# List of high commissioners of Australia to Papua New Guinea

The High Commissioner of Australia to Papua New Guinea is an officer of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the head of the High Commission of the Commonwealth of Australia in Papua New Guinea. The High Commissioner resides in Port Moresby and, since February 2020, has been Jon Philp. The high commission's work has been assisted since 6 February 2017 by a consulate-general in Lae.

## Posting history

The Australian Government has offered diplomatic representation in Papua New Guinea since the establishment of self-government for the Territory of Papua and New Guinea in December 1973. The Australian Government administrator in Papua New Guinea was retitled as High Commissioner, which was continued as a solely diplomatic post once PNG gained independence from 16 September 1975.

### Lae consulate

On 18 April 1975, a consular office was opened in the city of Lae, which was later upgraded to a consulate-general from 16 September 1975 upon independence. However, due to resource constraints in foreign affairs with the new Liberal/National government of Malcolm Fraser, the post was scaled down from late 1978, with the responsibilities of the consulate passed to the Deputy High Commissioner in Port Moresby, Max Hughes, and was completely closed down in December 1981. The post remained closed until the appointment and opening of an Honorary Consulate on 24 July 1989, which lasted until the reopening of the Consulate-General in February 2017 as part of a significant expansion of Australia's global diplomatic presence.

## Heads of mission

| # | Officeholder | Title | Term start date | Term end date | Time in office |
| 1 | Les Johnson | High Commissioner for Papua New Guinea | 1 December 1973 (1973-12-01) | 29 March 1974 (1974-03-29) | 118 days |
| 2 | Tom Critchley | High Commissioner for Papua New Guinea | 29 March 1974 (1974-03-29) | 16 September 1975 (1975-09-16) | 3 years, 10 months |
| 2 | Tom Critchley | High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea | 16 September 1975 (1975-09-16) | February 1978 (1978-02) | 3 years, 10 months |
| 3 | Gerry Nutter | High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea | February 1978 (1978-02) | May 1981 (1981-05) | 3 years, 3 months |
| 4 | Robert Birch | High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea | May 1981 (1981-05) | September 1984 (1984-09) | 3 years, 4 months |
| 5 | Michael Wilson | High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea | September 1984 (1984-09) | October 1987 (1987-10) | 3 years, 1 month |
| 6 | Lance Joseph | High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea | October 1987 (1987-10) | April 1989 (1989-04) | 1 year, 6 months |
| 7 | Allan Taylor | High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea | April 1989 (1989-04) | March 1993 (1993-03) | 3 years, 11 months |
| 8 | Bill Farmer | High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea | March 1993 (1993-03) | March 1996 (1996-03) | 3 years |
| 9 | David Irvine | High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea | March 1996 (1996-03) | September 1999 (1999-09) | 3 years, 6 months |
| 10 | Nick Warner | High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea | September 1999 (1999-09) | March 2003 (2003-03) | 3 years, 6 months |
| 11 | Michael Potts | High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea | March 2003 (2003-03) | December 2006 (2006-12) | 3 years, 9 months |
| 12 | Chris Moraitis | High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea | December 2006 (2006-12) | February 2010 (2010-02) | 3 years, 2 months |
| 13 | Ian Kemish | High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea | February 2010 (2010-02) | March 2013 (2013-03) | 3 years, 1 month |
| 14 | Deborah Stokes | High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea | March 2013 (2013-03) | August 2015 (2015-08) | 2 years, 5 months |
| − | Bronte Moules (Acting) | High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea | August 2015 (2015-08) | December 2015 (2015-12) | 4 months |
| 15 | Bruce Davis | High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea | 2 December 2015 (2015-12-02) | 25 February 2020 (2020-02-25) | 4 years, 85 days |
| 16 | Jon Philp | High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea | 25 February 2020 (2020-02-25) | Incumbent | 5 years, 1 day |

### Consuls-general in Lae

| Name | Start of term | End of term |
| Noel Ross Smith | November 1974 | 25 October 1976 |
| Eric Herbert Hanfield | 25 October 1976 | 1978 |
| Max Hughes (resident in Port Moresby) | 1978 | December 1981 |
| Posting closed ||||
| Kevin Beamish (Honorary Consul) | 24 July 1989 | 12 September 1994 |
| Phil Franklin (Honorary Consul) | 12 September 1994 | August 2013 |
| Alan McLay (Honorary Consul) | August 2013 | 16 December 2016 |
| Paul Murphy | 16 December 2016 | 16 December 2020 |
| Mark Foxe | 16 December 2020 | present |