Former SA Premier named next UK high commissioner
Former South Australian premier Jay Weatherill has been appointed Australia’s next high commissioner to the UK, replacing incumbent Stephen Smith.
The man who led South Australia for more than six years will become Australia’s next high commissioner to the UK.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday announced former premier Jay Weatherill was appointed to the role, describing the choice as “entirely appropriate”.
According to the Australian government, in the role, Weatherill will lead the Australian High Commission in London, raising awareness of contemporary Australia in the United Kingdom, including “our shared heritage, strong people-to-people links, music, film, literature”, and “premium produce”.
Weatherill led the state between 2011 and 2018, and served in the SA parliament for 16 years, where he drove debate on defence capability, renewable energy targets and environmental protection issues.
Since March 2025, Weatherill has led the Susan McKinnon Foundation’s democracy strategy and is also currently a council member at the National Gallery of Australia.
You might like
He previously spent five years leading the Minderoo Foundation’s Thrive by Five campaign, where he advocated for early learning reform, as well as six years as an industry professor at the University of South Australia.
Before entering SA’s parliament in 2002, Weatherill was an industrial lawyer, having established Lieschke & Weatherill Lawyers in 1995.
Albanese praised the former Labor premier as a leader in the defence industry and as being “instrumental” in the construction of submarines.
“He championed national debate on sovereign defence capability, renewable energy targets, and environmental protection issues,” he said.
Stay informed, daily
“Jay is well placed to take forward AUKUS in our nation’s interest, particularly with SSN-AUKUS, which we’ll be doing in partnership with the United Kingdom.”
Under the AUKUS agreement – a trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States – Australia would acquire the capability to build conventionally-armed nuclear-powered subs.
The SSN-AUKUS class will be built in Adelaide, based on a British design, with the first to be completed in the early 2040s.
Today’s announcement follows a Pentagon review of the agreement, leading to fears that Trump would walk away from it.
However, according to recent reports, the Pentagon now believes the deal would be of “significant benefit” to its interests.
Former defence minister Stephen Smith is the outgoing high commissioner and has been in the role since January 2023.
The prime minister thanked him for his service and noted his leadership in Australia’s work with the Coalition of the Willing, a group dedicated to strengthening Ukraine’s defence against Russia’s war.
“Stephen has done a remarkable job in representing Australia’s interests across the UK, across security and defence matters in particular, he said.
