Michael Cook (diplomat)

Michael John Cook AO (28 October 1931 – 18 June 2017) was an Australian diplomat.^[1]

Michael John Cook AO
14th Ambassador of Australia to the United States
In office 20 April 1989 – 1 August 1993
Prime Minister	Bob Hawke Paul Keating
Preceded by	Rawdon Dalrymple
Succeeded by	Don Russell
Director-General of the Office of National Assessments
In office 1981–1989
Prime Minister	Malcolm Fraser Bob Hawke
Preceded by	Robert Furlonger
Succeeded by	Walter Miller
Chief Executive Officer to the Prime Minister of Australia
In office 1979–1981
Prime Minister	Malcolm Fraser
Succeeded by	David Kemp
Deputy high commissioner of Australia to the United Kingdom
In office 1975–1979
Prime Minister	Malcolm Fraser
Ambassador of Australia to Vietnam
In office 26 July 1973 – 22 March 1974
Prime Minister	Gough Whitlam
Preceded by	Arthur Morris
Succeeded by	Geoffrey Price
Personal details
Born	(1931-10-28)28 October 1931 Rangoon, Burma
Died	18 June 2017(2017-06-18) (aged 85) London, England
Alma mater	University of Melbourne
Occupation	diplomat

He was the director-general of the Office of National Assessments from 1981 to 1989 before becoming the Ambassador of Australia to the United States from 1989 to 1993.^[1]

Early life

Cook was born in Namtu, Burma on 28 October 1931, where his father HJM Cook, a Gallipoli veteran, worked in the oil industry.^[2]

The family settled in Melbourne in 1937. He attended Geelong Grammar School and was awarded a scholarship to attend Trinity College at the University of Melbourne where he studied law.^[1][2]

Career

Cook's public service began in 1954 with a cadetship at the Department of External Affairs.^[2] His work took him to countries such as Egypt, Thailand, Indonesia and the United States.^[2]

In 1973, Cook was appointed as the Ambassador of Australia to Vietnam prior to being appointed the deputy high commissioner of Australia to the United Kingdom in 1975.^[3]

While working in London, Cook was convinced by Australian prime minister Malcolm Fraser to return to Australia in 1979 to become his chief executive officer in his private office.^[1][4]

After working for Fraser from 1979 to 1981, Cook became the Director-General of the Office of National Assessments.^[1][5] Serving in this role from 1981 to 1989, Cook became the longest serving director-general of ONA.^[2]

In 1989, Cook was appointed as the 14th Ambassador of Australia to the United States of America.^[6]

One of Cook's final duties in this role was opening an inquiry into whether the KGB had infiltrated the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.^[7] The findings of this enquiry have never been released.^[8][9]

After concluding his role as the ambassador of Australia to the United States in 1993, Cook relocated to London where he was the chairman of the Menzies Centre for Australian Studies at King's College London from 1997 to 2011.^[2]

Personal life

After becoming engaged in December 1956, Cook married art historian Helen Ibbitson in London and had four children.^[10][11]

After the couple divorced, Ibbitson relocated to the United States and married legal counsel to the National Gallery of Art Phillip C. Jessup Jr.^[12]

Cook married Catriona Juliet Matheson, a law academic, on 10 July 1970, and they had a son and a daughter.

Cook's daughter Genevieve Cook commenced a two-year relationship with Barack Obama in 1983.^[13]

For his public service, Cook was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the 1990 Australia Day Honours.^[14]

Cook died in London on 18 June 2017 at the age of 85.^[15] A private funeral service was held for Cook but relatives, friends and neighbours were invited to a public gathering at his home on 6 July 2017 to celebrate his life.^[15]

Inexplicably, Cook was posthumously chosen in 2018 to be a "patron of mateship" by Australia's ambassador to the United States Joe Hockey to support bilateral relations.^[16] Australian historian Frank Bongiorno described the announcement as "really puzzling".^[17]