Alexander Nikolayevich Abaza

In June 1910, Abaza was appointed as the Russian consul-general for Australia, based in the temporary capital of Melbourne.[1] He and his wife arrived in the country on 31 December. Believing that Oceania could become a new market for Russian goods, he travelled widely within the region, becoming the first Russian diplomat to visit New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, and the New Hebrides.[2]

Abaza's tenure saw in an increase in the number of Russian immigrants to Australia, which in mid-1914 he estimated at 11,000 plus another 1,000 in New Zealand. About 5,000 of those were in Queensland, and he made multiple trips to Brisbane.[2] Abaza played a key role in the enlistment of Russians into the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). In late 1915, he passed on to the Australian government the order from Tsar Nicholas II requiring his subjects to either return to Russia to enlist or to enlist in the militaries of the Allies.[3] In 1916, he unsuccessfully lobbied the Australian government to ban Russians from leaving the country without consular permission, and to require them to annually register at consulates.[4] He was, however, successful in lobbying the Department of Defence to ban the radical newspaper Izvestiya, a publication of the Brisbane-based Union of Radical Workers.[5]

After the February Revolution in 1917, Abaza expressed his support for the Russian Provisional Government. The new government authorised him to assist political prisoners in returning home, providing funds for their passage if necessary. He used his authority primarily to assist liberals and Mensheviks.[5] Shortly before the October Revolution, Abaza travelled to Brisbane to monitor Russian radicals suspected of disseminating anti-war propaganda; he coordinated the visit with Australian military intelligence.[2] On 24 December 1917, he wrote to Prime Minister Billy Hughes dissociating himself from the new regime, stating that he represented "those of my people who are absolutely faithful to the Allies" and would resign if Russia made peace with Germany. He wrote a second letter to Hughes on 26 January 1918, stating that he had tendered his resignation with effect from the following day.[6] He was likely responsible for the destruction of the consulate archives.[7]