In Newcastle, New South Wales, watching Scotland play Australia at Rugby. I don’t think I’ve ever attended a sports match played in such adverse weather conditions: a massive storm brought high gusting winds and driving rain. All the points came from penalties, and to the enormous satisfaction of their band of dedicated followers, a gritty Scotland ran out 9:6 victors.
It was the first time they’d won in Australia for thirty years. And this was the first time Newcastle had hosted a test match: the ground is normally home to the Newcastle Knights – in the plethora of competing codes in Australia, this is a Rugby League rather than Union city.
I spent a useful day in Newcastle, which someone described as “the nearest thing to an English northern industrial city in Australia”. It has a proud history as one of the oldest settlements in NSW and the city centre contains many fine Victorian buildings. It grew rich on the back of the enormous coal deposits in the Hunter Valley, which remain a huge source of prosperity today.
I toured the Port and learned that over 90% of its trade is exports and over 90% of that is coal, and learned of its big expansion plans which offer interesting opportunities for UK companies. I met the Lord Mayor and the Regional Development board and discussed the important role which British resources and defence companies play in the region. And I lunched with the British-born Vice Chancellor of Newcastle University, a dynamic institution which is keen to develop relationships with UK universities.
Having spent much of my working life overseas, I’ve often missed out on great events going on back in the UK. But I can’t think of anything I’ve ever been sorrier to miss than the Diamond Jubilee celebrations. I stayed up into the small hours each night, watching it on TV: the River Pageant, the Concert, the Procession all looked magnificent.
There was massive coverage in the Australian media. And it was telling to see how much Australian involvement there was in London, from the Surf Lifesavers on the Thames to Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, Rolf Harris and Kylie at the Buckingham Palace Concert.