Echuca, “paddle steamer capital of the world,” sits on the banks of the Murray River, which divides Victoria and New South Wales.
Most other state borders in Australia are arbitrary straight lines. The town flourished in the 1870s, when wool was shipped down the river from outback sheep stations, to be transferred by rail to Melbourne and thence to export markets in Britain. Nowadays Echuca is primarily a tourist town, made popular by the 1980s TV mini-series “All the Rivers Run”. Visiting on Sunday, we found it a beautiful spot, and another interesting reminder of our shared history.
I had been down in Melbourne swapping notes with various contacts on the challenges facing the new government. I called on Josh Frydenberg – an Oxford tennis “blue” – who has just been appointed Parliamentary Secretary in the Prime Minister’s office, working on regulatory reform.
This is a big priority for Tony Abbott, and an issue where Britain and Australia have useful experiences to swap. I met up with Greg Sheridan, diplomatic editor of The Australian newspaper and doyen of foreign policy writers here, who had just got back from a fact finding trip to Sri Lanka, which will be hosting the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in November.
I also saw Mike Smith, a Brit who runs one of Australia’s top banks, ANZ. He is an expert on Asia and regularly participates in business delegations accompanying Australian prime ministers on their travels in the region.
Melbourne was a mass of colour as fans of the Freemantle Dockers swarmed down Collins Street in their purple shirts.
They were over for the AFL Grand Final. It’s a long way to come from Western Australia, 2,700km away, but they weren’t going to miss the chance to see their team in its first ever final. Sadly for them they were beaten by Hawthorn, last year’s runners up.