Michael Potts is a retired Australian diplomat and a former Australian High Commissioner to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Early life and education

Potts earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

in 1972.

Career

Potts began his diplomatic career in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, Spain, as Third and Second Secretary from 1973 to 1975. At his next posting in

Vientiane Vientiane (, ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Laos. Situated on the banks of the Mekong, Mekong River at the Thailand, Thai border, it comprises the five urban districts of Vientiane Prefecture and had a population of 840,000 ...

, Laos, he served as Second and First Secretary from 1977 to 1979. Following his posting as First Secretary in

Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (, ; from ) is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of the Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over 7 million people, Dar es Salaam is the largest city in East Africa by population and the ...

, Tanzania, in 1980, he served as Acting High Commissioner in

Lusaka Lusaka ( ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was abo ...

, Zambia, from 1980 to 1983. Potts returned to the Australian

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is the department of the Australian government responsible for foreign policy and international relations, development aid (under the name Australian Aid), consular services, overseas trad ...

in Canberra in 1984. He held several positions through 2002. He was also an Australian Ambassador to

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

, Vietnam, from 1991 to 1994. Described by ''The Australian'' journalist Paul Cleary as a "veteran diplomat" with the characteristics of a "colonial official from a bygone era", Potts is credited with leading efforts to negotiate the

Timor Sea Treaty Formally known as the Timor Sea Treaty between the Government of East Timor and the Government of Australia was signed between Australia and East Timor in Dili, East Timor on 20 May 2002, the day East Timor attained its independence from United N ...

, initially proposing a direct replacement for the

Timor Gap Treaty The Timor Gap Treaty was formally known as the ''Treaty between Australia and the Republic of Indonesia on the zone of cooperation in an area between the Indonesian province of East Timor and Northern Australia''. It was a bilateral treaty betwe ...

and later provisions of the new treaty when the initial proposal was rejected by the new East Timorese Government. Potts was appointed Australian High Commissioner to

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

in 2003. Potts was High Commissioner in 2005 during the " shoe episode" when hundreds of protesters demonstrated outside the High Commission in

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

, with Potts and his staff inside. The protesters passed a petition to Potts through the gates of the High Commission demanding an apology from the Australian Government. In 2006, Potts was replaced by

Chris Moraitis Christos "Chris" Moraitis, (born 1962) is a senior Australian public servant, serving as Director-General of the Office of the Special Investigator. Life and career Moraitis was born in Melbourne in 1962. He joined the Australian Public Servic ...

and was appointed First Assistant Secretary in the International Organisations and Legal Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, a position he held until 2009. In 2009, Potts was appointed as Australian Ambassador to Austria and as Permanent Representative, Australian Permanent Mission to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. Shortly after his appointment, Potts was given responsibility for taking delivery of 1,200 Austrian-made

off-road vehicle An off-road vehicle (ORV), also known as an off-highway vehicle (OHV), overland vehicle or adventure vehicle, is a type of transportation specifically engineered to navigate unpaved roads and surfaces. These include trails, forest roads, and ...

s for the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

, part of a $7.5 billion ''Project Overlander'' program to purchase 7,500 new vehicles for the Army. Potts was also responsible for Australia's relationships with a range of Eastern European countries including Ukraine. In 2012, then-Foreign Minister of Australia

Bob Carr Robert John Carr (born 28 September 1947) is an Australian retired politician and journalist who served as the 39th Premier of New South Wales from 1995 to 2005, as the leader of the New South Wales Labor Party, New South Wales branch of the A ...

, announced that Potts had been appointed as Australian High Commissioner to New Zealand, replacing Paul O'Sullivan (Sullivan was later appointed Chief of Staff to Australia's Attorney General). Potts was charged with managing the relationship with one of Australia's closest neighbours, and was also posted to the

Cook Islands The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its ...

. Potts represented Australia at official functions, including the annual

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

''Koroneihana'' at

Tūrangawaewae Tūrangawaewae () is a marae and a royal residence in Ngāruawāhia, Waikato, New Zealand. It is the official residence of the Māori monarch and the administrative headquarters of the Kīngitanga movement. Of its numerous buildings, the two ...

, at the invitation of King Tuheitia. When he retired in 2016, Potts chose to remain in New Zealand.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Potts, Michael High commissioners of Australia to Zambia High commissioners of Australia to New Zealand High commissioners of Australia to Papua New Guinea Ambassadors of Australia to Austria Ambassadors of Australia to Vietnam Ambassadors of Australia to Ukraine Permanent representatives of Australia to the United Nations Office in Vienna Living people 1949 births High commissioners of Australia to the Cook Islands High commissioners of Australia to Niue