Today I announce the appointment of Ms Tegan Brink as Australia's High Commissioner to South Africa.
Ms Brink will also be accredited to Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique and Namibia.
Australia and South Africa's strong and longstanding relationship is underpinned by close economic partnership and extensive people-to-people links.
South Africa is Australia's leading trade and investment partner in Africa and more than 200,000 Australian residents were born in South Africa.
We maintain a substantial dialogue across a wide range of areas including cooperation on science and research, as well as Indian Ocean and Antarctic issues.
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.
Ms Brink is a senior career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and was most recently Assistant Secretary, Strategic Investment Branch.
She has previously served overseas in New York as Deputy Head of Mission, Australian Permanent Mission to the UN, and Chef de Cabinet to the President of the UN General Assembly.
Ms Brink has also served in the Australian Permanent Mission to the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the Advisory Centre on WTO Law in Geneva.
I thank former High Commissioner, Ms Gita Kamath for her contributions to advancing Australia's interests in South Africa since 2019.
