Ever tried to play a Carillon? The Canberra Times said my chopsticks startled passers-by. But it’s hard to play a keyboard of pegs, which you have to hit with the heel of your hand to sound the mighty bells from a foundry in Loughborough. I was at the National Carillon on an island in Canberra’s Lake Burley Griffin to present the diaries of Geoff Toomer, Clerk of Works for the construction of the Carillon 40 years ago, to Gary Rake head of the National Capital Authority. We had discovered the diaries during routine tidying of our archives: they were a fascinating account of the project, and a reminder that behind all the great edifices we see around us are human stories of the men and women who constructed them. The Carillon was a gift from the United Kingdom to the people of Australia to mark Canberra’s 50th anniversary. Opened by HM The Queen in 1970 it is one of the Capital’s best loved landmarks.
I launched the second leg of our GREAT marketing campaign, at Sydney Opera House, with a theme of entrepreneurship, where I presented the annual GO UK prize to an Australian SME to help them set up an office in Britain. The winner was The Loop, a networking website for the creative industries. To mark the occasion, we had hired a red London double-decker bus, decked out with a huge poster of Westfield founder Frank Lowy, one of Australia’s most celebrated businessmen. He had agreed to be the Australian face of the GREAT Entrepreneurs campaign, as Westfield are such major investors in the UK. Several hundred guests enjoyed posing for photos by the bus against the fabulous backdrop of Sydney Harbour Bridge. Later in the week I hosted a dinner for the visiting General Secretary of Britain’s Trade Union Congress, Brendan Barber, together with a group of senior Australian labor politicians and trade unionists. We had a fascinating discussion.
Universities were a big theme this week. I gave a lecture at Canberra University’s National Security Institute, talking about the UK’s national security strategy and priorities. I hosted a dinner for Martin Bean, Vice Chancellor of The Open University. Founded in 1971 to promote the widest possible access to higher education, the Open University has now educated around 2 million students from all over the world. It is a much admired, great institution and a gift from Britain to the world. Martin, an Australian who had previously worked for Microsoft, talked engagingly about the way the internet had transformed the OU’s ability to share its learning opportunities globally. I also had a very interesting lunch with Fr Frank Brennan, SJ, the Jesuit priest, lawyer and academic, who has made such a distinguished contribution on Aboriginal rights.
And finally, I was invited to attend the Canberra opening of the play “Yes Prime Minister”. I always joke that when I first saw the TV series, someone had to tell me it was a comedy: I thought it was reality TV or, as we used to call it back then, a fly-on-the-wall documentary. The acting was excellent, Philip Quast was particularly outstanding as Sir Humphrey. There were lots of laughs, though one of the sub-plots was a bit questionable. Having been a “Bernard” myself, as a Minister’s private secretary, I’d always loved the TV show. And from the number of politicians in the audience it was clear that Australians shared this sentiment. Of course I’ve always held that the portrayal of cynical politicians and obstructive officials is a complete caricature – nothing like the real world.