Linking up with Austrailia

Desperate measures are needed.

Moves are afoot to 'broaden the membership' of a branch of the Britain-Australia Society (aim: to 'maintain the fundamental links of family, business and political life which have bound Britain and Australia since 1788') formed in Harrogate.

Membership of the fledgling branch remains modest. Now members are taking the radical step of re-naming themselves the Britain-Australia Society, North Yorkshire Branch.

They're also planning their own Australia Day dinner in Harrogate on January 26. All this is as it should be. North Yorkshire, after all, has historic links with Down Under. It was from here that Captain Cook sailed on the epic voyage which led to the discovery of Australia.

They're links that have endured to the present day. Go into any bar in the county and before long the chances are you'll come across a member of the bar staff with that distinctive Antipodean twang. Australia's a favourite destination for our own back-packing students, too. And didn't our Aussie friends recently demonstrate their fondness for the Old Country by voting to keep the Queen as their Head of State?

It's a long way to Australia. But in these days of global communication, the Internet and satellite phones, it's not nearly as far away as it was when Captain Cook set sail from Whitby Harbour.

So good luck to the Britain-Australia Society, North Yorkshire Branch, say we. With the 21st Century upon us, the need for the nations of the world to unite together is all the stronger. And with a bit of luck, if we're really kind to our cousins from the southern hemisphere, next time their cricket team visits perhaps they won't be so hard on us.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.