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Gender cooperation in focus as Australia appoints first female envoy to Indonesia
Australia's appointment of its first female ambassador to Indonesia, Penny Williams, signals greater cooperation in women's empowerment on the horizon of the bilateral relationship.
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Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi (left, onstage) candidly poses together with other female foreign ministers of the European Union, South Korea, Australia and Canada at the ASEAN Regional Forum Retreat in Singapore in 2018. (courtesy of ASEAN Secretariat/-)
T
he appointment of Australian career diplomat Penny Williams as her country’s first female ambassador to Indonesia is expected to bring greater bilateral cooperation efforts on gender equality, experts say, with Australia and Indonesia both having women lead their respective foreign services and who have been working closely on these issues.
Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne announced the appointment last week just as outgoing Ambassador Gary Quinlan ended his three-year tenure in Jakarta.
His successor is also a career diplomat at Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), who recently rose up the ranks to become deputy secretary.
Williams is fluent in Indonesian and spent time in the country as a high school exchange student back in the early 1980s.
She has previously served as Australia’s high commissioner to Malaysia and was the first Australian ambassador for women and girls, Payne said in a statement published last Wednesday.
Payne herself is currently doing double duty as Australia’s Minister for Women, and has worked closely with her Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi, who was the country’s first woman to become a top diplomat.
Both sides have worked together on various women’s issues, including greater participation in peace and security. Retno also struck up a close friendship with Payne’s predecessor Julie Bishop, who was also Australia’s first female foreign minister.
