On the 14th May Tawa joined with members of the Johnsonville Rotary Club on a windy wet evening at the Johnsonville Club.
The speaker was Joel Watson, 1st Secretary (Political & Economic) at the British High Commission Wellington. Joel enlightened the audience with the role of a 1st Secretary and briefly recounted his diplomatic career.
Joel Watson joined the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1989. He came to Wellington in 2014 and is the head of the Political and Communications teams at the British High Commission in Wellington.
Joel has previously served overseas in the British High Commissions in Belize, Pakistan and Vanuatu and at the British Embassy in Qatar. He has also worked in London on European Union, International Policy and climate change issues.
During his talk Joel shared some reflections on Brexit and the background that led to this decision, where the process is currently at, and its implication for NZ.