Tegan Brink australian high commissioner

Tegan Brink appointed High Commissioner to South Africa. Images: Twitter/@tegan_brink/Pixabay.

New High Commissioner appointed as 200k Australian residents trace roots to SA

‘South Africa is Australia’s leading trade and investment partner in Africa and more than 200,000 Australian residents were born in South Africa,’ said the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Tegan Brink australian high commissioner

Tegan Brink appointed High Commissioner to South Africa. Images: Twitter/@tegan_brink/Pixabay.

Australia announced the appointment of Tegan Brink as the new High Commissioner to South Africa in a statement on Saturday, 28 January.

AUSTRALIA APPOINTS NEW HIGH COMMISSIONER TO SA

Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Penny Wong, said South Africa is Australia’s leading trade and investment partner on the continent and more than 200 000 Australian residents were born in the country.

“Australia and South Africa’s strong and longstanding relationship is underpinned by close economic partnership and extensive people-to-people links,” said Wong.

The new High Commissioner, Brink, a senior career officer in the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, will also be accredited to Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique and Namibia. She replaces Gita Kamath, who has served in the role since 2019.

The Australian government said it engages with South Africa across many areas, including cooperation on science, research, and issues related to the Indian Ocean and Antarctic.

“South Africa is a valued partner in the United Nations (UN) and other international fora, including the G20, the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and the Commonwealth of Nations,” said Wong.

Brink’s most recent post was Assistant Secretary in the Strategic Investment Branch. Before that, she served in New York as the Deputy Head of Mission, Australian Permanent Mission to the UN and Chef de Cabinet to the President of the UN General Assembly.

Australia has the second-highest concentration of South African diaspora behind the United Kingdom.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ARTICLES BY STORM SIMPSON

READ: