BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS(CUOPM) – The Government of Australia has announced the name of its next Non-Resident High Commissioner to the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis.
Australia’s Foreign Minister the Rt. Hon. Bob Carr said Mr. Ross Tysoe who will be based in Port of Spain, Trinidad will also become that Australia’s High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago.
The Australia Foreign Ministry release said Mr. Tysoe will also have non-resident accreditation to: Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Suriname.
He will also be accredited as the Australian Ambassador to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
Mr. Tysoe is expected to take up his appointment in January 2013, replacing present High Commissioner His Excellency Mr. Philip Kentwell.
Mr. Tysoe is a senior career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and has previously served as Counsellor and Consul-General in Singapore and as Consul-General in Bali.
Mr. Tysoe was appointed an Officer in the Order of Australia for his role in leading the response to the 2002 Bali bombings. He is currently Assistant Secretary, Passport Business Improvement and Technology Branch.
Mr. Tysoe holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Macquarie University. He is married with two children.
The Australian Government has strengthened ties with the Caribbean through formalising relations with CARICOM – the main regional institution – in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in 2009. The MOU focuses on developing cooperation to address issues of concern for Caribbean countries such as climate change, building economic resilience and people to people links. Specific activities include disaster risk reduction and coral reef management. Australia has worked closely with Caribbean countries to promote an Arms Trade Treaty.