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 […]
1st February 2012
I’m still in London, making a series of calls on government officials, business representatives and others with links to Australia. Describing some of my meetings below will give you a flavour of the enormous diversity of UK/Australian interests we engage with. I visited Ramsay Healthcare, a major Australia provider which operates around 40 hospitals and […]
29th January 2012
I am currently in London for the 4th AUKMIN meeting which took place on 23/24 January at the prestigious Lancaster House near Buckingham Palace. Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd and Defence Minister Stephen Smith, led a large Australian delegation of senior officials and military officers. They were welcomed by Foreign Secretary William Hague and Defence Secretary […]
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