Bruce Haigh
Encyclopedia
Bruce Douglas Haigh joined the Australia
n Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
in 1972. He served in South Africa
from 1976 to 1979 with the Australian Embassy (now High Commission
).
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 were Steve Biko
(murdered by police whilst being held in detention in 1977) and Dr. Mamphela Ramphele
(Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Town
and a Director of the World 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 by Richard Attenborough
. Bruce helped a number of other political activists escaping from South Africa.
Haigh worked in the Australian Embassy in Saudi Arabia
from 1982 to 1984. From 1984 to 1986 he was Director of the Indonesia
Section. During that time he travelled within the Indonesian archipelago. From 1986 to 1988, he was at the Australian Embassy, Islamabad
, Pakistan
. He travelled to Afghanistan
, 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 the Australia-South Africa Training Program (ASATP) from 1990 to 1993. 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
, the Yemen
, Pakistan
, India
, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka
, Thailand
, Malaysia, Singapore
, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea
, Canada
, the United States
, and Europe
. He was involved in high level trade and foreign policy negotiations. Haigh was instrumental in helping to set up the Ifa Lethu Foundation as an institution to locate, repatriate and curate South African works of art taken out of the country during the years of apartheid. 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 at Mudgee, 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.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia)
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is a department of the government of Australia charged with advancing the interests of Australia and its citizens internationally...
in 1972. He served in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
from 1976 to 1979 with the Australian Embassy (now High Commission
High Commissioner (Commonwealth)
In the Commonwealth of Nations, a High Commissioner is the senior diplomat in charge of the diplomatic mission of one Commonwealth government to another.-History:...
).
Haigh initiated Australian Embassy contact with members of the black South African resistance, including the Black Consciousness Movement
Black Consciousness Movement
The Black Consciousness Movement was a grassroots anti-Apartheid activist movement that emerged in South Africa in the mid-1960s out of the political vacuum created by the jailing and banning of the African National Congress and Pan Africanist Congress leadership after the Sharpeville Massacre in...
in 1976. Included amongst the friends he made at this time were Steve Biko
Steve Biko
Stephen Biko was a noted anti-apartheid activist in South Africa in the 1960s and 1970s. A student leader, he later founded the Black Consciousness Movement which would empower and mobilize much of the urban black population. Since his death in police custody, he has been called a martyr of the...
(murdered by police whilst being held in detention in 1977) and Dr. Mamphela Ramphele
Mamphela Ramphele
Mamphela Aletta Ramphele is a South African academic, businesswoman and medical doctor and was an anti-apartheid activist. She is a current trustee on the board of the Rockefeller Foundation in New York.-Life and career:...
(Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Town
University of Cape Town
The University of Cape Town is a public research university located in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. UCT was founded in 1829 as the South African College, and is the oldest university in South Africa and the second oldest extant university in Africa.-History:The roots of...
and a Director of the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
). Haigh helped banned newspaper editor, Donald Woods
Donald Woods
Donald James Woods, CBE was a white South African journalist and anti-apartheid activist.As editor of the Daily Dispatch from 1965 to 1977, he befriended Steve Biko, leader of the anti-apartheid Black Consciousness Movement, and was banned by the government soon after Biko's death, which had been...
, escape from South Africa. His role in this escape was portrayed in the film, Cry Freedom
Cry Freedom
Cry Freedom is a 1987 British drama film directed by Richard Attenborough, set in the late 1970s, during the apartheid era of South Africa. It was written from a screenplay by John Briley based on a pair of books by journalist Donald Woods...
produced by Richard Attenborough
Richard Attenborough
Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough , CBE is a British actor, director, producer and entrepreneur. As director and producer he won two Academy Awards for the 1982 film Gandhi...
. Bruce helped a number of other political activists escaping from South Africa.
Haigh worked in the Australian Embassy in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
from 1982 to 1984. From 1984 to 1986 he was Director of the Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
Section. During that time he travelled within the Indonesian archipelago. From 1986 to 1988, he was at the Australian Embassy, Islamabad
Islamabad
Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. He travelled to Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, where he reported on the war and other aspects of the Soviet occupation
Soviet war in Afghanistan
The Soviet war in Afghanistan was a nine-year conflict involving the Soviet Union, supporting the Marxist-Leninist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the Afghan Mujahideen and foreign "Arab–Afghan" volunteers...
. He also undertook the photographic recording of Soviet activities and installations. He established and ran the Australia-South Africa Training Program (ASATP) from 1990 to 1993. 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
Colombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
.
Haigh has visited or worked in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
, Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
, Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
, Bahrain
Bahrain
' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...
, the Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, Malaysia, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. He was involved in high level trade and foreign policy negotiations. Haigh was instrumental in helping to set up the Ifa Lethu Foundation as an institution to locate, repatriate and curate South African works of art taken out of the country during the years of apartheid. 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 at Mudgee, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. 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
Division of Gwydir
The Division of Gwydir was an Australian Electoral Division in New South Wales. The division was created in 1900 and was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election...
in 2001 and 2004, and Parkes
Division of Parkes
The Division of Parkes is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of New South Wales. The largest electorate in the state, it is located in the far north of the state, and adjoining the border with Queensland. Its largest population centre is Dubbo...
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/