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Neil Currie
Sir Neil Smith Currie CBE (20 August 1926 – 30 July 1999) was a senior Australian public servant and policymaker. Life and careerNeil Currie was born on 20 August 1926 in Mackay, Queensland.[1] Currie began his Commonwealth public service career in 1948 as a cadet in the Department of External Affairs.[1] He graduated from his cadetship alongside Rowen Osborn, and Barrie Dexter.[2] Currie married Geraldine Evelyn Dexter in Tokyo in 1951 during his first posting there.[1][3] Their engagement had been announced in March 1951.[4] Three of the couple's four children were born in Tokyo.[5] He held several positions as a departmental head, namely Secretary of the Department of Supply between 1971 and 1974,[6] Secretary of the Department of Manufacturing Industry between 1974 and 1975,[7] and Secretary of the Department of Industry and Commerce.[8] In 1982 then Foreign Minister Tony Street appointed Currie the Australian Ambassador to Japan.[9][5] His posting, until 1986, was at a time when Japan was Australia's biggest trading partner.[10] Currie died in Batemans Bay on 30 July 1999, aged 72.[1] His wife, Geraldine, died on 2 May 2019 at the age of 92.[11] Awards and honoursCurrie was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1978.[12] In 1982 he was appointed a Knight Bachelor.[13] In 2000, the Australia Japan Foundation established the Sir Neil Currie Australian Studies Award Program to commemorate Currie's life and his contribution to Australian-Japanese relations.[14] A street in the Canberra suburb of Casey in 2009 was named Neil Currie Street in Currie's honour.[15] References
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