The three-year term of Australia’s consul-general to New York, Alastair Walton, ends in August.

The former Goldman Sachs banker might have been perfectly distinguished as Canberra’s trade commissioner in Houston, Texas. But Walton’s promotion to the prestigious 42nd Street post vacated by former Senate leader Nick Minchin was not one of Malcolm Turnbull’s finest calls. Suffice it to say the Big Apple – and its feisty Australian contingent – will endure without him.