Press release
Consulate-General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Sydney
Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Canberra
22 February 2018
New Consul-General of the Netherlands to Australia
We are pleased to welcome Frank van Beuningen, the new Consul-General of the Netherlands in
Sydney, to Australia.
Frank arrived in Sydney earlier this month. Before his posting Down Under, he worked as a diplomat on
special assignments and had several postings, among others in Afghanistan, Germany, Sri Lanka, Iraq,
Ivory Coast and Zimbabwe. Besides working on economic diplomacy and trade promotion, Frank has
dealt extensively with security policy, counter-terrorism and human rights issues.
In the Netherlands Frank was the co-founder and later director (1998 – 2002) of the Advisory Council on
International Affairs, a think tank that advises the Dutch government on a regular basis on all aspects of
foreign and security policy. He has a degree in international affairs from the Erasmus University in
Rotterdam. Frank is married to Jennie and together they have two adult children.
After having been in Sydney for nearly two weeks, Frank says “he feels like a dog with two tails”. He
states: “I am looking forward to working with the team on the optimising of consular services and the
potential for Dutch companies to partner with Australian counterparts to achieve sustainable trade and
investment for both our countries. I cannot wait to get to know the Dutch community. I am very
interested in its history”.
We wish Frank and his family a great time in Australia and look forward to working with him!
Contact details:
Consulate-General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Sydney: syd-pcz@minbuza.nl
More information can be found here:
Dutch: www.nederlandwereldwijd.nl/landen/australie
English: www.netherlandsworldwide.nl/countries/australia