I have realised that it has been some months since I have updated this blogsite. Have been somewhat busy the latter part of 2011.

As I sit at Sydney Airport, ready to board my Qantas flight to London, it is only fitting that I should resume blogging. For it was in Europe where this site was born. More created, a pan-European collaboration.

Anyway, I look forward to record my observations and ideas on the current State of Europe. We certainly do live in interesting times.

The Odyssey continues once more.

Photo: QANTAS tail fin of QF 1, bound for London.

The following was submitted for the jubilee publication of the 75th anniversary of Homebush Boys High School:

Two events will be celebrated this year. Through the course of history those two events have became intertwined in the rich tapestry of our nation’s history.

A great scholastic institution, Homebush Boys’ High School, will celebrate 75 years of academic, sporting and cultural excellence. For our family, this year will mark 25 years since we all set foot on Australian soil. We arrived on Boxing Day 1986, and our story, like many stories at Homebush Boys, is a tale of access to opportunity.

James Brown raises some valid points in his recent opinion piece. He argues that the prime minister and opposition leader should make the upcoming funeral of Private Matthew Lambert their last, and that it is time to depoliticise military funerals.

Military funerals should never be politicised. But I disagree that this should be the last funeral attended by the prime minister and opposition leader.

Brown writes that: “The presence of our most senior politicians at military funerals in Australia reinforces the myth that Australian military deaths in war are extraordinary and unexpected.”

I disagree. The presence of our most senior politicians at military funerals reinforces the reality to the public that Australia is at war. And people do die in wars.

Last night, I was at the Asia Society AustralAsia Centre’s annual dinner with Robert Zoellick, president of the World Bank Group.

The Hilton Hotel was filled with the who’s who of Australia’s diplomatic, business, political, and academic worlds.

A former prime minister, a current prime minister (Tonga’s), former premiers, current and former ministers, the consular corps, ceos, vice-chancellors, deans, media moguls, the odd splattering of royalty (Pacific Islander, not European), and me.

The founding director of the AustralAsia Centre, (and my mentor), Dick Woolcott was in conversation with Bob Zoellick on the global economic outlook, key global challenges, debt issues, the changing economic landscape and the rise of China.

The other week The Now Show on BBC Radio 4 had a very good ‘editorial’ by John Finnemore on the phone hacking scandal in the UK. Titled preaching to the choir, I think encapsulates the varies issues and grievances surrounding the phone hacking, the closure of The News of the World, and News Corporation’s takeover bid for BSkyB.

“Let’s keep the pressure up, keep the chorus of disapproval going, because right now we have a rare and genuine opportunity to tell the people who influence our lives, elected or not, what sort of media ethics we’re prepared to tolerate, right now we can make a difference, right now – if we don’t lose our focus- the choir get to preach back.”

Tonight I was at the advance screening of Robert Redford’s movie The Conspirator. It was released while I was in the United States and I had intended on seeing it. Though I knew of the story of the assassination of the 16th U.S. President, I was not aware of the initial conspiracy to kidnap him or of the coordinated plot to kill the not only the President, but also Vice President, and Secretary of State on the same night. The movie centres around the military trial of the only female accused conspirator.

As I watched the film, I was reminded of Cicero’s maxim in war, the law is silent. In fact the Latin was used in the movie. This episode in American history is a reminder that we should ‘seek justice, not revenge.’ And that all citizens are guaranteed certain fundamental rights (and responsibilities). Article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights speaks of a right to a fair public hearing: “Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.”

This should apply in both peace, and war.

Today, I was invited on a ship tour onboard the USS Fitzgerald. The Fitzgerald, along with a few other boats, planes, tanks, and U.S. defence personnel, are in Australia to take part in Exercise Talisman Sabre.

The  destroyer is based at Yokosuka, Japan and is part of the U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet. Fitzgerald, was active in the search, rescue, and recovery operations in Japan after the earthquake and Tsunami in March.

Talisman Sabre is a “is a biennial combined training activity, designed to train Australian and US forces in planning and conducting Combined Task Force operations in order to improve ADF/US combat readiness and interoperability.”

The exercise is to improve “combat training, readiness and interoperability, across the spectrum of military operations from conventional conflict to peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance efforts.” This year Talisman Sabre will incorporate “combined Special Forces operations, parachute drops, amphibious landings, land force manoeuvres, urban and air operations and the coordinated firing of live ammunition.”