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Never Carry Your Own Briefcase

Never Carry Your Own Briefcase

John M. Allgrove

On arrival on the footpath in front of the hotel, with French driver holding the door open for the PM - I had already ascertained which side he wished to travel - Prime Minister Fraser turned to me and said, 'I want to go in that car,' pointing to a stretched limousine parked some fifty metres away to the right. It happened to be the French press vehicle!

Never Carry Your Own Briefcase is the always personal, often humorous story of a much-travelled Australian Trade Commissioner. In a career spanning more than thirty-four years, John Allgrove's assignments took him to Calcutta, Bombay, Athens, Cairo, Hong Kong, Taipei, Bangkok, Paris, Jakarta, Seoul and Frankfurt, before he retired after his final posting in Singapore in 1995. His children were born in Hong Kong, Taipei, Bangkok and Paris.

Austrade's mission is to increase the international success of Australian business. Never Carry Your Own Briefcase gives us a unique glimpse into Austrade's endeavours over decades, via the on-the-ground experiences of one of its longest-serving officers.

$29.95

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John M. Allgrove was born in Johore, across the Causeway from Singapore, where his father managed a rubber plantation. The war had tragic circumstances for John's family. His mother died at the fall of Singapore, and his father, as a POW, was one of the many who built the bridge over the River Kwai. His education was completed in Adelaide and at Reading University in the United Kingdom.

After joining the Australian Trade Commission Service in 1962, he was first posted in Calcutta. Then followed the largest series of overseas postings of any Trade Commissioner on record. His final position was Executive General Manager of South-East Asia, based in Singapore.

In June 2001, John was awarded an Institute of Public Administration Australia medal, on the occasion of the Centenary of the Australian Public Service, as having made a superior contribution to the Australian Public Service. (Ralph Evans, former Managing Director, Austrade)

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ISBN   9781743053669
CATEGORY   
IMAGES   16 pp colour and greyscale photographs
PAGE COUNT   160
DIMENSIONS   235 x 155 mm