Michael Johnson (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the House:

(1)

recognises the strategic importance of India to 21st century global geo-politics; and

(2)

encourages the Australian Government to reverse its short-sighted decision to cancel Australia’s uranium sales to India.

Tonight I want to speak about the greatness that is India, a country of profound importance to Australia. Before I continue with my contribution in the parliament tonight, I want to acknowledge the Honorary Consul of India in Brisbane, Professor Sarva-Daman Singh, who very kindly invited me to the 61st anniversary celebrations of India’s independence that were held in the Ryan electorate. Professor Sarva-Daman Singh is a constituent of Ryan and a very distinguished Ryan resident. He is very learned and works at the University of Queensland, where his reputation is very significant. I also want to take the opportunity to thank and endorse my friend the member for Mitchell. I know that he has a very large number of constituents of Indian descent in his electorate. I am sure that they will continue to support him for his strong representations on behalf of the Indian community in the Mitchell electorate.

India is a country rich in culture and tradition. This is a country of over one billion people. This is a country that is the world’s largest democracy. This is a nuclear power. This is a country strategically located in South Asia. India holds memberships of international councils, including the UN, the Commonwealth, the WTO and the East Asia Summit. This is a country whose economy is growing. Mr Singh, the Prime Minister of India, in 2007 said of his country:

Today, India is very different from the India of 1991. It is now a vibrant market-place. Our entrepreneurs are aggressively investing overseas ... We have a US$700 billion economy that is growing at 7–8% ...

So, clearly, this is a country that is on the move. This is a country that matters today in global politics, but it will matter even more in the foreign policy decisions of all countries in the decades ahead. Indeed, India is a country that will play its part in shaping the geopolitical landscape and architecture of the 21st century.

Therefore, as the federal member for Ryan—having a very good relationship with the hundreds and hundreds of Ryan constituents of Indian descent and certainly having a deep interest in the views of the Indian community—I want to say very clearly on the record here in the House of Representatives that I am certainly for India, and Australia must certainly be for India. The Howard government was certainly for India, with its decision to enter into an agreement last August to sell it Australian uranium. The Rudd government makes much of its international expertise and its vision, but it is the Rudd government that cancelled the agreement forged by the Howard government. The Rudd government must now state clearly and publicly whether it believes that Australia should sell our uranium to India.

In a positive move—I want to acknowledge it as a positive move—the Foreign minister, Mr Smith, indicated at the August 21-22 meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group that Australia would support the deal. If Australia had opposed India at the IAEA or the NSG—where, because we have the world’s largest reserves of uranium, we are a significant voice—it would have been a savage blow to the Australia-India relationship. But, as we now know, most regrettably, on 24 August, the 45-member NSG refused to lift its 34-year-old embargo on nuclear trade with India. Why is this important? It is important because, under the Nuclear Suppliers Group rules, all nuclear trade with India is banned.

Critically, uranium sales to India would allow it to develop its civilian energy capacity. This, of course, would help combat global warming by allowing the world’s largest democracy to develop zero-emissions polluting nuclear energy. Notwithstanding the collective decision of the NSG, the next step for the Rudd government is to reverse its ideological opposition to selling uranium to India, and I call on the Rudd government to do this. Supplying uranium to India and helping it to move more to nuclear energy would be the single greatest course of action that this country could take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the world’s largest democracy. It seems, however, that the Rudd government is stubborn and implacable; it remains ideologically opposed to uranium sales to India. (Time expired)

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