On the picture Malcolm Turnbull (left) and Tony Abbott (right) .
By Baron Henri Estramant.
Australia has a new Prime Minister after former head of government Tony Abbott was ousted as leader of the Liberal Party by Cabinet Minister Malcolm Turnbull on 14 September 2015.
In the hastily-arranged party leadership ballot, Prime Minister Abbott, who had been plagued by poor opinion polls, received 44 votes vis-à-vis Turnbull’s 54. Liberal MPs also voted for Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop, to remain deputy leader of the party.
Mr Turnbull was sworn in on 15 September as 29th Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia after Mr Abbott handed in his resignation to the Governor General Sir Peter Cosgrove, personal representative of Australia’s monarch, Queen Elizabeth II.
Turnbull shall serve as Australia’s fourth prime minister since 2013.
Labor Prime Minister Julia Gillard was ousted by rival Kevin Rudd in a leadership vote in June 2013; months before a general election that Tony Abbott’s Liberal Party won. Ms Gillard herself had ousted Mr Rudd as prime minister in 2010.
The Commonwealth of Australia is a realm whose Head of State is HM The Queen of Australia, Queen Elizabeth II, who is represented by a governor general based in Canberra.
In the Benelux countries the country holds two diplomatic missions. In The Netherlands the mission which is likewise accredited to the OPCW is headed by Ambassador Dr Brett Mason since 2 September 2015.
The mission based in Brussels is accredited to Belgium, Luxembourg, the EU and NATO. Head of Mission since September 2015 is Dr Mark Higgie.
Dr Higgie is a former foreign policy adviser for Tony Abbott, speaks several European languages, and previously was ambassador to Hungary he also held postings in Vienna and Belgrade.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull:
◾Served as Minister for Communications under Abbott, before resigning to launch a leadership challenge
◾He supports climate change action and same-sex marriage
◾Led the Liberal Party in opposition from 2008-2009; yet lost a leadership challenge to Abbott by one vote
◾Previously worked as a successful lawyer and businessman (defending former British spy Peter Wright in the “Spycatcher” case in the 1980s)
For more information
Australian Prime Minister’s Office: www.pm.gov.au
Mission of Australia to the EU, NATO, Belgium and Luxembourg: http://eu.mission.gov.au/bsls/home.html
Embassy to The Netherlands and the OPCW: http://netherlands.embassy.gov.au/thag/home.html
http://dfat.gov.au/about-us/our-people/homs/Pages/ambassador-to-netherlands.aspx
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: http://dfat.gov.au/pages/default.aspx
