Richard Arthur Woolcott
June 11, 1927 (Sydney) – February 2, 2023
(Canberra)
Ambassador Richard Woolcott AC, Australian patriot, passed away this week aged 95.
From 1992, for 23 years Dick served on the Board of the Australian American Education Foundation, the Melbourne based non-profit education foundation which resources AALD programming. After retiring as Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Dick lent his prestige and vast global network to help launch the Australian American Leadership Dialogue. He was a frequent participant in the annual AALD, and regularly described the AALD network of US leaders as “unparalleled”.
A multilateralist at heart, Dick believed Australia’s future lies in our geography and his eloquence on this subject was evident during numerous exchanges in closed sessions with our American interlocutors. Dick acknowledged that the importance of Asia and the imperative for Australia to adjust to our geographical neighbourhood was not new, though the responses from successive Australian governments has been “far from adequate”.
What WAS new, as Dick presciently observed, was “the unprecedented transfer of wealth from the West to the East, which will continue into the foreseeable future”. This transformed the Indo Pacific region driven by the spectacular rise of China and also India, the continuing strength of Japan, South Korea and the growing potential of Indonesia and ASEAN as the historic turning point to which Australia must respond.
Well ahead of his time, Dick declared: “We live in a much more interconnected world and the Asia Pacific is the region where the world’s major power relationships most closely intersect. It is where the template for the United States-China relationship will largely be shaped. It is also the crucible in which the interrelationships on Asian issues between the US, China, India, Japan, Russia, Indonesia, South Korea and the main ASEAN economies will be forged”.
Dick’s stellar diplomatic career has been well chronicled by those who served with him, including former Australian Secretary of Defence Ric Smith, who said Dick “was the most significant Australian diplomat of the period”. Dick saw it all, from Stalin’s 1953 passing in Moscow to the Presidency of the UN Security Council in New York. Backed by Prime Minister Bob Hawke, Dick’s astute and deft diplomacy played a significant role in the establishment of APEC.
Of all issues Dick Woolcott faced over his long diplomatic career none proved more intractable than Timor. He opposed the Howard government’s policy of facilitating East Timor’s independence. Ironically, it fell to Dick’s successor on the AALD Board, Sir Peter Cosgrove, to lead the UN multinational force into East Timor (InterFIT).
Dick accepted the reality of East Timor independence and, following the celebration attended by East Timor President Xanana Gusmao and Indonesian President Megawati, he wrote of grounds for optimism in the future. This gave expression to Dick’s “half glass full” approach to professional and personal life.
Dick’s significant contributions to the Leadership Dialogue embraced governance, thought leadership, embedding the bipartisan principle, identifying future Australian and US leaders, promoting the sustainability of Australian systemic high performance, and well informed substance to serious exchanges with US leaders at closed AALD sessions.
In July 2010 Dick’s recognition as inaugural Leadership Dialogue Honoree was led by his good friend, founding AALD delegate, and former US Deputy Secretary of State. Hon Bob Zoellick.
We thank Dick for his unique contributions to the Leadership Dialogue over many years.
Phil Scanlan AM
FOUNDER
February 5, 2023
A tribute to Richard Woolcott AC from Bob Zoellick
Richard Woolcott lived a full life as an Australian patriot, internationalist from the Antipodes, and friend to people around the world.
He came of age during the Cold War, during which he dealt deftly with the East-West powers, but also became a pioneer of Australian diplomacy with Southeast Asia and the wider Asia Pacific. His wonderful laugh charmed his interlocutors; his shrewd insights —often delivered through quick, sharp observations—marked him as a wise counselor.
Australia’s political leaders of all backgrounds and parties recognized Dick Woolcott as a national asset.
I first met Dick in early 1989, when I worked for President George HW Bush and Secretary of State James Baker. In the late 1980s, Treasury Secretary Baker and I had the idea of complementing the G-7 with a group of Finance Ministers from the Asia Pacific; when we shifted to the State Department, we planned to launch the idea as an economic network to keep the US connected to the Asia Pacific in a post-Cold War world. So when Prime Minister Bob Hawke proposed APEC—but without the US and Canada—Washington registered its “displeasure”. Canberra sent Dick Woolcott to see us for “consultations.” What an inspired choice! I pointedly communicated our “views” about participation but who could be angry with Dick Woolcott for long? Later that year we were pleased to attend the first APEC ministerial in Canberra—my first visit to an extraordinary country! Dick’s relations with ASEAN countries – which were concerned that APEC could subsume them – were critical in those early years. The US, in turn, worked closely with the South Korean chair to add the PRC, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
Along with Michael Cook, Australia’s excellent Ambassador to the US, Dick Woolcott epitomized the best qualities of the Australian-American partnership. Knowledgeable, informative, forthright with an eye toward persuading instead of hectoring, warm and kind, Dick Woolcott blended effective diplomacy with lasting friendship. Woolcott’s and Cook’s abilities and skills added to Australia’s “soft power”.
In 2010, I had the privilege to award Dick Woolcott the AALD’s first annual leadership honor. This was a personal delight for me, too: I have been fortunate to have had many Australian friends across generations, but Dick Woolcott was the first. I could not have enjoyed the mentorship of a better one!
Robert B. Zoellick
