5th March 2013
I often host or attend events where we begin by saying that the discussion is based on “Chatham House Rules”, ie any comments made cannot be attributed to individuals outside of the meeting. So it was a great pleasure to host a visit by Lord Williams, the leading Asia scholar from Chatham House (London’s Royal […]
3rd March 2013
Avalon is not just the title of a 1980s Roxy Music album. It’s also an airport in Melbourne which hosts an important aerospace and defence show every two years. That’s quite fitting really as, in Arthurian legend, Avalon is the mythical place where King Arthur’s sword Excalibur was forged, so the name has a longstanding […]
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25th February 2013
London in February is a bit on the chilly side. But London is great to visit at any time of year. That’s why over one million Australians visit Britain every year, spending £1 billion. This amount has doubled over the past decade. A significant number are travelling to visit friends and relatives, but others are […]
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11th February 2013
I was privileged to chair Foreign Minister Senator Bob Carr’s Magna Carta lecture, an annual event organised by the British High Commission here. Each year we ask a prominent figure to speak about a modern issue relevant to the values enshrined in the 1215 charter, often described as the greatest constitutional document of all time. […]
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29th January 2013
A thrilling Australia Day weekend in Melbourne at the Australian Open tennis finals. We watched Andy Murray beat Federer in an epic semi-final. Then on Sunday we held our breath while he put up a magnificent battle against Djokovic in the final. In terms of skill the two players were evenly matched and, since his […]
22nd January 2013
Foreign Secretary William Hague, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond and a team of senior officials and military were in Perth for the annual Australia-UK Ministerial meeting, AUKMIN, last week. They had wide-ranging discussions, including Asia, Indian Ocean and Defence reform, as well as talking about the UN Security Council, which Australia has just joined for the […]
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9th January 2013
Once again we spent New Year’s Eve watching the spectacular fireworks in Sydney Harbour, from the 16th floor office of our Sydney Consulate General. The city was packed with revellers. I was very impressed with how easy it was to get back afterwards, as public transport was running late into the night and free of […]
18th December 2012
In this season of frankincense and myrrh I have just been reading a really interesting book by David Hill The Gold Rush about Australia’s gold rushes in the second half of the 19th century. On my travels around Australia I have seen some of the physical legacy of the industry in splendid gold mining towns like Ballarat and […]
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10th December 2012
Mike Rann, former Premier of South Australia, has just arrived in London as Australia’s new High Commissioner. For ambassadors, your counterpart in your home country is an important partner and ally. Luckily I had got to know Mike during my regular visits to Adelaide, and before he set off for the UK I hosted a […]
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7th December 2012
Yesterday I went to hear the Chief of Army, Lieut. Gen. David Morrison, launch a book by one of his officers, our friend Malcolm McGregor. The book “An Indian Summer of Cricket” is about a love for cricket and for the army. It also tells the story of his brave gender reassignment over the last […]