Australia is moving to downgrade diplomatic ties with Myanmar as it tries to avoid legitimising the State Administration Council (SAC) government, ABC news agency reported.
The ABC has been told that a senior Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) official has been selected to replace the former ambassador to Myanmar, Andrea Faulkner, who finished her term in April.
But the new Australian representative – who has not yet been given permission to travel to Myanmar — will not present her credentials to the head of the SAC, and will instead operate as the head of mission with the title of chargé d'affaires.
DFAT hopes it will allow them to deploy an experienced officer capable of championing Australia's interests in Myanmar without formally recognising the legitimacy of the SAC government.
Several other Western countries are moving to downgrade ties with Myanmar in a similar way, but human rights groups – many of which have fiercely criticised Australia's decision not to hit the SAC government with fresh sanctions – have still applauded the move.
Human Rights Watch Asia deputy director Phil Robertson told the ABC that Australia's dealings with the SAC government had largely been ineffective because officials had been too quick to meet with military leaders, and too slow to ramp up economic and diplomatic pressure on them.
He said the decision to withhold full recognition was "an indication that Australia may finally be willing to show some teeth" in its diplomatic dealings with the military.
"This is an important step, it's a symbolic step but it's something that [will] generate anger and unhappiness [in] the Myanmar military because they want to be internationally recognised," he said.
Australia wants to retain access to senior members of the SAC government — in part so it can press for the release of jailed Australian academic Sean Turnell – although human rights groups have repeatedly declared that such meetings are useless and risk elevating military leaders.
Australian officials say they need to use every opportunity to press for Mr Turnell's release and urge the most influential members of the SAC governmnet to implement the five-point consensus devised by ASEAN to tackle Myanmar's political crisis.
The former Australian ambassador, Andrea Faulkner, met with head of the SAC government Senior General Min Aung Hlaing just before she departed the country in April.
DFAT deputy secretary Katrina Cooper told Senate Estimates hearings last month that Ms Faulkner "reiterated Australia's concerns about the situation in Myanmar" when meeting Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, as well as urging the Myanmar military to "cease violence, release arbitrary detainees, engage in dialogue and ensure unimpeded access for humanitarian assistance".
Ms Cooper said the ambassador also "called on the SAC government to release those who had been arbitrarily detained in Myanmar, including Professor Sean Turnell".
It's not clear how much access or purchase Australia's new representative will have within the political system in Myanmar, given the decision to effectively downgrade diplomatic ties.
A DFAT spokesperson said it would appoint a "senior career officer with ambassadorial experience in the region" as the chargé d'affaires to Myanmar.
