David Ritchie (diplomat)

David James Ritchie AO is an Australian diplomat and a senior career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). His last appointment was as Ambassador for Australia to Germany, a post to which he was appointed in 2013.

David Ritchie AO
David Ritchie in 2013
OccupationDiplomat, public servant
Years activesince 1975

Early life

Ritchie holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree from the University of Queensland in German language and literature, which he obtained in 1975.[1]

Diplomatic career

Ritchie began his diplomatic career with a posting at the Australian embassy in Bonn (West Germany), where he served from 1975–1978, and from 1981-1983 he was posted to the Australian embassy in East Berlin (East Germany).

Between 1992 and 1997 Ritchie held various positions in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.[2]

From 1999 to 2001 Ritchie was a senior foreign affairs adviser to Australian Prime Minister John Howard, and from 2001 was promoted to Deputy Secretary at DFAT.

In 2002, Ritchie was appointed as chargé d'affaires at the Australian Embassy in Jakarta until a replacement for Ric Smith was appointed. Some saw David Irvine as a good replacement for Smith, given his knowledge of the Indonesian language, but Ritchie was appointed as the Ambassador of Australia to Indonesia by the Australian government to oversee the relationship between the two countries, which is seen as one of the most complex.[3] He served in this position until 2005, including at the time of the 2004 Australian Embassy bombing in Jakarta,[4] and the 2005 Bali bombings.[5] For his work at this time, Ritchie was awarded the Group Bravery Citation on 29 August 2005 and made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) on 13 June 2005 for "service to ensuring Australia's long-term security interests in the region through efforts to gain co-operative action to address the threat of terrorism."[6][7]

On 10 May 2010, Ritchie was appointed as Ambassador of Australia to Italy, with concurrent accreditation to San Marino.[8][9] He took up the post in mid-July that year,[10] and remained in the position until November 2013.[11]

On 24 October 2013, Ritchie was appointed as Ambassador of Australia to Germany, with concurrent accreditation to Liechtenstein and Switzerland.[12] In July 2016, Ritchie was awarded with the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany by Minister of State in the Foreign Office, Maria Böhmer.[13]

References
  1. Second consecutive UQ alumnus appointed Ambassador to Germany, University of Queensland, 2013, archived from the original on 4 February 2014
  2. "Amanda Vanstone to be replaced as Italy ambassador". news.com.au. News Limited. 10 May 2010. Archived from the original on 13 May 2010.
  3. Grattan, Michelle (3 November 2002). "Softly, softly: new man in Indonesia awaits nod". The Age. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 18 November 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  4. Bachelard, Michael (9 September 2014). "Jakarta embassy bombing: Threat has faded but memory remains 10 years on". The Age. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 18 December 2014.
  5. Ambassador deals with latest Indonesian bombings, Australian Broadcasting Commission, 3 October 2005, archived from the original on 6 January 2008
  6. "RITCHIE, David James - Group Bravery Citation". It's an Honour database. Australian Government. 29 August 2005. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  7. "RITCHIE, David James - Officer of the Order of Australia". It's an Honour database. Australian Government. 13 June 2005. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  8. Smith, Stephen (10 May 2010). "Diplomatic Appointment - Ambassador to Italy" (Press release). Archived from the original on 18 August 2014.
  9. "Australia names new Italy ambassador". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 10 May 2010. Archived from the original on 18 November 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  10. New Australian ambassador to Italy, Wanted in Rome, 21 June 2010, archived from the original on 2 January 2015
  11. Nankervis, David (5 April 2014). "Mike Rann's new job as Ambassador to Italy will see him living like a Roman emperor in a $32,000 a month taxpayer-funded apartment". Sunday Mail. Adelaide, South Australia.
  12. Bishop, Julie (24 October 2013). "Ambassador to Germany" (Press release). Foreign Minister of Australia. Archived from the original on 30 June 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  13. "The Australian Ambassador receives the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany". German Australian Business Council. 12 July 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
Attribution

This article incorporates material from a website of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and is used under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia  Licence. Attribution: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website – www.dfat.gov.au

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Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Ric Smith		 Ambassador of Australia to Indonesia
2003 – 2005		 Succeeded by
Bill Farmer
Preceded by
Penny Wensley		 Australian Ambassador to France
2008–2011		 Succeeded by
Ric Wells
Preceded by
Amanda Vanstone		 Ambassador of Australia to Italy
2010–2013		 Succeeded by
Mike Rann
Preceded by
Peter Tesch		 Ambassador of Australia to Germany
Ambassador of Australia to Switzerland
2013–2016		 Succeeded by
Lynette Wood
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