Keith Waller

Sir (John) Keith Waller CBE (19 February 1914 – 14 November 1992) was a senior Australian public servant and diplomat.

Sir Keith Waller
CBE
Waller in 1958
Secretary of the Department of External Affairs
In office
6 April 1970 – 6 November 1970
Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs
In office
6 November 1970 – 3 January 1974
7th Ambassador of Australia to
the United States
In office
20 April 1964 – 1 June 1970
Preceded byHoward Beale
Succeeded byJames Plimsoll
Personal details
Born
John Keith Waller

(1914-02-19)19 February 1914
Died14 November 1992(1992-11-14) (aged 78)
Nationality Australian
Parent(s)Arthur James Waller[1]
Alma materUniversity of Melbourne
OccupationPublic servant

Life and career

Keith Waller was born in Melbourne in 1914.[2][3] He was educated at Scotch College and the University of Melbourne.[2]

Waller joined the Commonwealth Public Service in 1936, in the Department of External Affairs.[2] In 1937 he was appointed Private Secretary to Billy Hughes, then Minister for External Affairs.[4]

His career proved to be long and successful, establishing himself as a successful diplomat across a number of postings, including to Moscow, Washington and Bangkok.[2] In 1943 whilst senior officer to the Australian Legation at Chungking, Waller married Alison Dent in Bombay, India.[5][6]

Waller was Australian Consul-General in Manila from 1948 to 1950. During this time he dealt with the fall-out of the Lorenzo Gamboa case, which saw a Filipino man separated from his wife and children due to the White Australia policy. He received death threats, but later downplayed its significance and dismissed it as a "trivial case".[7]

He was appointed Secretary of the Department of External Affairs (later Department of Foreign Affairs in 1970), retiring from the public service in 1974 on his 60th birthday.[8]

Waller in Siberia, 1960s

Soon after his retirement, Waller prepared a brief assessing the Australian Government security and intelligence apparatus as it existed in the mid-1970s.[9]

Waller died in Canberra on 14 November 1992 aged 78.[10][11]

Awards

In June 1961, Waller was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire whilst Ambassador to the USSR.[12] He was made a Knight Bachelor in 1968 during his time as Ambassador to the United States of America.[13]

A street in the Canberra suburb of Casey was named Keith Waller Rise in 2011, in Waller's honour.[3]

References
  1. "Obituary: Mr A. J. Waller". The Argus. 29 January 1945. p. 7.
  2. Waller, Keith (1974). "Keith Waller interviewed by Professor J. D. B. Miller" (Interview). Interviewed by John Donald Bruce Miller.
  3. Keith Waller Rise, ACT Government Environment and Sustainable Development Directorate, archived from the original on 27 February 2014
  4. CP 950: Sir John Keith WALLER, National Archives of Australia, retrieved 12 September 2014
  5. "To marry in Bombay". The Sydney Morning Herald. 19 February 1943. p. 3.
  6. Sir Keith Waller and his wife on their wedding day, Bombay, India, 1943 [picture], National Library of Australia, retrieved 18 April 2014
  7. Sullivan, Rodney (1993). "'It had to happen': the Gamboas and Australian–Philippine interactions". In Reynaldo C. Ileto; Rodney Sullivan (eds.). Discovering Australasia: Essays on Philippine-Australian Interactions. James Cook University. p. 112.
  8. Juddery, Bruce (2 January 1974). "Changing of the guard at Foreign Affairs". The Canberra Times. p. 2.
  9. Fewster, Alan (11 April 2014). "George Brandis controls the future of scathing spy papers". The Australian. News Ltd.
  10. "Obituary: Sir Keith Waller- A diplomat of the old school". The Canberra Times. 17 November 1992. p. 7.
  11. "Deaths". The Canberra Times. 16 November 1992. p. 23.
  12. Search Australian Honours:WALLER, John Keith, Australian Government, archived from the original on 17 April 2014
  13. Search Australian Honours:WALLER, John Keith, Australian Government, archived from the original on 17 April 2014
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