List of ambassadors of Australia to Hungary

The Ambassador of Australia to Hungary is an officer of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the head of the Embassy of the Commonwealth of Australia in Hungary. The Australian Government established an embassy in Budapest in October 1984,^[1] and appointed its first resident Ambassador, Oliver Cordell.^[2] Previously, responsibility for Australian diplomatic representation in Hungary was held in Austria (1971–1985).^[3] At the time, Bill Hayden, then Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, said that closer ties with Hungary could help Australia to encourage dialogue between the United States and the Soviet Union on matters such as disarmament.^[4]

Ambassador of Australia to Hungary
Incumbent Richard Sadleir since 2019
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Style	His Excellency
Reports to	Minister for Foreign Affairs
Residence	Vienna, Austria
Nominator	Prime Minister of Australia
Appointer	Governor-General of Australia
Inaugural holder	John Rowland (resident in Vienna)

The Australian Embassy in Budapest closed in July 2013.^[5] The Government at the time said the closure was because of budget constraints.^[6] Currently, the Australian Ambassador to Hungary is accredited from Vienna. The current ambassador, since 2019, is Richard Sadleir.

List of ambassadors

Ordinal	Officeholder	Residency	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Notes
1	John Rowland	Vienna, Austria	1972 (1972)	1974 (1974)	1–2 years	[7]
2	Robert Furlonger		1974 (1974)	1977 (1977)	2–3 years
3	James Cumes		1977 (1977)	1980 (1980)	2–3 years	[8][9]
4	Duncan Campbell		1980 (1980)	1984 (1984)	3–4 years
5	John Kelso		1984 (1984)	1985 (1985)	0–1 years	[10]
6	Oliver Cordell	Budapest, Hungary	1985 (1985)	1988 (1988)	2–3 years	[2]
7	Doug Townsend		1988 (1988)	1991 (1991)	2–3 years	[11]
8	Donald Kingsmill	Budapest, Hungary	1992 (1992)	1995 (1995)	2–3 years
9	Patrick Robertson		1995 (1995)	1998 (1998)	2–3 years	[12]
10	Mark Higgie		1998 (1998)	2001 (2001)	2–3 years	[13]
11	Leo Cruise		2001 (2001)	2004 (2004)	2–3 years	[14]
12	Clare Birgin		2004 (2004)	2007 (2007)	2–3 years	[15]
13	Alex Brooking		2007 (2007)	2011 (2011)	3–4 years	[16]
14	John Griffin		2011 (2011)	2013 (2013)	1–2 years	[17][18]
15	David Stuart	Vienna, Austria	2013 (2013)	2016 (2016)	2–3 years	[19][5]
16	Brendon Hammer		October 2016 (2016-10)	2019 (2019)	2–3 years	[20][21]
17	Richard Sadleir		2019 (2019)	incumbent	4–5 years	[22]

References

1. "X - Diplomatic and Consular Relations" (PDF), Australian Year Book of International Law: 455, 1987, archived (PDF) from the original on 17 June 2012, retrieved 4 February 2017
2. "Embassy in Hungary". The Canberra Times. ACT. 4 April 1985. p. 3.
3. CA 7182: Australian Embassy, Hungary [Budapest], National Archives of Australia, retrieved 15 January 2016
4. "Budapest embassy". The Canberra Times. ACT. 28 August 1984. p. 2.
5. Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Hungary country brief, Australian Government, archived from the original on 22 September 2015
6. Frydenberg, Josh (24 June 2013), Closure of Australia's Embassy in Hungary, archived from the original on 21 March 2015
7. "Links with Hungary, Bulgaria". The Canberra Times. ACT. 6 April 1972. p. 1.
8. "Diplomatic posts". The Canberra Times. ACT. 26 January 1980. p. 3.
9. "Ambassadors appointed". The Canberra Times. ACT. 27 August 1977. p. 7.
10. "Ambassadors announced". The Canberra Times. ACT. 12 March 1984. p. 3.
11. "Diplomats chosen". The Canberra Times. ACT. 4 July 1988. p. 10.
12. Evans, Gareth (26 June 1995). "Diplomatic appointment: Ambassador to Hungary" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014.
13. Downer, Alexander (16 December 1997). "Diplomatic Appointment: Ambassador to the Republic of Hungary" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014.
14. Downer, Alexander (10 January 2001). "Diplomatic Appointment: Ambassador to Hungary" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014.
15. Downer, Alexander (25 February 2004). "Diplomatic Appointment: Ambassador to Hungary" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014.
16. Downer, Alexander (5 March 2007). "Diplomatic Appointment: Hungary" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 11 April 2015.
17. Rudd, Kevin (12 May 2011). "Diplomatic Appointment - Ambassador to Hungary" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 29 March 2015.
18. Mckean, Bruce (13 June 2011). "Diplomat's link to NQ". Mackay Daily Mercury. Archived from the original on 15 January 2016.
19. Carr, Bob (5 July 2012). "Ambassador to Austria" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014.
20. Bishop, Julie (28 September 2016). "Ambassador to Austria" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 28 September 2016.
21. "Ambassador to Austria". 28 August 2019. Archived from the original on 19 October 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
22. "Ambassador to Austria". 28 August 2019. Archived from the original on 19 October 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2021.