Postcard from Australia.

It's not often one draws the bedroom curtain to find a bunch of kangaroos outside. Staying in a chalet in  the Jarrah forest in the Margaret River wine region of South West Australia gives much scope for wild life observation; fortunately no nasty crawly things so far. The chalet is on the Island Brook estate, a boutique winery in this gorgeous part of Australia. And I'm blogging after a day around some of the finest wineries Australia has to offer!  Highlight was Cullens. Would have bought some but the helpful wine taster in chief said it’s cheaper in the UK and gave me a list of the stockist! Their Chardonnay is a world beater.

On holiday in Australia (every good CEO deserves a break, even me!) and arrived in Perth after spending a while in the Hunter valley wine region. On a farm as it happens. And so lots of wine tasting and good food.

Here are a few photos for you amusement. 

The hunter valley

In the driving seat

In the Hunter Valley

Mandurah  beach

Sunset at Mandurah.

The hunter valley

A milestone on the Lobbying Act

My team interrupted my Australian holiday last night to let me know some good news from SW1. At long last the Labour Party have committed to repeal the dreadful Lobbying Act if they win power in 2015. Good on Ed.

We’ve spoken with Angela Eagle’s office a lot recently, and I wrote in February to all three party leaders to urge them to commit their parties to repeal. David Cameron wrote back to promise that the act “will only apply to third-party organisations or charities who spend money to procure the electoral success of a particular political party or candidate”. But he didn’t commit to replacing the Act with a better-drafted law. Now Labour have gone one better.

Labour’s commitment means the other parties must follow suit. It’s in their interests, and in the country’s interest, for all parties to commit to rewriting the bad law the government have produced.

But for now ACEVO’s campaign won’t rest. We’ll keep at the Electoral Commission and all the political parties, to make sure that the Lobbying Act regulation for the 2015 election is proportionate and that there’s good plans in place for a replacement law after 2015. You can now find updates on our fantastic new website too. Just go to http://www.acevo.org.uk/campaigns/speaking-truth-power-lobbying-act.

New start for the NHS, and a community development award

 I was pleased to see this morning’s Times report that Simon Stevens, who started as new Chief Executive of NHS England yesterday, has already spoken out against the ‘misplaced consensus’ within our health service. He says it must be prepared for a wider range of innovative approaches to healthcare. 

That means a larger role for charities and social enterprises. He is quite right; the NHS must be more open-minded if it is to stop ‘the wheels coming off’, in his words.

It’s encouraging to see this strong message being set from day one of Simon’s tenure. He is clearly open to greater third sector involvement. It will be good to see what happens next.

On a happier note, I pleased to see that Dr Mohammed Ali OBE was awarded the Uthman Dan Fodio Award for Excellence in Community Development at the twelfth Muslim News Awards for Excellence on Monday night, in a ceremony attended by the Prime Minister. He is Founder and CEO of QED Foundation, a Yorkshire-based charity and social enterprise which tackles issues of health, education and employment in south Asian communities by providing a range of innovative services across the UK and overseas. It is a much-deserved award. Well done!