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The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (also called DFAT) is a department of the Government of Australia charged with the responsibility of advancing the interests of Australia and its citizens internationally. It manages the government's foreign relations and trade policies. The head of the department is the Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, presently Peter Varghese ; who reports to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, presently the Hon. Julie Bishop , the Minister for Trade and Investment, presently the Hon. Andrew Robb , and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Trade and Investment, presently the Hon. Steven Ciobo . ==History== The department finds its origins in two of the seven original Commonwealth Departments established following Federation: the Department of Trade and Customs and the Department of External Affairs, headed by Harry Wollaston and Atlee Hunt respectively.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=History of the Department )〕 The department was abolished on 14 November 1916 and its responsibilities were undertaken by the Prime Minister's Department and the Department of Home and Territories. It was re-established on 21 December 1921.〔Parliamentary Handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia, 20th ed, 1978, pp. 289-290〕 Until the Second World War, Australia's status as a dominion of the British Empire in the then British Commonwealth meant its foreign relations were mostly defined by the United Kingdom. During this time, Australia's overseas activities were predominantly related to trade and commercial interests, while its external affairs were concerned mostly with immigration, exploration and publicity.〔 The political and economic changes wrought by the Great Depression and Second World War, and the adoption of the 1931 Statute of Westminster, necessitated the establishment and expansion of Australian representation overseas, independent of the British Foreign Office. Australia began to establish its first overseas missions (outside of London) in 1940, beginning with Washington, D.C., and now has a network of over 80 diplomatic (and 22 trade) posts.〔 The Department of External Affairs was renamed the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1970, On 24 July 1987, the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Trade were amalgamated by the Hawke Labor Government to form the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In 2005, DFAT became embroiled in the Oil-for-Food Programme scandal after it was revealed it had approved the Australian Wheat Board's (AWB) request allowing it to pay 'trucking charges' to Alia, a Jordanian trucking company with no actual involvement in the trucking of Australian wheat within Iraq. The Cole Inquiry into the AWB was established, however its terms of reference excluded any investigation of the role of DFAT. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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