Matthew Ernest Keith Neuhaus (born 16 August 1958) is a Honorary Professor (International Law) at the Australian National University and former Australian diplomat who was appointed as the Australian Ambassador to the Netherlands on 29 August 2018 till October 2022.[1]
Neuhaus was born on August 16,1958,in Sydney,Australia to Reverend Theodore Neuhaus and Yvonne Neuhaus.[2] He spent much of his childhood (1960-1974) in the central region of Tanzania where his parents worked as Anglican Missionaries.[3]
In August 1983,Neuhaus went on his first overseas posting when he was appointed third secretary at the Australian Embassy in Nairobi,Kenya - reporting also on Ethiopia,Somalia,Uganda and Seychelles. Upon finishing this posting,he studied at The University of Cambridge (Trinity Hall) in 1985 with an Australian Public Service Board Scholarship. His MPhil thesis examined the Commonwealth's role in negotiating Zimbabwe's Independence.[6]
In 1991,he was appointed First Secretary,later Counsellor (covering legal,disarmament and Security Council) to Australia's Mission to the United Nations (UN) in New York (1991-1994).[2] He was the Vice Chairman of the Sixth Committee at the UN General Assembly (1993–94) and Vice Chairman of the ad hoc committee on the Indian Ocean Zone of Peace.[7] Later in 1994 he returned to the University of Cambridge as a visiting fellow in the Centre for International Studies where he wrote on the UN Security role.[8]
Returning to Australia,Neuhaus first served as the Director of Staffing Policy before becoming Director of the UN and Commonwealth section (1995–97).[citation needed]
In October 2002,Neuhaus was appointed to the position of Director of the Political Affairs Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat in London,firstly under the Secretary General Sir Don McKinnon of New Zealand and then Kamalesh Sharma of India.[9] In this role he helped organise,and was Conference Secretary to three CHOGM –Nigeria (2003),Malta (2005),Uganda (2007). He also oversaw Commonwealth democracy and election work,and was involved in conflict resolution in Pakistan,Fiji,Kenya,Guyana,Maldives and Tanzania/Zanzibar.[9]
In 2009. following the end of his term at the Commonwealth Secretariat,he returned to DFAT in Canberra. He was appointed firstly as Head of an Africa Policy Taskforce,advising on a re-engagement strategy for the Australian Government with Africa. He was then appointed as Head of the Pacific Engagement Taskforce with responsibility for organising the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Summit in Cairns (2009),and support to the Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd as PIF Chair 2009–10. He subsequently established the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (CHOGM) Policy Task Force (2010),[5] preparing for the Perth Summit in 2011.
In 2015 he returned to the University of Cambridge as a visiting fellow at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law where he worked on two projects - Reform of the Commonwealth Secretariat and Peace building in Africa.[6]
Neuhaus’extensive personal,academic and professional experience in foreign affairs,particularly in Africa,led to his next appointment as DFAT's Assistant Secretary,Africa Branch (2015–17) and then First Assistant Secretary and Head of the Middle East and Africa Division (2017-2018).[5]
Following the completion of his posting in October 2022 and retirement Neuhaus was appointed Honorary Professor (International Law) at the Australian National University School of Law.[12]
He has been President of the Royal Commonwealth Society ACT Australia since 2023 [13]
On a Helm with a Wreath Or and Azure:A demi Horse Sable maned tailed and unguled Or supporting between its forelegs a Long Cross Or voided Sable.
Escutcheon
Azure between two Bars a Lion rampant Or holding a Long Cross Or voided Sable between two Mullets of eight points the whole between two Mullets of eight points in pale Or.
Key publications
M. Neuhaus and Greg Hammond (1982),Diplomatic privileges and the International Court of Justice –Protection or Platitudes? United States vs Iran,Sydney Law Review. Vol 9 (3) p.649
M. Neuhaus (1988) A useful Chogm:Lusaka 1979,Australian Outlook,42:3,161–166,DOI:10.1080/10357718808444978[15]
M. Neuhaus (1995) The United Nations Security Role at Fifty –The need for Realism,Australian Journal of International Affairs,Vol 49(2) p.267-282
M. Neuhaus (1995) Sovereignty,alliances and international responsibility Australia's accession to the 1997 Geneva Protocol. Treaty Making and Australia:Globalisation Versus Sovereignty,p.141-148,292–294.[16]
M. Neuhaus (2015) Renewing the Commonwealth—A Reform Agenda for a New Secretary-General,The Round Table,104:5,539–549,DOI:10.1080/00358533.2015.1090794
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