Amanda Milling, UK Minister for Asia and the Middle East, begins a regional visit of Australia, New Zealand, and Vanuatu today.
Minister Milling announces intentions to reopen the Consul General position in Perth, Western Australia after 20 years.
Western Australia has the greatest proportion of British residents of any state in Australia, with 8.9% of the population born in the UK and 42% having British ancestry.
Eight staff members will assist the incoming Consul General in Perth. Their responsibilities include trade, investment, consular, and SDEI.
The new job underscores the UK’s commitment to Australia and developing trade and investment links after the FTA.
In the past three years, the UK has doubled the number of British High Commissions in the Pacific Island Countries to six – Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Samoa, and Vanuatu – highlighting the importance of the Indo-Pacific to our economy, security, and ambition to build a network of liberty, as outlined in the UK’s Integrated Review.
Amanda Milling, Asia-Middle East Minister:
The UK’s connections with Australia, New Zealand, and Vanuatu are close in terms of common values, history, economics, and security.
The UK’s decision to re-establish the Consul General position in Perth is a testament to our closeness.
Minister Milling will visit Perth and Melbourne to meet with state and federal officials, business and industry executives, and Indigenous leaders.
The Minister will visit Vanuatu’s President Nikenike Vurobaravu and Acting Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau and inaugurate the British High Commission in Port Vila.
In New Zealand, she will visit Auckland, Hamilton, and Wellington, where she will make a speech on the significance of the UK’s connection with New Zealand and meet with government, business, and Mori leaders.
Ms Iona Thomas OBE, the UK’s next High Commissioner to New Zealand and Governor of the Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie, and Oeno Islands, will accompany her on several engagements (3 August 2022).
High Commissioner Vicki Treadell said:
The new diplomatic presence in Perth recognises Western Australia’s significance to the UK.
Our Head of Perth Office and Consulate staff are doing great work on economic security, the sustainable energy transition, and supporting the significant number of Brits in WA.
The Minister’s visit follows extensive UK engagement with Pacific partners. Liz Truss, Ben Wallace, and Admiral Sir Tony Radakin KCB ADC will visit Australia in 2022.
COP26 President Alok Sharma visited Australia, Fiji, and New Zealand last month (July 2022).
Boris Johnson met Anthony Albanese at the NATO Summit in Madrid and welcomed Jacinda Ardern in London last month.
The minister arrives in Australia from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where she represented the UK at ASEAN.
She signed a new UK-ASEAN agreement for closer collaboration on trade and investment, defence and security (including marine and cyber), climate change, girls’ education, digital, and science and technology.
As part of the deal, the UK would increase development and security linkages in Southeast Asia and build a British International Investment office in Singapore to spend up to £500m in the Indo-Pacific.
The Royal Navy offers security and marine law training to the area.
Notes to Editors:
- In 2023, the Consul General will arrive in Perth.
- The UK is also accredited to Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, and Tuvalu. Palau is accredited to the UK’s Philippines embassy.
- In addition to the 2021 Carrier Strike Group deployment, the UK operates two Offshore Patrol Vessels in the Indo-Pacific.
- They’ve previously offered relief in the Pacific, providing humanitarian supplies to Tonga after the volcano eruption in January 2022 and Covid booster immunizations and dental treatment to the Pitcairn Islands in February 2022.