Politics

George Brandis headed to London for cushy new role

George Brandis is officially heading to London. Source: Getty

Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop has today announced that former attorney-general George Brandis will take over from Alexander Downer as Australia’s High Commissioner to the UK.

While rumours about Brandis heading to London surfaced last year, Bishop officially made the announcement on Tuesday.

“Today I announce the appointment of The Hon George Brandis QC as Australia’s next High Commissioner to the United Kingdom,” she said in a statement.

“Australia’s warm and long-standing relationship with the UK is built on deep historical ties, shared values and closely aligned strategic, security and economic interests. People of British descent are our largest migrant community. The United Kingdom is our fourth largest source of visitors, with over 700,000 British tourists to Australia in 2017.”

She said that the ties between the United Kingdom and Australia continue to grow, noting the UK is our second-largest source of foreign investment that is worth $515.5 billion. Bishop also praised Brandis for his political past.

“Mr Brandis has had a distinguished political career in Australia as a member of the Federal Parliament,” she said. “His appointments have included Attorney-General, Vice-President of the Executive Council, Leader of the Government in the Senate, Federal Minister for the Arts, and Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate.”

The Courier Mail recently reported that Brandis will earn somewhere north of $300,000 each year for his role in London, in addition to a range of perks and benefits that come with the highly sought-after job.

Since Downer first took up the job in 2014, he’s enjoyed a lavish lifestyle that will soon be the norm for Brandis. According to an article by The Advertiser, London became Downer’s playground and he attended an array of star-studded events, and mingled with the Royal Family on more than one occasion.

He was invited to a royal box at Wimbledon, regularly went boating in the iconic River Thames and travelled first class when he attended the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014. He was reportedly paid an annual salary of $280,000 for his duties.

More recently he was spotted at the Commonwealth Fashion Exchange event at Australia House last month where he socialised with Hollywood actor Colin Firth and his Italian-born wife Livia.

Bishop thanked Downer for his “significant contributions” to advancing Australia’s interests in the United Kingdom.

Starts at 60 reached out to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in relation to Brandis’ salary and perks that come with the job. We are awaiting comment.

What do you think of the news? Have you ever had to work overseas for a job?

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