Biographical Note

NEW PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF AUSTRALIA PRESENTS CREDENTIALS

(Based on information provided by the Protocol and Liaison Service.)

The new Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations, Gary Quinlan, today presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Prior to his appointment, Mr. Quinlan was Senior Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Defence and National Security from December 2007 to March 2009, having served in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as First Assistant Secretary in the Consular, Public Diplomacy and Parliamentary Affairs Division in 2007.  He was First Assistant Secretary in the Americas and Europe Division from 2000 to 2001.

Mr. Quinlan’s diplomatic service includes postings as Deputy Head of Mission at the Australian Embassy in Washington, D.C., from 2005 to 2007, and High Commissioner (Ambassador) to Singapore from 2001 to 2005.  He was First Secretary in a previous term at the Permanent Mission of Australia to the United Nations in New York (1981-1985).  Attached to the Economic Development Institute at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., in 1984, he served as Deputy Permanent Delegate to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris, from 1979 to 1981; and as Second Secretary in Australia’s Dublin Embassy from 1974 to 1977.

Since joining the then Department of Foreign Affairs in 1973, Mr. Quinlan held several senior positions in Canberra, including Chief of Staff to the Minister for Industry, Science and Technology (1994-1996); to the Minister for Trade (1993–1994); to the Minister for Industrial Relations (Labour) (1990-1993); and to the Minister for Resources (1988-1990).

He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree and an honorary doctorate from the University of Newcastle.

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