Chris Barrie (admiral)

Admiral Christopher Alexander "Chris" Barrie AC, RAN (born 29 May 1945) is a retired senior officer of the Royal Australian Navy, who served as Chief of the Defence Force from 4 July 1998 to 3 July 2002.

Born in Sydney, Barrie was educated at North Sydney Boys High School and entered the Royal Australian Naval College in 1961. During his early naval training, Barrie completed service on HMA Ships Anzac, Vampire and Melbourne, which included service in the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation, and a 23-day tour of duty in Vietnam. Postings to the Britannia Royal Naval College at Dartmouth and HMS Excellent followed.

Barrie served at sea as part of the commissioning crew of HMAS Brisbane, which included a seven-month tour of duty in Vietnam, during 1969.

He also served as Commanding Officer HMAS Buccaneer, Operations and Navigating Officer on HMS Eastbourne, HMAS Perth and HMAS Duchess, Executive Officer on HMAS Vampire, and later as Commanding Officer HMAS Stuart.

In 1990–1991, Barrie held an appointment as Defence Adviser, New Delhi, India, and following this post, he served as Director RAN Surface Warfare School and Commanding Officer HMAS Watson; Deputy Maritime Commander and Chief of Staff at Maritime Headquarters in Sydney; Deputy Chief of Naval Staff; and Vice Chief of the Defence Force in 1997–1998.

Barrie was promoted to admiral, and assumed the post of Chief of the Defence Force on 4 July 1998. He held this position until his retirement in 2002, and was succeeded by General Peter Cosgrove.

Through part-time study, Barrie obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1983, with a special focus on International Relations and Politics, and was awarded a Master of Business Administration degree in 1996 by Deakin University.

As the Chief of the Defence Force, Barrie became involved in the "Children Overboard Affair" of 2001, a high-level political controversy which occurred during the Australian federal election campaign. Barrie was the last Australian Government official to publicly support Prime Minister John Howard's assertion that refugees had thrown their children overboard from their sinking vessel.