Australian Embassy Rome
Newsletter
Issue 11, April 2015
Via Antonio Bosio, 5
tel : 06 852 721
Australia Day
Veneto
On 24 January Australia Day was celebrated
at CastelBrando, in a reception organised by
the Associazione Italia Australia. The event
has been held annually for nine years and is
the biggest Australia Day celebration in Italy
involving the Italo-Australian community.
This year’s celebration had the theme “Born
in Australia” and involved many people,
businesses and institutions that link our two
countries.
Ambassador Rann’s speech at the event
highlighted the important contribution of the
Italian community to Australia’s development.
Other speakers at the event included Massimo
Colomban, Australia’s Honorary Consul in
Veneto, and Fulvio Brunetta, President of the
National Council of the Associazione Italia
Australia.
[email protected]
www.italy.embassy.gov.au
@Mike_Rann
Australia Day Rome
On 27 January, the Rome Embassy hosted an Australia Day reception
for around 250 guests. The reception also marked the return to the
Australian Ambassador’s official Residence in Parioli after renovation
work over the last couple of years.
Ambassador Rann and his wife Sasha Carruozzo were delighted to
welcome guests from Italian institutions, business, arts, media, other
diplomatic representations, and representatives of the multilateral
organisations based in Rome. Among those present were former
Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta and Ertherin Cousin, the Executive
Director of the World Food Programme. Ambassador Rann gave a
short speech outlining the importance of Australia Day and the close
ties that link Australia and Italy.
Left: Ambassador
Rann with his fellow
Ambassadors from
the UK, Ireland and
Canada
Vale Malcolm Fraser
Former Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm
Fraser died on 20 March, aged 84. He was
Prime Minister and Leader of the Liberal
Party from 1975 to 1983. He has family
connections with Italy as his sister, Lorri
Whiting, lives in Tuscany. As Prime Minister
he paid an official visit to Italy in June 1977.
Above: Ambassador Rann and Massimo Colomban
Malcolm Fraser was a strong supporter
of SBS, Australia’s multilingual broadcaster. An SBS documentary
called “The Life and Times of Malcolm Fraser” was made in 2004
by ItaloAustralian filmmaker Luigi Acquisto and co-producer Stella
Zammataro.
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and Trade?
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Australian Embassy Rome
Socceroos win Asian Cup
In January, Australia hosted and won the Asian Cup, the tournament
for the top 16 teams in Asia. The tournament was the most watched
Asian Cup ever, culminating in Australia’s 2-1 victory over South
Korea before a 76,000 crowd at Sydney’s Stadium Australia.
The victory in the final was sealed by goals from two ItaloAustralian
players, Massimo Luongo and James Troisi. Luongo was also picked
as Most Valuable Player of the tournament.
www.italy.embassy.gov.au
Australia Day Tirana
On 3 February, Ambassador Rann hosted over
100 people at the Galeria Kalo in Tirana to
celebrate Australia Day in Albania.
The Embassy was delighted that the event
coincided with the launch of the gallery’s new
exhibition “People”, a fitting subject given
Ambassador Rann’s focus on the strong
people-to-people links between Australia and
Albania.
During his trip, the Ambassador also travelled
to the Albanian town of Korce, which
established a sister city relationship with
the town of Shepparton in Victoria in 2013.
Ambassador Rann met local authorities and
was briefed on the work of a domestic violence
outreach program funded by Australian aid.
A Fashionable Partnership
In February, Ambassador Rann visited the historic wool processing
town of Biella in Piedmont. In the company of Fabrizio Servente,
Global Strategy Advisor at Australian Wool Innovation, he met the
heads of companies such as Loro Piana, Ermenegildo Zegna, Reda
and Marzotto.
Australian merino wool accounts for about 80% of the wool used by
such companies and there has been a long history of cooperation
between Italian companies and Australian sheep farmers. This is also
starting to translate into direct investment, such as the joint venture
undertaken by Ermenegildo Zegna last year with Achill, a superfine
wool producer in New South Wales.
Cadel Evans Retires
On 1 February 2015, Cadel Evans, the Australian cycling star, retired
from the sport following his final race in Australia in a new event
named in his honour, the Cadel Evans Road Race held in Victoria.
Evans won the Tour de France in 2011 and the UCI Road World
Championships in 2009.
Evans has numerous ties to Italy, not least his Italian wife Chiara
Passerini. Early in his career, Evans rode for the Mapei team
sponsored by the now President of Confindustria Giorgio Squinzi and
they have remained close friends. Commenting
on Evans’ retirement, Squinzi praised his honesty
and clean approach to the sport.
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Want to know more about doing business with Australia? Left:
Ambassador
Rann speaking
at Galeria Kalo
and Përparim
Kalo, owner of
Galeria Kalo
150 Years of Reda
Lanificio Reda celebrates its 150th anniversary
in 2015 and, to commemorate this milestone,
the company, in cooperation with Woolmark,
has published a photobook created by the
Magnum Photos agency.
The volume gathers the images that best
represent the company’s history, focussing on
the values that have been the keys to success
of this woollen mill.
Both the pictures and the raw material, merino
wool, are the protagonists of an interactive and
multi-sensorial exhibition which has recently
visited Milan and will shortly move to Berlin,
New York and London.
Visit www.austrade.gov.au
Australian Embassy Rome
www.italy.embassy.gov.au
Cav. Kurt Lambeck
Discovering Emilia-Romagna
Kurt Lambeck of the Australian National
University and former President of the
Australian Academy of Science was recently
appointed a Cavaliere of the Italian Republic
at a ceremony held at the Italian Embassy
in Canberra. The award was given for his
collaboration with Italy and his promotion of
scientific exchange.
On 23 February, Ambassador Rann met the new President of the
Emilia Romagna Region, Stefano Bonaccini, in Bologna to discuss
Australian investment in the region. This was followed by meetings
with some of the key companies in the area with ties to Australia,
including engineering company Bonfiglioli which has an important
commercial presence in Australia, world famous motorbike company
Ducati which has a long tradition of success with Australian riders
such as Casey Stoner and Troy Bayliss, and Segafredo Zanetti, the
well-known coffee company which has a strong presence in Australia.
Ambassador Rann also visited Cochlear, the Australian hearing aid
company, which has its Italian HQ in Bologna.
In his long career Lambeck has worked
extensively in Italy studying sea levels from
Roman times on, reaching the conclusion
that they were largely unchanged up until
around 100 years ago, a change which may be
connected to global warming. His work also
extrapolated what might happen to the Italian
coastline over the next century.
Finally, Ambassador Rann gave a talk at Johns Hopkins University in
Bologna, on the theme “The Asian Imperative”.
Aussie Fireworks
The Australian company Foti Fireworks was
founded by a family from Calabria which
moved to Australia in 1952. The company has
organised the famous New Year’s fireworks
display from Sydney Harbour Bridge for a
number of years as well as many other major
projects in Australia and elsewhere. They will
be one of four firework companies competing
in the World Fireworks Championship at Forte
dei Marmi, with three events planned for
23 May, 6 and 20 June. A jury will choose the
winner who will be announced on the night of
4 July.
Above: left Ambassador Rann with Stefano Bonaccini; right Ambassador Rann visiting the Segafredo
Zanetti factory
Veneto Encounters
Australia, a bridge
into Asia
On 27 March, Ambassador Rann spoke at an
event in Rome organised by the Italian Ministry
of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation,
the Bank of Italy and the Ministry of Economic
Development. The event was titled “Australia, a
bridge into Asia” and highlighted how Australia
can help Italian companies approach the
Asia-Pacific’s booming markets from a “safe”
base in the region.
Also speaking at the event were Don Koch, the
Country Manager of Italy for the ING banking
group, and Senator Benedetto Della Vedova,
Under-secretary at the Italian Foreign Ministry.
Want to know more about tourism in Australia?
Above: Ambassador Rann visiting the Cappellotto factory
Prior to the Australia Day event at CastelBrando Ambassador Rann
had the opportunity to visit some of Veneto’s leading companies
in the company of Honorary Consul Massimo Colomban, many of
which have existing and growing links with Australia. Over the course
of two days Ambassador Rann visited companies such as Benetton,
Fassa Bortolo, Geox, Veneto Banca, Cappellotto SpA as well as the
main business associations in the region. Ambassador Rann was
particularly struck by the technological innovation displayed by the
companies he visited, a factor which makes their
products highly sought after around the globe and
certainly in Australia.
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Visit www.australia.com
Australian Embassy Rome
www.italy.embassy.gov.au
Australians working in Italy
An Aus s i e m a s s er i a
Rob Potter-Sanders is restoring a beautiful masseria in the province
of Lecce (Puglia) to make a small, elegant private hotel. Rob has
extensive experience in the hotel industry in Australia, the United
Kingdom, Morocco and Italy.
The Masseria consists of an underground grotto, where oil was made
for centuries, and a main building with the original vaulted ceilings.
Within the courtyard is the chapel of Santa Barbara, while there are
six gardens filled with nineteen types of fruit and nuts. Parts of the
property date back to the sixth century A.D. The property has gone
largely untouched for the last 200 years. Rob purchased the property
in May 2013 and the hotel will open in June this year with the first
group of guests coming from Sydney.
Aside from the Australians working for
Australian companies in Italy, there are also
a number of Australians filling key roles in
interesting projects throughout the country,
whether working for themselves or for
multinational companies.
Here we offer brief profiles of three such
Australians and we will feature others in future
editions of the newsletter.
Liz Westcott
Liz Westcott
(left) works for
ExxonMobil and
since August
2013 has been
seconded as
Managing
Director of Adriatic LNG, with responsibility for
Italy’s largest LNG regasification terminal in the
Adriatic.
Adriatic LNG is an organization of 125 people
with annual revenue of over 200 m. euro per
year. It has a key role in ensuring Italy’s energy
security. Prior to taking up this role in Italy, Liz
worked on various major energy infrastructure
projects in Australia, Asia and Europe. She
graduated in engineering from the University
of Melbourne in 1993.
D on K och
Don Koch (left) has been
the Country Manager
for Italy at ING Bank
since August 2012.
Don began his career
with ING Group in 1999
when he was charged
with setting up ING
Direct Australia as Chief
Technology Officer. His
success in Australia led
to a start-up role in Italy and key operations
and technology roles in Poland, India and
Australasia.
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Above: Images of Rob Potter-Sanders’s masseria
Want to know more about the Australian Institute of Sport? Between 2009 and 2012 he was CEO at ING
DIRECT Australia. Don was the key speaker at
the recent event “Australia, a Bridge into Asia”
alongside Ambassador Rann (see separate
article in newsletter).
Visit www.ausport.gov.au
Australian Embassy Rome
Australian Catholic
University centre
in Rome
In September 2015, the Australian Catholic
University (ACU) will open a new study centre
in Rome in collaboration with the Catholic
University of America.
Located on the Janiculum hill near the
Vatican, the centre will offer living quarters
for undergraduates, a wing for postgraduate
students, apartments for visiting faculty, a
chapel, garden and other amenities.
ACU Vice-Chancellor Professor Greg Craven
said the centre was an important
coming-of-age for the University.
Anzac Day
www.italy.embassy.gov.au
Our Albanian Projects
The Australian Embassy has funded six Direct Aid Program (DAP)
projects in Albania in 2015, across two funding rounds, disbursing
a total of AUD 88,000. The projects are aimed at alleviating
poverty, promoting Roma and Egyptian identity, empowering
vulnerable women and improving the environment.
Funding was provided to Cultural Heritage without Borders
(CHwB), for the production of handicrafts, the Institute of Romani
Culture in Albania (IRCA) for the setting up and operating of a
Roma online radio and the Tirana Legal Aid Society (TLAS) to
empower vulnerable women to access legal aid services.
The second round of funding was provided to Democratic
Integration and Development, to help paraplegic children to
access school, to the Association of Traditional & Artistic Crafts
& Trade (ATACT), raising people’s environmental awareness,
fostering tourism and economic growth in the Lake Ohrid area
and to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
(OSCE), to increase the participation of Roma and Egyptians in
political life in Albania, in particular with regard to local elections
in 2015.
New Zealanders and Australians in Rome will
commemorate the Centenary of ANZAC Day
with a memorial service. The service will take
place at the Rome War Cemetery, Via Nicola
Zabaglia (Piramide) on Saturday 25 April at
9.00 a.m. An informal reception will follow
the service at the New Zealand Embassy, Via
Clitunno 44.
For security purposes an RSVP is mandatory
for those wishing to attend the reception.
Everyone is welcome.
Above: Young Albanians participating in the ATACT project, planting trees on the shores of Lake Ohrid
RSVP: [email protected] or
telephone 06 853 7501.
Say what? Aussie Slang...
CONTACTS
Australian Embassy Rome
Via Antonio Bosio, 5
00161 Rome
tel: 06 8527 21
fax: 06 8527 2300
email: [email protected]
website: www.italy.embassy.gov.au
twitter: @Mike_Rann
Dazza (Daryl) is so excited for Easter this year! He was telling me
he’s planning a trip out past the black stump (out into the middle of
nowhere) to attend a B&S (a Bachelors and Spinsters Ball – usually
held in rural areas). Sounds like a great piss-up (a party with free
flowing alcohol)! He asked me along but one of my crow eater mates
(a friend from South Australia) is coming over for the long weekend
with his trouble and strife (wife) and I thought I had better hang
around the big smoke (the city).
Hopefully we’ll head to the ‘G (the Melbourne Cricket Ground)
and watch a game of footy (football) and have a couple of tinnies
(beers). Should be alright (fun)!
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Australian Embassy Rome accepts no responsibility for, such views or opinions, or any other advice or information contained in this publication. Readers should obtain their own
independent advice and rely on their own enquiries in making decisions about their interests. In making this disclaimer, the Australian Embassy Rome intends to exclude liability
for any such opinions, views, advice or information to the full extent permissible by law.