IMA L AFFAIR NQ DATE
M/ 139 26 September 1973
SENIOR AUSTRALIAN DIPLOMATIC APPOINTMENTS
The Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs,
Mr Whitlam, announced today a number of senior appointments to
Australian diplomatic missions overseas. He announced that
Sir James Plimsoll, would become Australian Ambassador
to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and that he would be
succeeded as Ambassador to the United States by Sir Patrick
Shaw, currently Australian High Commissioner to India
and Australian Ambassador to Nepal. Sir Patrick Shaw would
be succeeded in New Delhi by Mr Bruce Grant, who until recently
has been Public Affairs Commentator for " The Age".
Mr Whitlam also announced that Mr K. C. O. Shann, C. B. E.
had been appointed Australian Ambassador to Japan to succeed
the Honourable Gordon Freeth who would be retiring at the end
of the year. Mr Shann has been Deputy Secretary of the
Department of Foreign Affairs since 1970.
Mr Whitlam said that all of these senior appointments
had been made bearing in mind the Australian Government's desire
to maintain close relations with the countries concerned.
Sir James Plimsoll was a former Permanent Head of the Department
of Foreign Affairs and had served with distinction as
Ambassador to the United States. In his new appointment as
Ambassador to the Soviet Union he would bring with him long
experience in the conduct of Australian foreign policy.
Australian relations with the Soviet Union had developed
significantly in recent years and Sir James Plimsoll's
appointment would enable this development to be maintained.
Mr Whitlam said that he was confident that
Sir Patrick Shaw's long experience as a senior officer of
the Department of Foreign Affairs would serve him well in his
new assignment to the United States.
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Mr Whitlam recalled the great emphasis which successive
Australian Governments had placed on relations with the
United States as he had himself reaffirmed during his recent
visit to Washington. Mr Whitlam said that he was also confident that the
appointment of Mr Bruce Grant to succeed Sir Patrick Shaw as
Australian High Commissioner to India and Ambassador to Nepal
would enable Australia to further develop its relations with
one of' the most significant regions in the Asian continent.
Mr Grant had in past years been one of Australia's best known
commentators on Asian affairs and his international reputation
in the area would be of great value in his new appointment.
Mr Whitlam also paid tribute to the work of
Mr K. C. O. Shann, C. B. E. as Deputy Secretary of the Department
of Foreign Affairs of which he had also been Acting Secretary
on a number of occasions. Mr Whitlam recalled in particular
Mr Shann's period as Ambassador to Indonesia from 1962-1965,
at which post at a particularly difficult time he had served
with great distinction. Mr Whitlam said that he was looking
forward to his forthcoming visit to Japan and that the appointment
of Mr Shann to succeed Mr Freeth reflected the Government's
desire further to consolidate mutual relations in a broad range
of activities. Duhring the past few years Mr Shann had himself
been closely involved with the development of Australia's
relations with Japan.
Mr Whitlam said he expected that Mr Grant would take
up his appointment in November. The other three senior officers
would take up their new appointments early in 1974.
Sir James Plimsoll, was born in 1917 and was
educated at Sydney High School and the University of Sydney
where he obtained the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor
of Economics. He worked as an Economist with the Bank of New
South Wales from 1938-42 and served in the Australian Military
Forces from 1942-47. He has had a long and distinguished career
with the Department of Foreign Affairs having been Secretary
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of the Department from 1965-1970. He served between 1949-1950
at the Australian Mission to the United Nations, New York and
at the Australian Embassy in Washington. He was Australian
Delegate on UNCURK, Pusan from 1950-1952. Following a number
of senior appointments in the Department of Foreign Affairs he
became Australian Permanent Representative to the United Nations,
New York where he served from 1959-1963. From 1963-1965 he was
Australian High Commissioner to India and Ambassador to Nepal.
His most recent appointment has been as Ambassador to the
United States, which position he has held since 1970.
Sir Patrick Shaw, C. B. E. was born in 1913 and was
educated at Scotch College and the University of Melbourne where
he obtained the degree of Bachelor of Arts and Diploma of
Public Administration. He joined the Public Service in 1936 and
was Private Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the
Senate from 1937 to 1939. He served in Tokyo from 1940-1941
and was Official Secretary in Wellington from 1943-1945. From
1945-1947 he was First Secretary and Charge d'Affaires in
Chungking and later First Secretary in Nanking. From 1947-1949
he was Head of the Australian Mission in Tokyo and Commonwealth
Member on the Allied Control Council for Japan and Australian
Delegate on UNCURK. From 1951-1953 Sir Patrick Shaw was
Permanent Delegate to the United Nations Mission and Consul-General
in Geneva. He served as Ambassador to the Federal Republic
of Germany from 1956-1959 and concurrently as Head of the
Australian Military Mission, Berlin. He was Australian
Ambassador to Indonesia from 1960-1962 following which he occupied
a number of senior positions in the Department of Foreign Affairs
becoming Deputy Secretary of the Department in October 1964.
From 1965-1970 he was Australian Permanent Representative to the
United Nations, New York. He has been High Commissioner to
India and Ambassador to Nepal since April 1970. Sir Patrick
Shaw is married with two children.
Mr Bruce Grant was born in 1925 and was educated at
the Perth Modern School and the University of Melbourne where
he obtained the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He served in the Royal
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Australian Dlavy f'rom 1942 to 1945 and joined the editorial
staff of-the Melbourne Age in 1949. He was London correspondent
for The Age from 1954 to 1957. He was awarded a Nieman
Fellowship at Harvard University in 1957/ 58. He was South East
Asian correspondent for the Age and the Sydney Morning Herald
from 1959-1963. In 1964-65 Mr Grant served as Washington
correspondent for the Age. He was Fellow in Political Science
at the University of Melbourne from 1965-1967, lecturing in
international relations. He was Public Affairs Commentator for
the Age from 1968-1973.
Mr Grant is the author of a number of Publications on
Asian affairs of which his book " Indonesia" published in 1963
is well known. He was Roy Milne lecturer for the Australian
Institute of International Affairs in 1969. His book " A Crisis
of Loyalty", a study of Australian foreign policy, was published
in 1972. He was a member of the Council of Monash University
from 1970-73. He was President of the Melbourne Film Festival
1971 and 1972. Mr Grant has also contributed short stories to
Australian and overseas journals such as The New Yorker, Esquire
and Meanjin. Mr Grant is married with two children.
Mr K. C. 0. Shann, was born in 1917 and was
educated at Trinity Grammar School and the University of Melbourne
where he obtained the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He joined
the Commonwealth Public Service in 1939 with the Department of
the Treasury and after working w,. ith the Bureau of Census and
Statistics and the Department of Labour and National Service
joined the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1946. He served
with the Australian Mission to the United Nations, New York
from 1949 to 1952 and after a number of appointments in the
Department of Foreign Affairs in Canberra was assigned from
1955 to 1959 as Minister and later Ambassador to the Philippines.
During 1957 Mr Shann was Australian Representative on the United
Nations Special Committee on the Problem of Hungary on which he
also served as Rapporteur. From 1959-1962 he was Senior
External Affairs Representative at the Australian High Commission,
London. He was Australian Ambassador to Indonesia from 1962-1966
after which he returned to Australia to become First Assistant
Secretary of the Division of the Department handling Australia's
International Aid. He was appointed a Deputy Secretary of the
Department in April 1970. Mr Shann is married with three children.