Victoria Treadell Explained

Honorific Prefix:Her Excellency
Victoria Treadell
Office:British High Commissioner to Australia
Term Start:1 March 2019
Predecessor:Menna Rawlings
Office1:British High Commissioner to Malaysia
Monarch1:Elizabeth II
Primeminister1:David Cameron
Theresa May
Term Start1:October 2014
Term End1:March 2019
Predecessor1:Simon Featherstone
Successor1:Charles Hay
Office2:Governor of Pitcairn
Monarch2:Elizabeth II
Primeminister2:David Cameron
Term Start2:3 June 2010
Term End2:July 2014
Predecessor2:George Fergusson
Successor2:Jonathan Sinclair
Office3:British High Commissioner to New Zealand and Samoa
Monarch3:Elizabeth II
Primeminister3:David Cameron
Term Start3:May 2010
Term End3:March 2014
Predecessor3:George Fergusson
Successor3:Jonathan Sinclair
Birth Name:Victoria Marguerite Jansz
Birth Date:4 November 1959
Birth Place:Ipoh, Perak, Federation of Malaya
Nationality:British
Occupation:Diplomat
Spouse:Alan Treadell

Victoria Marguerite Treadell, (; born 4 November 1959) is the high commissioner of the United Kingdom to Australia and has been in the posting since April 2019. She is the former High Commissioner of the United Kingdom to Malaysia, High Commissioner of the United Kingdom to New Zealand and Samoa, and Governor of the Pitcairn Islands.

Early life and education

She was born on 4 November 1959 in Ipoh, Perak, Malaya (now Malaysia) to a Cantonese mother and a father of French-Dutch ancestry.[1]

Diplomatic career

Treadell joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1978. Before her posting to New Zealand, she had held postings in Pakistan, India and Malaysia.[2]

From 2010 to 2014, she served as High Commissioner to New Zealand and Governor of Pitcairn.[3] She is the first woman who served as British High Commissioner to New Zealand.[4] From October 2014 to 2019, she served as High Commissioner to Malaysia.[5]

On 12 February 2019, Treadell was announced as the next British High Commissioner to Australia, in succession to Menna Rawlings, taking up the post in March 2019.[6]

In early February 2020, Treadell took the "unprecedented"[7] step of giving two elected officials from the Parliament of Australia a "dressing down". The letter, showed "stern"[8] disapproval for how Australia had revealed its security concerns over the UK's invitation to Huawei into its 5G network, which had been expressed both to her, and her Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, in a private briefing.

In 2021, she was branded as a "sanctimonious bore" by senior members of the Australian government over "publicly lecturing" Australia on its allegedly inadequate efforts to combat climate change.[9]

Personal life

In 1985, the then Victoria Jansz married Alan Treadell.[10]

In addition, due to her interest in culture and arts, she has been one of the patrons of the Singapore-based British Theatre Playhouse since 2014, with regard to the plays that are produced in Malaysia.[11]

Honours

She was appointed a Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO) in 1989 following a visit by Elizabeth II to Malaysia. In the 2010 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG).[12]

Notes and References

  1. http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U255667 TREADELL, Victoria Marguerite
  2. Web site: Foreign Office Press Release 10 September 2009 . 7 April 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20091019205006/http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/news/latest-news/?view=PressR&id=20829425 . 19 October 2009 . dead . dmy-all .
  3. Web site: Our High Commissioner. British High Commission, Wellington. https://web.archive.org/web/20101115124214/http://ukinnewzealand.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/our-high-commission/our-high-commissioner/. 15 November 2010.
  4. News: First Female British High Commissioner To NZ Named. 11 September 2009. guide2.co.nz (New Zealand Press Association). 24 June 2010.
  5. http://www.gov.uk/government/news/change-of-high-commissioner-to-malaysia Change of High Commissioner to Malaysia
  6. Web site: Change of British High Commissioner to Australia: March 2019. GOV.UK. Foreign and Commonwealth Office. 15 February 2019. en. 12 February 2019.
  7. Web site: Parliamentary trip to UK cancelled after High Commissioner pens angry letter over Huawei leak. Bourke. Latika. 2020-02-15. Brisbane Times. en. 2020-02-15.
  8. Web site: Leaked Huawei discussions prompt British diplomatic rebuke of Australian politicians. Correspondent. Defence. Greene. rew. 2020-02-15. ABC News. en-AU. 2020-02-15.
  9. News: Fisher. Lucy. 2021-10-14. British High Commissioner to Australia 'a sanctimonious bore' over climate change. en-GB. The Telegraph. 2021-10-14. 0307-1235.
  10. Book: Treadell, Victoria Marguerite . . Oxford University Press . 15 February 2019 . 1 December 2018. 10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U255667 . 978-0-19-954088-4 .
  11. Web site: British Theatre Playhouse - Patrons - Professional theatre production company incorporated in Singapore in 2004 but is internationally focused with a strong British connection - SISTIC. 23 March 2017.
  12. corrected in