Richard Butler (Diplomat)

Richard William Butler AC ( born May 13, 1942 in Coolah, Australia) is an Australian diplomat and former Governor of Tasmania.

Life

Butler grew up in Sydney and studied at the University of Sydney and the Australian National University in Canberra. In 1963 he married Susan Ryan, the Senator should be the Australian Capital Territory later; In 1972, the marriage ended in divorce. In 2003 he married Jennifer Grey.

In 1965, Butler had held various posts within the Australian Foreign Ministry. In 1983 he became the new Prime Minister Bob Hawke as Australia's representative to the Office for Disarmament Affairs of the United Nations (United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, the predecessor of the UNODA ) sent to Geneva. He then became an Australian Ambassador to Thailand and Cambodia, as well as of 1992-97 Ambassador to the UN. In 1997 he was Kofi Annan to head the United Nations Special Commission, which should monitor the destruction of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq after the Second Gulf War.

In August 2003 he was appointed the next governor of Tasmania. At the same time he was awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia, Australia's highest civilian honor awarded. The Age of Melbourne was critical of his appointment as governor, as Butler Tasmania would hardly know and his Republican views would not fit to the office of the representative of the British Crown. Even after taking office, the criticism of him is not ripped off. Beginning of August 2004 distanced himself leader of the opposition in the Parliament of Tasmania, Rene Hidding, from him, and also members of the Australian Parliament criticized him. In addition, three long-time employees of the Government House announced due to difficulties in working with Butler and his wife. A little later explained Butler on August 9, his resignation, citing a " malicious campaign " against him who was afoot.

Butler is now a visiting professor at New York University and Penn State University.