Pierre Hutton

Born on 16 July 1928 in Tasmania, Hutton was educated at St Virgil's College and the University of Tasmania. Graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce in 1948, Hutton joined the Commonwealth Public Service in the Department of External Affairs in 1949 as a diplomatic cadet.{{cite news|newspaper=The Canberra Times|page=3|title=Envoy to Nigeria named|date=26 February 1970}}{{cite news|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/135362641|first=Pierre|last=Hutton|date=6 May 1949|title=A Student's Congress|newspaper=Student Notes|publisher=Canberra University College Students Association}}

Hutton died on 20 July 2014.

Hutton's early overseas posts were to Bangkok, Rangoon, Ottawa and New Caledonia.

After heading the Department's Malaysian/Indonesian section (1962–1964) and a posting as First Secretary to Geneva (1964–1967),{{citation|url=http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/490461|title=Interview with Pierre Hutton, Officer of the Department of External (Foreign) Affairs 1949-1987 [sound recording] / interviewer, John Farquharson}} in October 1967, Hutton was appointed the Department's public information officer, responsible for assisting Australian media report accurately on foreign affairs, from the Australian angle.{{cite news|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/106994194|title=New news man in External Affairs|date=25 October 1967|page=11|newspaper=The Canberra Times}} He declined to be photographed by The Canberra Times in his first week in the role.{{cite news|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/106994478|title=Black Mark, Pierre|date=26 October 1967|page=3|newspaper=The Canberra Times}} He headed a team of three public information officers, all with diplomatic backgrounds.{{cite news|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/131681139|title=McMahon's own PRO|date=8 January 1970|page=3|newspaper=The Canberra Times}} From the role as public information officer, Hutton was appointed High Commissioner to Nigeria in February 1970—his first post as head of mission.

He was Ambassador to Lebanon from 1973 to 1975, in the lead-up to the start of the Lebanese Civil War. Arriving in April 1973, within days Hutton and his family were in the midst of fighting. His wife and four of his five children were forced to hide in the basement of a school for 11 hours, with teachers and other pupils, while Palestinians and units of the Lebanese Army exchanged fire above.{{citation|url=http://www.mq.edu.au/research/centres_and_groups/centre_for_middle_east_north_african_studies/research/materials/the_legacy_of_suez/chapter_1/|first=Pierre|last=Hutton|date=1996|title=The Legacy of Suez|chapter=Chapter 1: Lebanon|publisher=Macquarie University|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161118224816/http://www.mq.edu.au/research/centres_and_groups/centre_for_middle_east_north_african_studies/research/materials/the_legacy_of_suez/chapter_1/|archive-date=18 November 2016}} During his posting in Beirut, Hutton was also appointed the first non-resident ambassador to Iraq (in 1974) and to Jordan and Syria (in 1975).{{citation|url=http://www.mq.edu.au/research/centres_and_groups/centre_for_middle_east_north_african_studies/research/materials/the_legacy_of_suez/chapter_2/|first=Pierre|last=Hutton|date=1996|title=The Legacy of Suez|chapter=Chapter 2: Iraq, Syria and Jordan|publisher=Macquarie University|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161118225836/http://www.mq.edu.au/research/centres_and_groups/centre_for_middle_east_north_african_studies/research/materials/the_legacy_of_suez/chapter_2/|archive-date=18 November 2016}}

Hutton was later an Ambassador to Egypt, the Sudan and finally to Switzerland, where he was also Representative to the UN Human Rights Commission.

• {{citation|title=The Legacy of Suez: An Australian diplomat in the Middle East|publisher=Macquarie University Middle East Centre|date=1996|isbn=1864082909}}
• {{citation|title=After the Heroic Age and Before Australia's Rediscovery of Southeast Asia|isbn=0868578916|publisher=Griffith University Faculty of International Business and Politics, Centre for the Study of Australia-Asia Relations|date=1997}}

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{{s-ttl |title=Australian Consul in Noumea |years=1958}}

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{{s-ttl|title=Australian High Commissioner to Nigeria|years=1970–1972}}

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{{s-ttl|title=Australian Ambassador to Jordan|years=1975}}

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{{s-ttl|title=Australian Ambassador to Egypt|years=1978–1981}}

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{{s-ttl|title=Australian Ambassador to Switzerland|years=1981–1985}}

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Category:1928 births

Category:2014 deaths

Category:Consuls-general for Australia in Nouméa

Category:Ambassadors of Australia to Egypt

Category:Ambassadors of Australia to Iraq

Category:Ambassadors of Australia to Jordan

Category:Ambassadors of Australia to Lebanon

Category:Ambassadors of Australia to Switzerland

Category:Ambassadors of Australia to Syria

Category:High commissioners of Australia to Nigeria

Category:University of Tasmania alumni