The High Commissioner of Australia to Kiribati is an officer of the
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is the department of the Australian federal government responsible for foreign policy and relations, international aid (using the branding Australian Aid), consular services and trade and inv ...
and the head of the
High Commission of the Commonwealth of Australia to
Kiribati
Kiribati (), officially the Republic of Kiribati ( gil, ibaberikiKiribati),[Kiribati]
''The Wor ...
, located in Tarawa.
The position has the rank and status of an
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...
and is currently held by David Yardley. As fellow members of the
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...
, diplomatic relations between Australia and Kiribati are between High Commissioners rather than ambassadors. The High Commission is one of four diplomatic missions in Kiribati, alongside New Zealand, Taiwan and Cuba. The High Commission supports and manages Australia's extensive
Official Development Assistance
Official development assistance (ODA) is a category used by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the OECD, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to measure aid, foreign aid. The DAC first adopted the concept in ...
program to Kiribati, which constitutes 31% of all ODA to the country (15% of Kiribati's GDP).
Posting history
Australia formally recognised Kiribati on its independence from the United Kingdom in 1979, but diplomatic contacts were much earlier with the
High Commissioner in Nauru dual-accredited as Commissioner to the
Gilbert and Ellice Islands
The Gilbert and Ellice Islands (GEIC as a colony) in the Pacific Ocean were part of the British Empire from 1892 to 1976. They were a protectorate from 1892 to 12 January 1916, and then a colony until 1 January 1976. The history of the colony w ...
(1972–1976) and the
Gilbert Islands
The Gilbert Islands ( gil, Tungaru;Reilly Ridgell. ''Pacific Nations and Territories: The Islands of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia.'' 3rd. Ed. Honolulu: Bess Press, 1995. p. 95. formerly Kingsmill or King's-Mill IslandsVery often, this n ...
(1976–1979), and then non-resident accredited High Commissioner to Kiribati from 1979. In 1981, The Australian Government announced that it would open a resident High Commission in Kiribati in recognition of "the importance which Australia attached to relations with not only Kiribati but to its regional neighbours in the South Pacific."
On 7 November 2003, Kiribati established diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan), but it was alleged later on that the Australian High Commissioner, Jurek Juszczyk, had urged President
Anote Tong
Anote Tong (; born 11 June 1952 in Tabuaeran, Line Islands) is an I-Kiribati politician for the Pillars of Truth party and environmental activist with half Chinese heritage, who served as President of Kiribati, from 2003 to 2016. He won the elect ...
not to recognise Taiwan, as this would inevitably sever relations with
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. Although Kiribati did not sever ties with the PRC, Beijing suspended ties on 29 November after failed attempts to lobby President Tong to change his mind.
High Commissioners
References
External links
Australian High Commission, Kiribati
{{Lists of heads of Australian diplomatic missions
Kiribati
Kiribati (), officially the Republic of Kiribati ( gil, ibaberikiKiribati),[Kiribati]
''The Wor ...
*
Australia and the Commonwealth of Nations
Kiribati and the Commonwealth of Nations