Alistair Murray McLean is the former Chair of the Australian Government's Australia Japan Foundation, and is a former Non Resident Fellow of the

Lowy Institute The Lowy Institute is an independent think tank founded in April 2003 by Frank Lowy to conduct original, policy-relevant research about international political, strategic and economic issues from an Australian perspective. It is based in Sydney, ...

. Prior to this, McLean was a senior career officer of the Australian

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 ...

until 29 February 2012. He joined the Department as the

Department of External Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

(later

) in 1970 and has had wide experience, particularly on Asian issues. Fluent in

Modern Standard Chinese Standard Chinese ()—in linguistics Standard Northern Mandarin or Standard Beijing Mandarin, in common speech simply Mandarin, better qualified as Standard Mandarin, Modern Standard Mandarin or Standard Mandarin Chinese—is a modern standar ...

(Mandarin) his previous postings and placements include: Australian High Commissioner (Head of Mission) to

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

(1997–2001); Australian Consul-General in Shanghai Australian Consulate-General, Shanghai (1987–92); Political Counsellor, Australian Embassy,

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

(1983–86); Counsellor in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

(1979–83), as well as earlier postings in Beijing (1973–76), and

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

(1971–73). Mr McLean arrived in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

on 24 November 2004 to take up his appointment as Australia's Ambassador to Japan, which ran until August 2011. His senior executive roles in the Department also included: Deputy Secretary (February–November 2004); First Assistant Secretary, North Asia Division (2001–04) and Assistant Secretary, East Asia Branch (1992–96). In 1991, McLean was awarded the

Order of Australia Medal The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(OAM) for his services to international relations, particularly as Australian Consul General in Shanghai. In 2013, he was made an Officer of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(AO). In 2014, the Japanese Government honoured McLean with the award of ''Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun'', its highest award for foreigners, in recognition of his distinguished achievements in international relations. McLean is a

B.A. 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 years ...

(Hons) graduate from the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

in 1969, and later studied Chinese at the University of Hong Kong. He completed his secondary schooling at Benalla High School and

Geelong College , motto_translation = Thus one goes to the stars , established = , type = Independent, co-educational, day and boarding, Christian school , denomination = in association with the Uniting ...

, where he was Head Prefect in 1965.http://gnet.geelongcollege.vic.edu.au:8080/wiki/McLEAN-Alistair-Murray-OAM.ashx Born in 1947, he is married with two adult children and one grandchild. His interests include

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

and Asian arts and antiquities.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McLean, Murray Consuls-General of Australia in Shanghai Ambassadors of Australia to Japan High Commissioners of Australia to Singapore Living people 1947 births Officers of the Order of Australia University of Melbourne alumni People educated at Geelong College