Brett Mason has been appointed as Australia’s new ambassador to the Netherlands, just weeks after leaving parliament.
Mason left the Senate, where he had served as a Queensland senator since 1999, on 26 March. He had lost his portfolio of parliamentary secretary to the foreign affairs minister in the December reshuffle.
He had reportedly tried to challenge the attorney general, George Brandis, for the number one spot on the Liberal National party ticket in Queensland in the weeks before being stripped of the position.
Mason had various jobs before entering politics, including as a crown prosecutor, criminology lecturer and human rights officer with the United Nations.
Subject to Dutch approval, Mason will take on his new role from mid-2015. The position will involve being Australia’s representatives on various international legal bodies located in the Hague, such as the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court.
In announcing Mason’s appointment, the foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, praised the close relationship enjoyed by Australia and the Netherlands, particularly citing the collaboration between the countries after the downing of Air Malaysia flight MH17.
Bishop also thanked the outgoing ambassador, Neil Mules, for his “outstanding” work.
