To all Australians on Australia Day

By His Excellency John Dauth
FIRST of all, happy Australia Day to all Australians living in this great city of London and all around the UK.  For our family and friends back home Australia Day means summer, barbeques and, of course, cricket on the television. For those of us living in colder climes we still have a chance to reflect on what our country means to each of us.

Personally, I always feel proud to represent such a diverse and equitable people with so many accomplishments.  Australia is a successful, strong society with a powerful economy. Our economic strength is due in part because Australians are famously hard workers (which is why employers love Australians here in the UK).

We live in a fascinating time where there is great growth in the world, particularly in our own Asia-Pacific region but many countries, especially in Europe are facing serious economic problems. In light of such issues we have much for which to be grateful.

While we are greatly advantaged by our close links to Asia, our traditional links with the UK obviously remain very strong. Our two countries are tied together by many Australians living and working here and the one million British-born residents of Australia. The UK still provides about a quarter of Australia’s annual immigration intake.  These traditional links are augmented by one of the strongest strategic relationships in the world.

Australia Day also gives us a time to look forward. No doubt 2012 will be an exciting time in the UK and with celebrations for the Diamond Jubilee, the Olympics and Paralympics we will have many opportunities to join in the festivities.  As many of you who experienced Sydney 2000 will know, such large public events bring a great amount of excitement and collective energy. These milestone events in 2012 will transform the UK and bring people from all walks of life together. I know that many people back home will be following the excitement here. We will be very lucky to be in the thick of it all.