25th April 2012
Up at 4.30am. And it’s my birthday. But I would not want to miss the privilege of attending ANZAC Day, Australia’s national day of commemoration for those who have sacrificed their lives serving Australia, in many conflicts over the years since the Gallipoli landings began 97 year ago today. The Australian War Memorial is one […]
23rd April 2012
A quintessentially Australian experience: an invitation to appear on the Hamish and Andy radio show. Somehow this impressed my local staff more than when I go on the ABC to talk about foreign policy. Hamish Blake has just won the Gold “Logie” as this year’s most popular TV personality in Australia. He and comedic partner […]
18th April 2012
Australia was one of the first places in the world to mark the “100 days to go” to the London Olympics. I joined some of the 400 Australian athletes who will be competing in London and Australian Olympic Committee representatives, for a colourful event at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre in Queensland. The media were […]
2nd April 2012
Ever tried to play a Carillon? The Canberra Times said my chopsticks startled passers-by. But it’s hard to play a keyboard of pegs, which you have to hit with the heel of your hand to sound the mighty bells from a foundry in Loughborough. I was at the National Carillon on an island in Canberra’s […]
21st March 2012
Our Sports and Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson MP was in Melbourne this weekend to launch the GREAT campaign in Australia. This marketing campaign, which is running in ten countries around the world, aims to build on the fact that London and the UK will be a focus of world attention this year, with The Queen’s Diamond […]
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13th March 2012
It’s been quite a business-focused couple of weeks. I accompanied Hector Sants, CEO of the UK’s Financial Services Authority for calls in Canberra and Sydney. He had come to look at Australia’s “Twin Peaks” regulatory structure, which is close to the model the UK is currently moving towards. We called on Treasurer Wayne Swan, Assistant […]
26th February 2012
I was in Perth last week for the major Australasia Oil and Gas show. We had some 60 British companies there, the largest group we had ever sent to this important show, and the largest international group represented there. That’s not surprising when you consider the scale of the opportunities in this sector in Australia, […]
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22nd February 2012
I hosted a lunch yesterday for celebrated British actress Miriam Margolyes who is touring Australia with her show “Dickens’ Women”. With her hugely varied and successful career across stage, TV and film she is one of our best loved actresses. Miriam has a lifelong passion for Charles Dickens, perhaps Britain’s greatest ever novelist, and she spoke entertainingly about […]
20th February 2012
I travelled up to the Northern Territory to participate in a weekend of commemorations for the 70th anniversary of the WWII attack on Darwin. 19 February 1942 was not of course the start of the war for Australia. Australian diggers had been fighting alongside their British comrades for two years and five months by then. […]
8th February 2012
There is a significant Australian presence at Oxford University, as in so many other aspects of UK life. I have just spent a fascinating day there. First, I attended the opening of the new global HQ of Australian company SAE Institute which runs 54 creative media training institutions in 26 countries around the world. The […]