Back to Camelot: Caroline Kennedy set to leave Australia in months

Caroline Kennedy, the US ambassador to Australia, is planning to wrap up her Canberra posting within months regardless of whether Donald Trump or Kamala Harris wins November’s presidential election.

Kennedy, the daughter of late president John F. Kennedy, arrived in Australia in July 2022 with much fanfare owing to her status as a member of America’s most storied political dynasty.

The widespread expectation in diplomatic circles is that Kennedy will end her high-profile posting by the time of the presidential inauguration on January 20, in line with American diplomatic conventions.

United States ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

She was definitive about her plans in an April interview with a Perth FM radio station that went under the radar at the time.

“I’ll be finished up next January,” Kennedy told Nova 93.7 when asked whether she had a set term in Australia.

Asked whether she would consider a diplomatic posting somewhere else, Kennedy said: “It couldn’t get better than this.”

She is close to President Joe Biden and told this masthead in an extended interview last year that she lobbied him to send her to Australia.

When Kennedy was appointed, Australia’s former US ambassador, Joe Hockey, said: “It says so much about the strong relationship between the US and Australia that President Biden is sending someone from Democratic Party royalty to represent him in Australia.”

Kennedy’s Republican predecessor, Arthur Culvahouse, who was appointed by Donald Trump, ended his term on January 19, 2021, the day before Biden’s inauguration.

Kennedy previously served as US ambassador to Japan under Barack Obama from 2013 to 2017.

She could possibly agree to a request by Kamala Harris to extend her time in Australia, but this is a hypothetical scenario.

Kennedy made a surprise guest appearance at the Summernats car festival in Canberra in January.Credit: Instagram

It is seen as extremely unlikely Kennedy would agree to serve under Trump, given their political differences.

A spokesman for the US embassy said: “At the end of US presidential terms, all political ambassadors customarily submit resignation letters.

“That is the typical practice as they are representatives of the current administration.”

Kennedy landed with impact in Australia in 2022, chiding a male journalist for speaking over a female reporter at her arrival press conference.

She has worked behind the scenes to secure congressional support to pass legislation to loosen US export rules to Australia and the transfer of nuclear-powered submarines.

In terms of public diplomacy, she has focused on projecting soft power by presenting a friendly image of the US rather than delivering hard-edged policy speeches.

Michael Fullilove, executive director of the Lowy Institute international affairs think tank, said last year that he had been impressed by Kennedy’s “understated manner, her conscientiousness and her curiosity”.

“And of course, she has the ultimate ambassadorial superpower: the ability to get the president of the United States on the line,” he said.

Caroline Kennedy’s “soft power” approach to winning hearts and minds. Credit:

Kennedy told an Asia Society event last week that her Australian posting, like her previous stint in Japan, had an “enormous personal dimension” for her.

She drove across the outback this year as part of a “shitbox rally” to raise money for cancer research and travelled to Solomon Islands with her son, Jack Schlossberg, in 2023 to recreate part of the famous 1.2-kilometre swim her father made in 1943 when his navy ship was rammed and sunk by a Japanese destroyer.

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