LATIKA M BOURKE: Jay Weatherill starts UK Ambassador role with party as ex-Brit minister unloads on Smith

A First Nations Soprano draped the bar and serenaded with opera. Guests were given boxed lamingtons, a fake koala perched in one of many makeshift Eucalyptus trees erected around the Australian marble hall and a British minister downloaded on how he and former foreign minister Stephen Smith got absolutely hammered and vented about Kevin Rudd.

These were just a few of the highlights of the Australia Day party where Jay Weatherill hard-launched his diplomatic career as High Commissioner to the UK in London.

The former South Australian premier was warmly received by the room as he spoke of “one Australia” but also of the challenge of polarisation and the global uncertainty.

“All Australians are part of the story of Australia from the first Australians to the descendants of settlers, children of migrants and those who recently arrived,” he said.

“Our collective commitment to unity, respect and pride in our Australian identity matters more than ever in a world that is less certain and more polarised.

“This is a really important time for us to reflect on our shared values and on our shared history as we all try and make sense together of this uncertain world.”

He said research showed Australians described the country’s top traits as “beautiful” and “diverse” while two-thirds of respondents said Australian democracy was “fundamentally sound”.

“These are attributes that are not only a source of pride for us, they’re an important source of resilience for our country, especially as we work to heal from the horrors of last December’s Bondi attacks.”

“So as I begin this new role in London, it’s very evident to me, our ability to navigate global uncertainty, to bridge polarisation and to maximise opportunity is going to be measured through the strength of our partnerships.”

Former federal attorney-general George Brandis, who served as High Commissioner during the Coalition’s last term in government said Mr Weatherill had made a good first impression.

“Jay Weatherill impressed everyone with a charming speech,” he told The Nightly.

“First impressions count a lot, and he made a very good one.”

Damian Walsh, chair of the Britain-Australia Society told The Nightly that Mr Weatherill was warmly welcomed by the room.

“The new High Commissioner introduced himself to a receptive audience with his wonderful speech,” Mr Walsh said.

“He was inclusive of all the communities underpinning the deep, critically important relationship between Australia and the UK.”

Mr Wetherill hit the ground running with his public embrace of Australia Day, having arrived in the UK for the weekend and only officially taking up the job seven hours before throwing open the doors of Australia House to hundreds of the UK’s movers and shakers.

Bartenders poured Australian gins and mixed espresso martinis, and Aboriginal Australian soprano Sarah Prestwidge sat on the bar and serenaded the crowd with Puccini and Peter Allen’s patriotic classic, I Still Call Australia Home.

The room was packed with the many Australian cultural and political identities who were no longer invited to official events once Labor won office and Mr Smith took over the High Commission in 2023.

The event was a stark contrast to the dour tone set by Mr Smith who, when he arrived in London declared to staff that he was instituting a “purge on all parties” and kicked out a private Australia Day gala from the High Commission, citing “sensitivities” around celebrating the national day on January 26, which many Indigenous Australians mourn as “invasion day.”

Mr Smith’s tenure ended with a public tit-for-tat with prominent Australians in London who described the former Rudd government federal minister as a “dud” but whom Mr Smith dismissed as has-beens.

In his first remarks as a diplomat, Mr Weatherill paid tribute to Mr Smith, a former foreign and defence minister, who he said would be enjoying a “well-deserved rest” in “sunny Perth” compared to the snowy conditions forecast in the UK this week.

But it was the British minister for trade, Chris Bryant, who stole the show, when he revealed how he first met Mr Smith in 2009 in Cairns, far-north Queensland.

“He and I were both there for the Pacific Islands Forum and we were both very angry with our respective prime ministers that day,” Mr Bryant said.

“He was the foreign secretary and I was the Europe minister, covering the Indo-Pacific as well, and we got absolutely hammered at dinner but we sorted the world out in a good traditional ministerial way.”

Gordon Brown was the UK prime minister in 2009 and Kevin Rudd, who is currently finishing up as Australia’s Ambassador to the United States, was prime minister of Australia at the time. Mr Smith was in the “Rooster” Labor right faction that despised Mr Rudd.

Less than a year after Mr Smith and Mr Bryant spoke of their frustration with their respective prime ministers, Gordon Brown had lost UK Labour’s majority and resigned and the Roosters and the Labor right factions had rolled Mr Rudd and replaced him with Julia Gillard.

Mr Rudd, who last week flagged his early Washington exit, is hosting a black tie gala to celebrate Australia Day at the embassy in DC on Wednesday, despite a massive snowstorm hitting the capital.

It will be one of the last US events for Mr Rudd before he steps down to return to his think tank Asia Society in New York as President.

He will be replaced by Greg Moriaty the Defence Department secretary at the end of March.