- Bruce Haigh
Bruce Douglas Haigh joined the
Australia n Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 1972. He served inSouth Africa from 1976/79 with the Australian Embassy.Haigh initiated Australian Embassy contact with members of the black South African resistance, including the
Black Consciousness Movement in 1976. Included amongst the friends he made at this time wereSteve Biko (murdered by police whilst being held in detention in 1977) and Dr.Mamphela Ramphele (Vice Chancellor of theUniversity of Cape Town and a Director of theWorld Bank ). Haigh helped banned newspaper editor,Donald Woods , escape from South Africa. His role in this escape was portrayed in the film, "Cry Freedom " produced byRichard Attenborough . Bruce helped a number of other political activists escaping from South Africa.Haigh worked in the Australian Embassy in
Saudi Arabia from 1982/84. From 1984/86 he was Director of theIndonesia Section. During that time he travelled within the Indonesian archipelago. From 1986/88, he was at the Australian Embassy,Islamabad ,Pakistan . He travelled toAfghanistan , where he reported on the war and other aspects of the Soviet occupation. He also undertook the photographic recording of Soviet activities and installations. He established and ran theAustralia-South Africa Training Program (ASATP) from 1990/93. Seventy black South Africans came to Australia under the program for extended periods of work experience and training including well known South African artist,Bernadette Searle . In 1994, he was Deputy High Commissioner at the Australian High Commission,Colombo .Haigh has visited or worked in
Zimbabwe ,Tanzania ,Kenya ,Israel ,Egypt ,Iran ,Saudi Arabia ,Kuwait ,Bahrain , theYemen ,Pakistan ,India , Afghanistan,Sri Lanka ,Thailand ,Malaysia ,Singapore , Indonesia,Papua New Guinea ,Canada , theUnited States , andEurope . He was involved in high level trade and foreign policy negotiations. Haigh was instrumental in helping to set up theIfa Lethu Foundation as an institution to locate, repatriate and curate South African works of art taken out of the country during the years ofapartheid . In July 2005 his collection of black South African art was donated to the people of South Africa through Ifa Lethu. Haigh grows olives and grapes atMudgee ,New South Wales . He provides regular political analysis on international and domestic issues for radio and television, conferences and seminars. He writes opinion pieces for a number of newspapers and journals. He stood as an Independent candidate for the federal seat of Gwydir in 2001 and 2004, and Parkes in 2007. Haigh is a Member of the International Refugee Law Judges Association and a past President of the Australian Olive Association.External links
* http://www.brucehaigh.com.au/
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