Acting Foreign Affairs Minister Craig Emerson today announced that Mr Roger Price would be Australia's next Consul-General in Chicago.

Mr Price is expected to take up his appointment in November 2011. He will replace Ms Elizabeth Schick, who was Consul-General from April 2008 to April 2011.

The Australian Consulate General in Chicago supports Australian business in identifying and developing trade and investment opportunities in the important Midwest region of the United States. It is active in expanding economic ties and developing partnerships in a broad array of areas, including the automotive industry, energy, climate change technologies, research and development, education and innovation, and financial services.

Mr Price will forge links with a wide range of decision-makers and enhance Australia's profile in a region which generates 21 per cent of the US's gross domestic product. The mission also provides consular and passport services to Australian travellers and expatriates throughout the 11 Midwest states for which it is responsible.

Mr Price is a former Australian politician. He was elected as Member of the Australian House of Representatives at the 1984 election, representing the Division of Chifley in western Sydney, New South Wales, for the Australian Labor Party until his retirement before the 2010 Federal Election.

Mr Price has been a member of numerous Standing Committees and overseas parliamentary delegations, including the Joint Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee from May 1993 to August 2004. He chaired this committee from June 1995 to January 1996.

Mr Price was educated at the New South Wales Institute of Technology and was an alderman on Blacktown City Council from 1981 until 1987. He served as Deputy Mayor in 1984-1985.