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Paul Madden

British Ambassador to Japan

Part of UK in Australia

15th April 2013

Country matters

HE Paul Madden with British Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Owen Paterson

Standing in his moleskins in a grove of gum trees in rural Victoria, British Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Owen Paterson looked every inch the countryman. Me, in my dark suit, not so much.

HE Paul Madden with British Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Owen Paterson
HE Paul Madden with British Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Owen Paterson

He was here with scientific and policy officials to look at several aspects of Australian agriculture. The gum trees were part of a “Biodiversity offset” project where developers had been required to conserve a pristine reserve, in compensation for a development project which destroyed nature in another part of the state. It’s an interesting concept which may hold lessons for Britain, where the government is seeking to reduce the bureaucratic constraints planning regulations impose on the economy, whilst fully maintaining environmental protection.Mr Paterson also looked at Australia’s vaunted animal and plant quarantine procedures at ports and airports. In a globalised world, biosecurity is ever more important, to present damaging diseases and pests from moving rapidly from country to country. He visited farms and agricultural science laboratories. There is much scope for greater UK/Australia collaboration in these fields.

He also received a fascinating briefing on Australian water management, including the Murray Darling Basin Plan. This is a massive scheme, and covers a catchment twice the size of France which irrigates half of Australian agriculture. It has not been without controversy, between individual users and between the different states through which it flows. But the key has been monetising irrigation rights, so that they can be traded to enable the market to allocate water to the most productive uses.

In addition to farmers, politicians and officials, Mr Paterson also had a chance to meet business representatives and discuss international agricultural trade. Not surprisingly, Australian exports to Britain in this sector, £457m (of which £308m is wine), are twice UK exports to Australia, though these are not insignificant at £228m (of which £80m is scotch whisky). The composition of those trade flow ensures that we can certainly raise a glass to each other.

About Paul Madden

Paul Madden has been the British Ambassador to Japan from January 2017. He was Additional Director for Asia Pacific at the FCO in 2015.He was British High Commissioner to Australia…

Paul Madden has been the British Ambassador to Japan from January 2017.

He was Additional Director for Asia Pacific at the FCO in 2015.He was British High Commissioner to Australia until February 2015. Prior to this he was British High Commissioner in Singapore from 2007-2011.

A career diplomat, he was previously Managing Director at UK Trade and Investment (2004-2006), responsible for co-ordinating and
implementing international trade development strategies to support
companies across a wide range of business sectors.

As Assistant Director of Information at the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office (2003-2004) he was responsible for public diplomacy policy,
including managing the FCO funding of the BBC World Service, the British
Council and the Chevening Scholarships programme. He led the team
responsible for the award-winning UK pavilion at the Aichi Expo in Japan
2005.

He was Deputy High Commissioner in Singapore from 2000-2003 and has
also served in Washington (1996-2000) and Tokyo (1988-92). Between
1992-96 he worked on EU enlargement and Environmental issues at the FCO
in London.

Before joining FCO he worked at the Department of Trade and Industry
(1980-87) on a range of industrial sectors and trade policy, including
two years as a minister’s Private Secretary.

He has an MA in Economic Geography from Cambridge University, an MBA
from Durham University, studied Japanese at London University’s School
of Oriental and African Studies, and is a Fellow of the Royal
Geographical Society. His first book, Raffles: Lessons in Business
Leadership, was published in 2003.

Married to Sarah, with three children, he was born in 1959, in Devon.