| Embassy of the United States, Canberra | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| Status | Active (1942 to 1996, 2012 to Present Day); Defunct from 1996 to 2012) |
| Type | Embassy |
| Architectural style | Georgian |
| Location | Yarralumla, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory |
| Opening | June 4, 1942 |
| Design and construction | |
| Owner | United States Department of State |
| Architect | Frederick Larkin |
Overview[]
The US Embassy in Canberra was founded to serve as the main diplomatic post of the United States in Australia. After Doomsday, it served as the headquarters for the American Provisional Administration, until the APA's dissolution in the mid-1990's, at which point it was claimed by the ANZC government. During the late 90's and 2000's the ANZC govenrment often rented the property out as a venue for American diaspora gatherings.
As of 2012, after the ANZC opened relations with the Torrington-based restored United States of America, the old embassy was returned to active duty as the US embassy.
Pre-Doomsday[]
Doomsday and immediate aftermath[]
On the Embassy grounds, Ambassador Robert Nesen had been on the phone with US fleet commanders in the South Pacific, the US State Department, and any other US officials he could reach, until the bombs began falling in Oceania and in the American homeland, at which point the Embassy communications grid gradually lost contact with more and more officials.
With all lines of communication to the homeland no longer working, the exhausted Ambassador Nesen would spend the early morning of the next day speaking to Prime Minister Bob Hawke and his administration. PM Hawke quickly arranged a face to face meeting to discuss the logistics of providing for stranded US nationals and continuing to try reaching whatever remnants of the US government were left.
President George Bush and Prime Minister Bob Hawke confer with each other during the early days of the APA, soon after the beginning of the Gathering Order.
The American Provisional Administration[]
President Bush visiting with US troops during training exercises in the Australian Outback in 1990.
On May 8, 1984, George HW Bush was escorted onto the grounds of the embassy after arriving in Australia, having just evacuated from North America with the goal of regrouping the US government and its assets in Australia and eventually returning to reclaim the homeland with ANZC aid. When it became clear that President Reagan was not coming, Air Force One having vanished somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, Bush reluctantly agreed to be sworn in as the 41st President of the United States, on the grounds of the US Embassy. The ceremony was led by Sir Harry Gibbs, Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, and attended by the surviving Cabinet secretaries, the small handful of US Congressmen who had been evacuated, and by the Bush family.
During the years of the American Provisional Administration, the property was often dubbed "The Little White House" or "White House West," due to Bush's long stays there when not in Hawaii.
After the APA[]
Upon the final dissolution of the APA, the grounds and properties of the US Embassy reverted to the ANZC government.
For the next several years, more than a decade, the ANZC government would use the estate to store paperwork and host official functions. The government would also (for a fee) rent out the bottom floor and lawns of the estate to American expats for American cultural events, such as the annual American Diaspora Convention and various holiday observances, such as Thanksgiving (when large gatherings of American expat families would share a communal Thanksgiving at the former embassy). The lawns of the estate would often be used for an Easter Egg Hunt and Easter Egg Roll, as had been done on the White House lawn before Doomsday.
Present Day[]
After the ANZC government opened official relations with the restored United States of America based out of Torrington, it decided to reactivate the estate to once again serve as the US Embassy, this time to the ANZC rather than Australia specifically.
The transfer of the estate to the Torrington-based US government was formalized with a ceremony on the grounds, attended by the American ambassador and his staff and the ANZC Prime Minister, in which the American flag was raised once again at the site.