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Paul Madden

British Ambassador to Japan

Part of UK in Australia

23rd January 2015

Farewell to Perth

My final visit to Perth. It’s actually the Australian city I knew best before I moved here, as it’s just a short hop from my previous post in Singapore (closer than Canberra, 2000 miles and 3 time zones away), and because my Aunt – a “ten pound Pom” – had settled here.

HE Paul Madden and Sarah Madden (right) with HE Kerry Sanderson, Governor WA
HE Paul Madden and Sarah Madden (right) with HE Kerry Sanderson, Governor WA

I’ve usually got here three times a year during my posting. For much of my time, Australia’s foreign or defence ministers have come from WA (Julie Bishop, David Johnston, Stephen Smith) and so Perth ended up hosting a number of international meetings. The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in 2011 was very memorable, with the Queen and 54 heads of state or government, including PM Cameron, in town. We also had our AUKMIN annual foreign and defence ministers meeting here in 2013.

I’ve also visited British-linked companies like Rio, BHP and Shell in the resources sector here and the BAE shipyard. Travelling to a remote iron-ore mine in the Pilbara, and a gold mine in Kalgoorlie were amazing experiences. A few months ago I was in Albany in the south of WA for the WW1 ANZAC commemorations. It’s a vast state, into which you could fit much of Western Europe, and it produces half of Australia’s exports. And proportionately it has the highest number of British residents, reflecting its historic role as an immigration arrival point. They were out in force to cheer on England at the historic WACA ground during the last Ashes series. Sadly to little avail.

Today I met up with Christian Porter who last year left a career in state politics, where he seemed headed for the Premiership, to stand for national office and has just been appointed Parliamentary Secretary to PM Tony Abbott. A former Chevening scholar at the LSE in London, Christian had recently returned from a leadership study tour in the UK, organized by the FCO. We also called on Governor Kerry Sanderson, formerly WA’s Agent General in London, to say farewell. And we hosted a reception to say goodbye to a range of contacts from government, business and community organisations.

Frustratingly, people often have the misapprehension that we no longer have an office in Perth. It is true that for several years now we haven’t had a British diplomat as Consul, getting out and about with a high public profile. But we do have a Consulate with 8 staff – one of the largest in Perth – who are very busy supporting business and British citizens. They are located at 251 Adelaide Terrace. And the separate UK Visa Application Centre in Perth is on St George’s Terrace.

About Paul Madden

Paul Madden has been the British Ambassador to Japan from January 2017. He was Additional Director for Asia Pacific at the FCO in 2015.He was British High Commissioner to Australia…

Paul Madden has been the British Ambassador to Japan from January 2017.

He was Additional Director for Asia Pacific at the FCO in 2015.He was British High Commissioner to Australia until February 2015. Prior to this he was British High Commissioner in Singapore from 2007-2011.

A career diplomat, he was previously Managing Director at UK Trade and Investment (2004-2006), responsible for co-ordinating and
implementing international trade development strategies to support
companies across a wide range of business sectors.

As Assistant Director of Information at the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office (2003-2004) he was responsible for public diplomacy policy,
including managing the FCO funding of the BBC World Service, the British
Council and the Chevening Scholarships programme. He led the team
responsible for the award-winning UK pavilion at the Aichi Expo in Japan
2005.

He was Deputy High Commissioner in Singapore from 2000-2003 and has
also served in Washington (1996-2000) and Tokyo (1988-92). Between
1992-96 he worked on EU enlargement and Environmental issues at the FCO
in London.

Before joining FCO he worked at the Department of Trade and Industry
(1980-87) on a range of industrial sectors and trade policy, including
two years as a minister’s Private Secretary.

He has an MA in Economic Geography from Cambridge University, an MBA
from Durham University, studied Japanese at London University’s School
of Oriental and African Studies, and is a Fellow of the Royal
Geographical Society. His first book, Raffles: Lessons in Business
Leadership, was published in 2003.

Married to Sarah, with three children, he was born in 1959, in Devon.