3rd September 2014
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I called on Foreign Minister Julie Bishop this morning to touch base before she headed off to the NATO Summit in Newport, Wales, later this week. Australia has worked very closely with NATO and played an important role as the largest non-NATO contributor in the Afghanistan campaign. This relationship will not end with the campaign […]
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1st September 2014
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HE Dame Marie Bashir, New South Wales’ 37th Governor, reflected warmly on her first predecessor, Admiral Arthur Philip, when she hosted a glittering reception at Government House in Sydney on the 200th anniversary of his death on 31 August. She spoke of the debt that modern Australia owes its founding father. She also commended his personal qualities: […]
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29th August 2014
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“Even the stones seem to speak to you,” said Tony Abbott, describing Oxford’s ancient college buildings to this year’s Charlie Perkins/Chevening scholars. This sense of place would be very familiar to indigenous people. The Prime Minister takes a very close interest in indigenous matters. And Oxford, where he spent two very happy years as a […]
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18th August 2014
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“You know, in the end, we are all worms, but I do believe I am a glow worm” Winston Churchill once told a friend. Paul Keating, speaking in 2008 agreed “He was a glow worm and he lit up the most miserable epoch of the miserable twentieth century like no one before or after him.” […]
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13th August 2014
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I no longer cower behind the sofa at the opening bars of the Dr Who theme tune, but it still summons up something of the frisson I remember from Saturday nights in my childhood. Interestingly, I just learned that the melody was composed by an Australian, Ron Grainer, for the first series back in 1963. […]
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12th August 2014
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Sydney’s arts and cultural community gathered at our Consul General’s Residence last week to say farewell to outgoing British Council Director Nick Marchand. The British Council do a fantastic job as the UK’s organization for international cultural relations. They support the third pillar of our relationship with Australia – people to people links – alongside […]
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8th August 2014
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The official memorial service for the Australian victims of the Malaysian Airlines tragedy took place at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne yesterday. I sat with the Dutch and Malaysian ambassadors as we mourned this senseless loss of life. Australian leaders turned out in force to demonstrate the whole country’s support for the bereaved families. The […]
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5th August 2014
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Alongside Ambassadors and High Commissioners from many countries, representing both sides of the conflict, I took part yesterday in a moving ceremony to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the start of WW1, at Canberra’s Australian War Memorial. Meanwhile in Glasgow, Governor General Sir Peter Cosgrove, one of Australia’s most distinguished former soldiers, represented Australia at the Commonwealth […]
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4th August 2014
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So, a very successful Commonwealth Games draws to a close in Glasgow. The city showed itself off to great effect, helped by some wonderful weather. The organisers and volunteers can take great pride in the welcome they provided. Scottish and English athletes shared triumphs together as part of Team GB at London 2012. Here they […]
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31st July 2014
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New South Wales Premier Mike Baird, almost exactly 100 days in office, addressed an Australian British Chamber of Commerce lunch in Sydney yesterday. He described the state’s trade and investment links with Britain as large and growing, something he is keen to continue. British companies are major investors in NSW; many of them were represented […]
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