William McMahon Ball

William McMahon Ball.

Photo: Australian War Memorial

William McMahon Ball was an Australian academic, journalist and diplomat.

In 1945 he was sent to Batavia by the then Minister of External Affairs, Dr H. V. Evatt, to report on the conflict in the Netherlands East Indies.   

In October 1945, just seven weeks after the Proclamation of Independence, he led a small delegation to Batavia to establish the first foreign mission and officially recognise the new Republic of Indonesia.  However, although it enjoyed a good relationship with Indonesian independence leaders, Ball’s delegation met with a frosty reception from Dutch and British officials. 

The chief of the British-led Allied Forces rejected his Australian credentials – in deference to the United Kingdom’s alliance with the Dutch – and he was expelled to Singapore.