8th August 2014
The official memorial service for the Australian victims of the Malaysian Airlines tragedy took place at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne yesterday. I sat with the Dutch and Malaysian ambassadors as we mourned this senseless loss of life. Australian leaders turned out in force to demonstrate the whole country’s support for the bereaved families. The […]
5th August 2014
Alongside Ambassadors and High Commissioners from many countries, representing both sides of the conflict, I took part yesterday in a moving ceremony to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the start of WW1, at Canberra’s Australian War Memorial. Meanwhile in Glasgow, Governor General Sir Peter Cosgrove, one of Australia’s most distinguished former soldiers, represented Australia at the Commonwealth […]
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4th August 2014
So, a very successful Commonwealth Games draws to a close in Glasgow. The city showed itself off to great effect, helped by some wonderful weather. The organisers and volunteers can take great pride in the welcome they provided. Scottish and English athletes shared triumphs together as part of Team GB at London 2012. Here they […]
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31st July 2014
New South Wales Premier Mike Baird, almost exactly 100 days in office, addressed an Australian British Chamber of Commerce lunch in Sydney yesterday. He described the state’s trade and investment links with Britain as large and growing, something he is keen to continue. British companies are major investors in NSW; many of them were represented […]
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11th July 2014
Lunch at the British Museum with its Director Neil MacGregor OM. We ate under the roof of the Great Court, the splendid space which fuses old and new so sympathetically. I have very fond memories of the BM, as I used to work in the historical Reading Room when I was studying Japanese at the […]
10th July 2014
We assembled for a spectacular occasion in Westminster Abbey this week to celebrate Admiral Arthur Phillip RN, Captain of the First Fleet, and first governor of New South Wales. The Duke of Edinburgh inaugurated a plaque in Phillip’s honour in the central aisle of the Abbey, with cabinet ministers from both countries, the current Governors […]
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26th June 2014
With names like Scott, Cameron, Macdonald, Ferguson and McKenzie, the MPs and Senators who organised last night’s Scottish Dinner in Australia’s Parliament House had a gleam in their eyes at the swirl of the bagpipes and the clink of the whisky glass. Some of them have more distant ancestral links to Scotland, like my own. […]
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18th June 2014
Britain is one of the most advanced digital economies in the world. The British Government’s Chief Technology Officer, Liam Maxwell, was in Canberra this week to brief Australian ministers and officials on some of the latest developments in the UK. He described how all of the many different departmental websites had moved successfully onto a […]
13th June 2014
Australia’s new Governor General, Sir Peter Cosgrove, is clearly enjoying his role. He gave a very warm speech at a dinner in Canberra last night, hosted by the Royal Commonwealth Society and the Australia Britain Society (of which I am the Patron) to celebrate the birthday of HM The Queen. The Governor General used the […]
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12th June 2014
I’m not a fan of hot air. Although when you’re floating in a balloon over Australia’s capital city Canberra, and it’s the only thing keeping you up there, you’re rather glad of it. The balloon was emblazoned with the hashtag #TimeToAct. We were drawing attention to the Global Summit on Ending Sexual Violence in Conflict, […]
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