Aussie business leaders slam outgoing UK High Commissioner Stephen Smith
Stephen Smith has defended his diplomatic record after prominent Australian business leaders branded him one of the UK's worst-performing high commissioners in decades.
Leading Australian business figures have hit out at outgoing High Commissioner to the UK Stephen Smith, accusing him of leaving behind broken relationships within the Australian business community in London.
A spat erupted between the Australia Foundation board and the High Commissioner in 2023 after Mr Smith refused to give permission to hold the prestigious annual black-tie Australia Day gala dinner at Australia House.
Mr Smith later said if it was held there the Foundation would have to start paying “commercial rates” and move the dates well away from January 26 given the cultural sensitivities with the date.
The High Commissioner, who turns 70 next week, will leave the UK on Friday and return to Australia after completing three years in the plum role.
His critics say they are relieved he is leaving the UK and believe he has been one of Australia’s worst-performing high commissioners in London.
Businessman Philip Aiken, formerly group president of BHP Billiton’s energy business, said he hopes the appointment of former SA Premier Jay Weatherill as Mr Smith’s successor will restore broken relationships among Australians in the UK.
“Hopefully we will have a high commissioner who is more interested in the local community and who plays the role of high commissioner instead of just concentrating on a few of his personal objectives,” he said.
“The Australian community in the UK, there’s people like myself who have been here a long time and have lots of contacts and lots of interest and he just did not show any interest in that part of the role.
“He didn’t play the role that you’d expect through all of his predecessors”.
Australia Foundation trustee and former advertising executive Bill Muirhead told this masthead: “I wish him all the best in whatever he does next. Hopefully it’s nothing requiring diplomatic people skills”.
But Mr Smith has hit back at his critics and told this masthead this week: “People are entitled to their view … some of the things which people are complaining about and say I stopped, were things that were appropriate to do in the 1950s, 60s or even the 70s but they are not appropriate for the modern era.
“I very clearly made the point, we want to raise the standard of the relationship between Australia and the UK”.
Mr Smith said he had completed a successful tenure as high commissioner and “the relationship (between Australia and the UK) has never been in a better space”.
“That is much more important than reviews we might get for Aussie expatriates who are here for a few weeks each year or have been here for 20 or 30 or more years,” he said.
Relations also soured at the beginning of 2025 when Mr Smith made what was labelled a “bewildering” decision to boycott the Australia Day gala in London – only to backflip on his decision later and eventually attend.
Britain-Australia Society chair Damian Walsh said the appointment of Mr Weatherill will be a “good chance to reset the relationship that was broken” between the Australian High Commission and some sectors of the Australian community in the UK.
“Stephen came here with his strategic objectives very clear in his mind, focused essentially on trade, security in the Asia-Pacific area, the environment and indigenous issues and of course he came in before the voice referendum,” he said.
“Some suggest that he simply failed to embrace everyone’s expectations of a High Commissioner in London.”
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Originally published as Aussie business leaders slam outgoing UK High Commissioner Stephen Smith
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