Christopher Holtby OBE 

Christopher took up the post of Consul General in Melbourne and Head of the UK Office for South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria in September 2016.  Prior to this role, Chris was Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Republic of Estonia from January 2012. 

From 2007 to 2011, he was Deputy Head of Security Policy Department in the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, responsible for UK policy on NATO, European Security, military and civil-military operations and co-operation, as well as maritime security.  From 2009 to 2011 he was the chairman of Working Group 1 of the international Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia, leading work on operational co-ordination and regional capability development.  From 2002 to 2007, he was seconded to the European Union in Brussels as UK liaison officer to Javier Solana, the High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, and policy adviser to Dr Solana on Asia/Pacific issues.