The Italian Dinner

[Owen]

Becoming the Italian Ambassador to Australia was probably one of the most lucrative diplomatic postings in Canberra. Why? Because the Italian Ambassador was one of the only diplomatic heads with their own dedicated residence available to them. What made the posting even lucrative was, the Italian Ambassador was the only neighbour of the Prime Minister of Australia. To the south and east of the Prime Minister's official residence "The Lodge", was open parkland. To the north, a main arterial road (Adelaide Avenue) and to the west, a road named National Circuit and across from that road, the Residence of the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Italy. The residence had been vacant for some time now, but with the appointment of Domenico Catizone as Ambassador, it was now occupied again. The residence was actually bigger than the Prime Minister's residence, which was an old style cottage from the early settlement of the Canberra region. The Italian Ambassador's residence was designed by Italian-Australian architect, Enrico Taglietti, along with the neighbouring Italian Embassy. He designed both in a modernist architectural style and certainly the beauty of the buildings were the envy of the diplomatic community in Canberra.

To welcome the new Ambassador, Prime Minister Julia Gillard would be in residence in The Lodge and would invite the Italian Ambassador over for dinner. As the Ambassador was simply across the road, they would be able to walk over. Australian Federal Police protective services officers would escort the Ambassador and his wife to walk over to The Lodge and then grant them entry into the premises.

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Danny