On 13 July 1976, the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Andrew Peacock, announced the release of a joint statement marking the establishment of diplomatic relations with Morocco as "a mark of the desire of both countries to consolidate and strengthen mutual understanding and to stimulate cultural and commercial links."[3] On 6 October 1978 the acting Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ian Sinclair, announced the appointment of John Rowland, the serving Australian Ambassador to France, as the non-resident accredited Ambassador to Morocco.[4]