Former English cricket captain and current Member of the House of Lords of the United Kingdom Sir Ian Botham visited UOW’s Innovation Campus earlier this week, touring facilities and meeting with local business leaders as part of a day-long visit to the city.
Lord Botham is a part of the United Kingdom’s Trade Envoy to Australia, visiting Bluescope Steel as well as Innovation Campus’s Sustainable Buildings Research Centre and iAccelerate facility.
He stated that this was an important visit as part of his promotion of the UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement.
“It’s an honour to be here in Australia, not just as a former cricketer but as a representative of British innovation and talent,” Lord Botham said of his trip so far.
“From sports to cybersecurity, music to clean energy, Britain has the runs on the board, and I’m excited to see where collaboration with Australia can take us.”
The University of Wollongong’s Vice-Chancellor Patricia Davidson was in attendance, and said that a visit of this calibre is beneficial to both the University and the city as a whole.
“We’re really excited that Wollongong on his itinerary, and having him here on the campus, particularly iAccelerate to see the amazing innovations we have in technology has been really exciting.
“It’s just great to have Wollongong on the map. To sit through the presentation from the City Council and Business Illawarra and really seeing that the University is a great attribute to the region.”
Lord Botham moved on to Melbourne to visit the Victorian Parliament on his next leg of the trip, which has seen him already cover a host of cities around the country, with more to follow on the potential of the current free trade agreement between the UK and Australia.
