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David Hay (diplomat)

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Sir David Hay
Hay in 1960
Administrator of Papua and New Guinea
In office
9 January 1967 – 1970
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime MinisterHarold Holt
John McEwen
John Gorton
Preceded byDonald Cleland
Succeeded byLes Johnson
Secretary of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs
In office
20 January 1977 – 20 July 1979
Personal details
Born
David Osborne Hay

29 November 1916
Corowa, New South Wales
Died18 May 2009(2009-05-18) (aged 92)
NationalityAustralian
SpouseAlison Adams (d. 2002)
Children2 sons
OccupationPublic servant and diplomat
Military service
AllegianceAustralia
Branch/serviceAustralian Army
Years of service1940–1949
RankLieutenant Colonel
Unit2/6th Battalion (1940–46)
Commands3rd Battalion (1948–49)
Battles/wars
AwardsKnight Bachelor
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Distinguished Service Order

Sir David Osborne Hay CBE DSO (29 November 1916[1] – 18 May 2009[2]) was an Australian soldier, senior public servant and diplomat, who served as Australian Ambassador to the United Nations, Administrator of Papua New Guinea, and headed the departments of External Territories and Aboriginal Affairs.

Early life career

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David Hay was born in 1916 in Corowa, New South Wales, where his parents had a grazing property. He attended Geelong Grammar School, becoming school captain and joint dux with Rupert Hamer, later Premier of Victoria. A member of the Geelong Grammar cricket team, he scored 284 runs in an innings, a record that stood for 60 years.[3]

He studied at Oxford University, reading classics, ancient history and philosophy at Brasenose College, graduating with second-class honours, and playing cricket for the university team.[1] He returned to Australia to join the public service, but found the fact that his degree was not from an Australian university was a barrier to entry. He continued studying, at Melbourne University.

David Hay joined the Treasury in 1939, moving to the Department of External Affairs shortly before the start of World War II. He joined the 2/6th Battalion, served in the Middle East, Greece and New Guinea, and rose to the rank of major. He married Alison Adams in 1944 and he returned to the war, earning the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in 1945. After the war, he was lieutenant colonel commanding the 3rd Battalion in the Citizens' Military Forces.

Public servant and diplomat

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He returned to the public service and was appointed official secretary to the Australian High Commission in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He then spent a year at the Royal College of Defence Studies in Britain. He was appointed Australian Ambassador to Thailand, and played an important role in the early days of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO). In 1961 he returned to Canada as High Commissioner, from where he was appointed Ambassador to the United Nations 1964–65.

He was appointed Administrator of Papua and New Guinea, then an Australian territory, from 23 December 1966[4][5] (he arrived on 9 January 1967).[6] This was in the period leading up to Papua New Guinea's self-government (1973) and independence (1975). His time was marred by clashes with the head of the Department of External Territories, George Warwick Smith, and he also made decisions without consulting the Minister for External Territories, Charles "Ceb" Barnes. In 1970 Hay spoke to the Prime Minister, John Gorton, after which Smith was moved to the Department of the Interior, Hay himself being appointed in Smith's place to head External Territories. The new PNG Administrator was Leslie Wilson Johnson, with whom Hay had a fruitful and positive relationship.

The Department of External Territories was abolished by the Whitlam government in 1973, and Hay was appointed Australia's first Military Ombudsman. He was appointed secretary of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs in 1976 by the Fraser government, retiring in 1979 on health grounds.

Later life

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Hay wrote a history of the 2/6th Battalion, Nothing Over Us. He bought back his birthplace Boomanoomana homestead and restored the old family house, garden, outbuildings and land, and wrote a biography of his great-grandfather, The Life And Times of William Hay of Boomanoomana, 1816–1908.

He was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1943, a Commander (CBE) in 1963, and was awarded a knighthood in 1979.

Sir David Hay's wife, Alison, died in 2002. He died on 18 May 2009, aged 92. He was survived by two sons and three granddaughters (all of whom went to Geelong Grammar School),[3] and a daughter-in-law.

References

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  1. ^ a b CricInfo
  2. ^ The Age, 20 May, family death notice
  3. ^ a b The Age, 21 May, death notice from Geelong Grammar School
  4. ^ PNG FAQ
  5. ^ Papua New Guinea PM's Office Archived 19 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ National Library of Australia

Further reading

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  • "Sir David Hay". The Telegraph. 7 June 2009. Archived from the original on 25 March 2014.
  • Farquharson, John (22 May 2009). "A pioneering presence". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012.
  • Australian WWII Nominal Roll record
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Australian Minister to Thailand
1955–1957
Succeeded byas Ambassador
Preceded by Australian High Commissioner to Canada
1961–1964
Succeeded by
Preceded by Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations
1964–1965
Succeeded by
Government offices
Preceded by Administrator of Papua New Guinea
1966–1970
Succeeded by
Preceded by Secretary of the Department of External Territories
1970–1973
Department dissolved
Preceded by Secretary of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs
1977–1979
Succeeded by