Tag: Julia Gillard

2nd July 2013

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by Paul Madden

British Ambassador to Japan

Shadow Foreign Secretary visits… in an interesting week in Canberra

Last week Shadow Foreign Secretary, the Rt Hon Douglas Alexander MP, visited Australia as a guest of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The Australian government arranged the programme for him, but we gave him an in-depth briefing at the High Commission, and I hosted a dinner to discuss foreign policy with MPs, officials […]

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5th May 2013

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by Paul Madden

British Ambassador to Japan

New Australian Defence White Paper

Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Defence Minister Stephen Smith launched Australia’s new Defence White Paper in an RAAF hangar in Canberra. They were flanked by Australia’s senior military chiefs and defence officials, against the backdrop of some impressive looking hardware and a military band. The hangar was open to the elements, so we could all […]

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19th September 2012

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by Paul Madden

British Ambassador to Japan

A busy week in Parliament

Canberra is “a game of two halves” as the football (soccer) commentators put it. For about 20 weeks a year, the parliamentarians descend on it from all across this vast continent, in a whirl of activity. The rest of time it is somewhat quieter. With Parliament sitting last week, I was up there twice speaking […]

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30th May 2012

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by Paul Madden

British Ambassador to Japan

Indigenous Scholars head for Cambridge and Oxford

Prime Minister Julia Gillard joined us in congratulating three young indigenous scholars who are going off to study at Oxford and Cambridge. I took them over to Parliament for tea with the PM, after hosting an uplifting scholarship ceremony at my Residence. The British Government is a key partner in the Charlie Perkins indigenous scholarships, […]

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