ioi | President Field attends formal luncheon at the residence of the Australian Ambassador to Austria

Chris Field, President of the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI) and Western Australian Ombudsman, attended a formal luncheon at the residence of Mr Richard Sadleir, Australian Ambassador to Austria and Head of the Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Vienna, in honour of his official visit to Austria.

President Field was joined at the luncheon by Mr Werner Amon, Minister for European and  International Affairs, Education and Human Resources, Government of Styria and immediate former Secretary General, IOI; Ms Gaby Schwarz, Secretary General, IOI and Chairperson, Austrian Ombudsman Board; Ms Rebecca Poole, Head of the Office of the President;  Mr Meinhard Friedl, Head of Minister’s Cabinet for European and International Affairs, Government of Styria; Mr Emil Stojanovski, Deputy Head of Mission, Australian Embassy and Permanent Mission to the United Nations, Vienna, Austria; and Ms Hannah Suntinger, Executive Director, IOI.

“It was a great privilege that Mr Richard Sadleir, Australian Ambassador to Austria and Head of the Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Vienna, hosted a formal luncheon at his residence in honour of my official visit to Austria. Ambassador Sadleir is also the Australian Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia, as well as Australia’s representative to multilateral institutions,” said President Field.

“Austria and Australia have a warm and longstanding relationship, cooperating on a range of issues of mutual interest, particularly in multilateral institutions, as well as strong bilateral relations deepened by a Strategic Cooperation Arrangement. The Ambassador, from my direct experience, is an outstanding contributor to the success of this relationship and a range of multi-lateral relationships involving Australia. The luncheon created an outstanding opportunity to discuss, at this critical time for both Europe and the world, the role of oversight agencies in promoting human rights and the rule of law” said President Field.