Sir Edwin McCarthy (30 March 18964 September 1980) was a senior Australian

public servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

and

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

. He was a prominent senior trade official, including as head of the Department of Commerce and Agriculture between 1945 and 1950.

Life and career

McCarthy was born in Walhalla, Victoria on 30 March 1896 to parents Catherine McCarthy (née Kennedy) and Daniel McCarthy. He joined the

Commonwealth Public Service The Australian Public Service (APS) is the federal civil service of the Commonwealth of Australia responsible for the public administration, public policy, and public services of the departments and executive and statutory agencies of the Gov ...

as a messenger in the

Postmaster-General's Department The Postmaster-General's Department (PMG) was a department of the Australian federal government, established at Federation in 1901, whose responsibilities included the provision of postal and telegraphic services throughout Australia. It was ...

in April 1911. McCarthy married Marjorie Mary Graham on 4 July 1939 in Sydney. The couple had two children: a daughter, and a son,

John McCarthy John McCarthy may refer to: Government * John George MacCarthy (1829–1892), Member of Parliament for Mallow constituency, 1874–1880 * John McCarthy (Irish politician) (1862–1893), Member of Parliament for the Mid Tipperary constituency, ...

. From 1945 to 1950, McCarthy was

Secretary A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...

of the Department of Commerce and Agriculture. His primary expertise was grain commodity matters, and he devised the Australian wheat price stabilisation scheme after World War II. Between 1958 and 1962, McCarthy was Australian Ambassador to the Netherlands. He was accredited to Belgium also, from 1959. In 1962, McCarthy was appointed Head of the Australian Permanent Mission to the European Atomic Energy Community in Brussels. McCarthy died on 4 September 1980 at Woden Valley Hospital in

Garran Garran is a suburb in the Woden district of Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory. Garran was named after Sir Robert Garran who made numerous contributions to the development of higher education in Canberra. The streets in Garran are nam ...

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

. He had been admitted earlier within the same week after a brain aneurysm.

Awards

McCarthy was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in June 1952, while serving as Deputy High Commissioner in London. He was made a Knight Bachelor in June 1955, whilst serving in the same role.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCarthy, Edwin 1896 births 1980 deaths Australian Knights Bachelor Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Ambassadors of Australia to the European Union Ambassadors of Australia to Belgium Ambassadors of Australia to the Netherlands