Gillian Elizabeth Bird (born in
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
)
has served as Australia's
Ambassador to France since November 2020. Bird concurrently serves as Australia's non-resident Ambassador to
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
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, capital = Algiers
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, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
,
Mauritania, and
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
. She is a former
Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations
The Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations is an officer of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the head of the Permanent Mission of the Commonwealth of Australia to the United Nations ...
, serving between 2015 and 2019.
Education
Bird graduated from the
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's ...
with a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...
(First Class Honours) and later studied at the prestigious
École nationale d'administration
The École nationale d'administration (generally referred to as ENA, en, National School of Administration) was a French ''grande école'', created in 1945 by President Charles de Gaulle and principal author of the 1958 Constitution Michel Deb ...
.
Career
Bird joined the
Department of Foreign Affairs in 1980, and from 1980 to 1983 was based in Paris where she was a representative of the Australian government to the
OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...
.
From 1986 until 1987 Bird served at the
Australian embassy in Harare, Zimbabwe, and from 1990 until 1993 at the
Permanent Mission of Australia to the United Nations in New York City.
Bird returned to Australia in 1993 and was appointed Assistant Secretary in the Executive Branch of the foreign ministry, and from 1994 to 1997 was Assistant Secretary in the Peace, Arms Control and Disarmament Branch.
From 1997 to 1999 Bird was First Assistant Secretary in International Organisations and Legal Division, and from 1999 to 2002 she was First Assistant Secretary in the South and South-East Asia Division.
After a stint as Head of the Foreign and Trade Policy White Paper Task Force of the Australian foreign department, in 2002 she was appointed as First Assistant Secretary in the International Division of
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. She held this position until 2004, when she was appointed Deputy Secretary in the Executive Branch of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Concurrent to this role, in 2008 Bird was appointed as Australia's first Ambassador to the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations
ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, militar ...
by
Stephen Smith, then-
Foreign Minister of Australia.
Australia became the first ASEAN dialogue partner in 1974, and Bird's appointment enabled Australia to continue friendly relations with the regional bloc, whilst also giving it a voice in helping to solve regional issues.
On 11 June 2014,
Australian Prime Minister
The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the federal government of Australia and is also accountable to federal parliament under the principl ...
Tony Abbott
Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia.
Abbott was born in Londo ...
appointed Bird as
Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations
The Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations is an officer of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the head of the Permanent Mission of the Commonwealth of Australia to the United Nations ...
. Bird was appointed in February 2015, replacing
Gary Quinlan
Gary Francis Quinlan (born 11 March 1951) is an Australian diplomat and public servant, who served as the Australian Ambassador to Indonesia from 2018 to 2021. He has previously served as High Commissioner to Singapore and as the Permanent Rep ...
, and presented her credentials to the
UN Secretary‑General Ban Ki-moon on 17 February 2015.
[ Her term expired in October 2019 and she was replaced by former Senator ]Mitch Fifield
Mitchell Peter Fifield (born 16 January 1967) is the Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations. He is a former Australian politician who served as a Senator for Victoria from 2004 to 2019, representing the Liberal Party. He wa ...
.
In November 2020, she was appointed as the new Australian Ambassador to France, Algeria, Mauritania and Monaco, replacing Brendan Berne who occupied the post since 2017. Bird presented her credentials to the Director of State Protocol and Diplomatic Events at the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, on 5 November 2020.
Affidavit in NPA agent corruption case
In July 2014 news sites outside of Australia reported that an unprecedented suppression order was issued by the Supreme Court of Victoria for an affidavit from Bird relating to allegations that Securency and Note Printing Australia (NPA) agents had made bribes totalling million of dollars for the purposes of securing contracts to manufacture polymer banknotes to Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, and other countries. A copy of the order published by Wikileaks, reportedly showed that Bird's affidavit and the very fact that the suppression order existed, was suppressed on national security grounds throughout Australian media.
Awards
In 2012 Bird was awarded the Public Service Medal for her service over a sustained period, contributing significantly to advancing key priorities of successive Australian Governments in the field of international relations
International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such a ...
and delivery of consular services. According to award documents, Bird has also displayed outstanding service in the Department’s consular response overseeing incidents ranging from major evacuations of Australians in conflict zones to high-profile individual consular cases. She also played key roles in advancing the bilateral relations with key Association of South East Asian Nations
ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military ...
countries which is of fundamental importance to Australian national interests
The national interest is a sovereign state's goals and ambitions (economic, military, cultural, or otherwise), taken to be the aim of government.
Etymology
The Italian phrase ''ragione degli stati'' was first used by Giovanni della Casa around t ...
. Bird is an exemplar of the best traditions of the Australian public service and has delivered outcomes of long-lasting importance for Australia.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bird, Gillian
Living people
People from Adelaide
Date of birth missing (living people)
Ambassadors of Australia to ASEAN
Ambassadors of Australia to France
Permanent Representatives of Australia to the United Nations
University of Sydney alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)
Australian women ambassadors