August 2014) was an English actor, filmmaker, and entrepreneur. He was the president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and the British Academy of Film and Televisio ...

Personal life and death

Haigh was married twice, first to Libby Mosley and then to Jodie Burnstein. He had two children from his first marriage and two from his second; one son predeceased him. In Haigh's last years, he had cancer. While in

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

, he fell ill and was flown to a hospital in

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wate ...

, New South Wales, where he died on 7 April 2023, at the age of 77.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haigh, Bruce 1945 births 2023 deaths Australian Army personnel Australian diplomats Australian expatriates in Pakistan Australian expatriates in South Africa Australian political commentators Deaths from cancer in New South Wales People from Perth, Western Australia University of Western Australia alumni