Peter Richard Woolcott (born 19 October 1953) is an Australian

public servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

and the current

Australian Public Service Commission The Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) is a statutory agency of the Australian Government, within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, that acts to ensure the organisational and workforce capability to meet future needs a ...

er. He was previously the

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Turnbull grad ...

. Woolcott has served as the Australia's High Commissioner to New Zealand, the Australian Ambassador for the Environment, the Australian Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, the Australian Ambassador to Italy, the Deputy Head of Mission in Jakarta, and the Consul-General in Honolulu.

Background and early life

Woolcott was born in

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

in 1953, the son of

Richard Woolcott Richard Arthur Woolcott (born 11 June 1927) is a retired Australian public servant, diplomat, author and commentator. Early years Woolcott was educated at Geelong Grammar School, Cranbrook School and the University of Melbourne, before becomi ...

, a former Australian diplomat public servant. He spent October 1953 to May 1954 in Moscow, while his father was Third Secretary at the Australian Embassy in the city. Peter Woolcott graduated with a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts from the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

and a Master of Arts degree from

The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy is the graduate school of international affairs of Tufts University, in Medford, Massachusetts. The School is one of America's oldest graduate schools of international relations and is well-ranked in its ...

Career

After practising as a barrister in Sydney for a number of years, Woolcott joined the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1981. He served in Australian diplomatic missions in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

(1981–83),

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

(1987–88), the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

as deputy head of mission (1994–97), consul-general in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

and representative to

United States Pacific Command United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) is a unified combatant command of the United States Armed Forces responsible for the Indo-Pacific region. Formerly known as United States Pacific Command (USPACOM) since its inception in 1947, t ...

(1998–2001), deputy head of mission in Jakarta (2001–2002), chief of staff to the

minister for foreign affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between coun ...

(2002–04), and Australian ambassador to Italy (2004–07). In October 2008, Woolcott was one of several senior officials involved in Australia-US political-military talks. At the talks, Woolcott praised China's diplomatic efforts in south-east Asia, but said there were significant problems in the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Burma. Woolcott also sat on the Executive Board of the

World Food Programme The World Food Programme; it, Programma alimentare mondiale; es, Programa Mundial de Alimentos; ar, برنامج الأغذية العالمي, translit=barnamaj al'aghdhiat alealami; russian: Всемирная продовольствен� ...

(2004–07). Between 2007 and 2009 he was first assistant secretary of the South East Asia division in the

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 ...

. Woolcott was appointed as the People Smuggling envoy in 2009, leaving the job after just eight months to take up a position as Australia's ambassador to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

in Geneva in 2010. In 2014 he was appointed as Australia's Ambassador for the Environment. Woolcott was a Director for the Sea Law and Ocean Policy Group (1990–91), the

Human Rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

Section (1992–94) and the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

Section. Woolcott has also worked as the international adviser to Bond Corporation (1989–90) and as the Executive Manager International Bid Relations, Sydney Olympic Bid 2000 Bid (1991–92). In April 2013, under the presidency of Woolcott, the Arms Trade Treaty was adopted by the UN general assembly in New York by an overwhelming majority. This internationally commemorated success will assist in establishing internationally agreed common standards for the national regulation of the conventional arms trade and reducing the flow of unregulated arms. In 2015, Woolcott spearheaded Australia's negotiating teams at climate talks in the United Nations. He emphasized the pertinent issues of climate change: “Left unchecked, it will magnify existing problems and increase pressure on resources including land, water, energy, food and fish stocks. It has the potential to erode development gains, undermine economic growth and compound human security challenges.”Australia's lead public servant for global climate talks reveals hopes and fears for Paris
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 19 November 2015 In 2017 Woolcott was appointed 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 ...

for distinguished service to public administration in the field of international relations through senior diplomatic roles, and as a lead negotiator in the non-proliferation and arms control fields.

Personal life

Woolcott is married to Tanya Hollows (the daughter of Fred Hollows) and has three children, Charles, Nicholas and Isabella.

References

, - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Woolcott, Peter 1953 births Living people Australian public servants Chiefs of Staff to the Prime Minister of Australia Ambassadors of Australia to Italy Ambassadors of Australia to San Marino Ambassadors of Australia to Libya Permanent Representatives of Australia to the United Nations Office in Geneva Australian National University alumni Officers of the Order of Australia High Commissioners of Australia to New Zealand High Commissioners of Australia to the Cook Islands High Commissioners of Australia to Niue