Preceded by David Ritchie Name Ric Wells Profession Diplomat | Spouse(s) Erica Wells Nationality Australian Residence Paris, France | |
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Born 20 October 1955 (age 68)
Sydney, Australia ( 1955-10-20 ) Alma mater Newington College
University of Sydney Occupation Senior career officer with Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Education University of Sydney, Newington College | ||
Ric Lawson Wells (born 20 October 1955) was an Australian diplomat and senior career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). He was a Deputy Secretary of DFAT and, before that, Australia’s Ambassador to France from 2011 until 2014.
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Early life and education
Wells was born in Sydney and attended Newington College (1968–1973). In his first year at Newington he shared the B S Tame Prize as one of two duces of First Form and again was co-dux in 1971 when he shared the Stretton Waterhouse Memorial Prize in Fourth Form. At the end of 1972 he was Proxime accessit in the Fifth Form and was awarded one of three Wigram Allen Scholarships. 1973 was his last year at Newington and he shared the George Lane Prize as Proxime accesserunt and was also awarded the Richard Thompson Memorial Prize for Debating. At the University of Sydney he graduated as a Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honours in 1978.
Career
After commencing employment with DFAT Wells had postings to Cairo (1982-1985) and Jakarta (1987-1989). He was Assistant Secretary, Services and Intellectual Property Branch (1994-1995) and was Deputy Head of the Australian Mission to the World Trade Organisation in Geneva (1995-1999). Following that, Wells was an Assistant Secretary in the Trade Policy and Industrials Branch during 1999. From 2000 until 2002 he was an Assistant Secretary of the Asia, Americas and Trade Branch in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. During 2002 he headed the White Paper Task Force And in the following year was appointed the First Assistant Secretary of the South Pacific, Africa and Middle East Division.
Between 2005 and 2009, Wells was the Head of the China Free Trade Agreement Task Force, the Head of the Japan Free Trade Agreement Task Force and the Head of the Korea Free Trade Agreement Task Force. In May 2007 Wells told Australian politicians that the agreement was progressing slowly because "the Chinese Government doesn't want an FTA". The China–Australia Free Trade Agreement was signed in 2015.
In the years before his appointment as Ambassador to France he was both the Deputy Secretary of the department of DFAT and Australia’s Ambassador to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation group.