Nick Parkinson

Sir Nicholas Fancourt Parkinson (5 December 1925 – 12 September 2001) was a senior Australian Public Servant. He was Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs between February 1977 and September 1979.

Sir Nick Parkinson
Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs
In office
18 February 1977 (1977-02-18) – 4 September 1979 (1979-09-04)
14th Ambassador of Australia to
the United States
In office
13 November 1979 – 15 July 1982
Preceded byRobert B. Birch
(Chargé d'affaires)
Succeeded byGeoffrey J. Price
(Chargé d'affaires)
11th Ambassador of Australia to
the United States
Preceded byGordon Noel Upton
(Chargé d'affaires)
Succeeded byAlan Renouf
Personal details
Born
Nicholas Fancourt Parkinson

(1925-12-05)5 December 1925
England
Died12 September 2001(2001-09-12) (aged 75)
Canberra
NationalityAustralia Australian
SpouseRoslyn (née Campbell) (m. 1952)
ChildrenSheena and Joanna
Alma materUniversity of Sydney
OccupationPublic servant

Early life

Nick Parkinson was born in England on 5 December 1925, migrating to Australia with his family when his father was appointed headmaster of King's School Parramatta.[1]

Career

Parkinson joined the Department of External Affairs as a cadet in 1951.[2]

Rising up the ranks, he was appointed a Deputy Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1974.[2] He was named Australian Ambassador to the United States in 1976.[3] Before departing on the post, he said that it was "enormously important" to keep in touch with American thinking on the Soviet Union, the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, China and Japan.[4]

Parkinson returned from Washington to become the Secretary of the Department in 1977.[2][5] Whilst head of the department, he suffered severe eyestrain.[6] In 1979, he left his Secretary role to return to the United States as Australian Ambassador once again.[7]

Awards

Parkinson was made a Knight Bachelor in 1979.[8]

References
  1. Hotson, Debra (28 September 2001). Anderson, Ken (ed.). "Diplomat of world standing". The Daily Telegraph.
  2. Henderson, Peter (21 September 2001). "OBITUARY - A diplomat held in great affection". The Canberra Times. Fairfax Media. p. 15.
  3. "Australian Ambassador to US named". The Canberra Times. 2 February 1976. p. 1.
  4. George, Peter (24 February 1976), "New Ambassador to the US: A concern with what's beneath the iceberg tip", The Canberra Times, p. 2
  5. "New Head". The Canberra Times. 1 March 1977. p. 9.
  6. "On leave". The Canberra Times. 13 July 1979. p. 3.
  7. Gaind, Rama (1 October 1979). "Second spell of life in America". The Canberra Times. p. 9.
  8. Search Australian Honours: PARKINSON, Nicholas Fancourt, Australian Government, archived from the original on 24 March 2014


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