Alan Griffin (Bruce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I join with others in supporting the motion by the member for Sydney to congratulate Prime Minister Modi and the BJP for their quite stunning election recently in India and also to encourage the Australian government to build on the record of previous governments to increase engagement with, and to develop our relationship with, India into the future. As earlier speakers have said, there are a number of things about the current situation in India which are advantageous, potentially, for Australia but also provide an opportunity for India itself to grasp the nettle of its future.

As has been said, it has been more than a quarter of a century since a government in India has been in a clear majority and not in some form of coalition. That in itself provides India and the BJP with some opportunities around the question of setting a course into the future. As the previous speaker, the member for Mitchell, mentioned, Prime Minister Modi had an impressive record as regional head in Gujarat state, an area that was seen as being quite underdeveloped in relation to the rest of India. He embraced policies and an approach to try and achieve advancement in that state, and it was quite successful. Frankly, there are some significant challenges around the question of corruption and some areas of internal dissent within India. A majority government will give the BJP the opportunity to lead with respect to those issues. I wish him and his party well with respect to that.

They also build on the country's base which has been growing exponentially and which has significant potential. A snapshot of modern India shows a GDP of some US$1.870 trillion in 2013, a GDP per capita of US$1,504, GDP growth of 4.4 per cent and a population of over 1.2 billion. With respect to Australia, our trade base has grown from around $3.6 billion in two-way trade value in 2000-01 to in excess of $16 billion in 2012-13. The growth is on the way up. The opportunities are there.

India has links to Australia. It has been mentioned that we share links in terms of a colonial past, and with that comes language and some governmental similarities. As the member for Sydney said, when we look to the opportunities of the Asian century there is often a focus on China—and rightly so, given our trade relationship with China—but there is no doubt that the potential of developing links with India is more than significant.

It is a very young population. As we know, many young students have come to Australia and we have had increased levels of migration from India to Australia, to the extent where it is now, for the first time in the last several years, our most significant source of migrants on a permanent basis. I know from going to citizenship ceremonies in my own electorate that there are more and more Indian-Australians who are proud of their heritage and also very proud to embrace the opportunities which Australia brings for them. I think one of the key things we need to do into the future is to utilise the skill base of those who have come from India and made Australia their home.

The potential is significant. The opportunities for the future are great. It is incumbent on the government to build on what occurred in recent years in building that relationship. I welcome the offer from Prime Minister Abbott for Prime Minister Modi to visit Australia. I think that links such as that—such as the visit of former Prime Minister Gillard and also, before that, Rudd—were key elements in building the relationship into the future. The opportunities for doing that now are significant. As we look at the links with respect to students, as we look to the links in terms of trade, and as we look at the potential for growing particularly service industries, a development on the base that has also occurred around the question of mining and resources in more recent years, the potential for Australia to play a role in India's development into the future and to benefit from that role is significant. Together, we can help build the Asian century in a manner which ensures that it is of great benefit to both India and Australia.

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