Julian Leeser (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) strongly endorses An India Economic Strategy To 2035, the independent report by Mr Peter Varghese AO, and its goals of:

  (a) lifting India into Australia's top three export markets by 2035;

  (b) making India the third largest destination in Asia for Australian outward investment; and

  (c) bringing India into the inner circle of Australia's strategic partnerships, and with people to people ties as close as any in Asia;

(2) recognises the unprecedented opportunity for Australia to cement India as a priority economic partner; and

(3) acknowledges the importance of building a broad and deep bilateral relationship based on:

  (a) a sustainable long term economic strategy;

  (b) our shared strategic interests in the Indo-Pacific, including the importance of the rules based international order; and

  (c) the strength of the Indian community in Australia, the fastest growing diaspora in our nation.

I congratulate the government on commissioning and implementing the Australia-India economic strategy. The Australia-India economic relationship has plenty of potential. The challenge is to take a relationship that has been made stronger by Prime Minister Modi's very outward looking engagement and our government's enthusiasm for India to the next level.

India is our 10th-largest trading partner overall, with $22 billion in two-way trade. Our major exports to India are coal, vegetables, gold, copper and education. Our major imports are refined petroleum, medicines, pearls and gems, and railway vehicles. Australia is India's ninth-largest source of imports and its 22nd-largest destination for exports. With global economic uncertainty, Australia needs to diversify the market for our goods and services. Greater access to the Indian market is an obvious benefit to Australia. Australia is well placed to meet the demands of India's large young population with its rapidly growing and industrialising economy and its aspirational consumptive middle class, which will require more education, food production, resources, energy, environmental management, health care and tourism.

India's the fastest growing economy in the world, with a GDP of over seven per cent, and Australia needs to become a key economic partner for India. Recognising this, our government commissioned the India economic strategy, developed by the former Secretary of DFAT and former High Commissioner to India Peter Varghese. The report acts as a blue print to unlock business opportunities that will help our nations grow together. Australia has also encouraged the government of India to produce a similar report from the Indian perspective. The mere fact that we have commissioned a report on our economic relationship with one country demonstrates how seriously we take the India relationship and how much he want that relationship to succeed.

The strategy rests on three pillars—economic relations, geopolitical convergence and people-to-people links. The Varghese report indicates the extraordinary opportunity presented by the rise of India. According to Varghese:

By 2025, one-fifth of the world's working age population will be Indian. By 2030 there will be over 850 million internet users in India. By 2035 India's five largest cities will have economies of comparable size to middle income countries today.

The Modi government's economic reforms have helped open up the economy. In his speech at Davos last year, Prime Minister Modi said that India was 'replacing red tape with red carpet'. India's growth is now faster than China's. India's GDP grew by 8.2 per cent in the June quarter, while China's grew 6.7 per cent in the same period—and China is a much larger economy.

While the economic growth figures are very impressive, India has a complicated business environment. While steps have been taken to streamline business and open the economy, India is still grappling with the challenge of lifting millions of people out of poverty and dealing with corruption. Australia and India share an ocean and a similar strategic outlook as rule-of-law based English-speaking democracies and supporters of the rules based international order. As partners in the Indo-Pacific, both countries have a mutual interest in the region's stability. Australia's foreign and defence white papers identified India as one of four key regional democracies with which Australia should seek to build greater engagement, emphasising our shared interests in maritime security, regional stability and countering violent extremism. On that note, it's important to pause to condemn the murder of 44 Indians by terrorists in Pulwama last Thursday.

The Australia-India defence relationship has significantly expanded in recent years through the annual foreign and defence secretaries' dialogue and through the participation of Indian forces in Australian-led multilateral air and sea exercises.

Strengthening people-to-people ties, though, is perhaps the most important strategic opportunity. India has the second largest population in the world, with more than 1.3 billion people. India's our largest source of skilled migrants and our second largest source of international students. The people-to-people links will be burnished by putting the Indian diaspora at the centre of our strategy. In Australia, nearly 700,000 people, or 2.8 per cent of our population, claim Indian ancestry. The Indian community is the fourth largest migrant community in Australia and the Indian-born population is expected to overtake the Chinese-born population by 2031, reaching 1.4 million. The Indian diaspora are setting up businesses and joining our workforce. The diaspora can help promote Australia as an innovative, safe and prosperous society. They can also help Australians navigate the complex Indian environment.

In November, the government endorsed the Varghese report and supported its 20 priority recommendations, with a focus on targeting 10 Indian states and 10 sectors while providing practical support for Australian businesses entering or expanding operations in India. Over the next 12 months, the government has committed to a range of options. The adoption and implementation of the Varghese report will take a relationship with enormous potential— (Time expired)

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