Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Berowra for moving this motion. I would also like to thank Peter Varghese for the two years that he spent putting this very comprehensive report together. In October last year, Labor announced that we would support the priority recommendations contained in the report and, if we're elected at the next election, we'll implement those forthwith. But it must be said that Labor announced our response to this report one month before the government, and there's still mystery that surrounds why the government tried to bury this report. It was released at 8.42 pm via Twitter, despite much fanfare when it was commissioned by the former Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, two years earlier. The Minister for Trade put out a press release at 4.00 pm the next day after the announcement was made on Twitter, and it was actually the Indian government and Indian government representatives that made this report public prior to anyone from the Australian government. Nonetheless, the report's been released and it is quite a detailed bit of work that Labor appreciates Mr Varghese undertaking and it will be important for Australia's future relationships within the Indo-Pacific region.

The report really sums up Australia's relationship with India in the early paragraphs where Mr Varghese says that in the past India has been in the 'too-hard basket' for Australia. I thought that really summoned up the government-to-government, people-to-people and business relationships between Australia and India in the past. Australia does need an ambitious India agenda, and this report aims to lift that relationship with India: to lift India to the top three export markets for Australia; to make India the third-largest destination for outward investment; and to bring Australia and India closer strategically.

We have a great opportunity in India into the future. By 2025, one-fifth of the world's population will be Indian. By 2030, there will be 850 million internet users in India. Unlike the Asian population, which is tending to age into the future, the Indian population is a very young one and India will overtake China as the world's most populous nation by 2035. India, of course, has a different growth model to much of Asia that Australia has relied upon in the past through our export markets, and India's growth model is very much not based on exports but on consumption and services. The recommendations that Mr Varghese has made really do try and capitalise on that opportunity for Australia into the future around consumption and service delivery, particularly in the education space.

Australia has an increasing expertise in delivering education services. It's reflected in the fact that education is the No.2 export earner for our country. But Mr Varghese also points to the opportunities that exist for greater collaboration between Australian universities and Indian universities, between Australian research and development institutions and those in India—that's something that Labor will prioritise, if we are elected.

In infrastructure, there exist boundless opportunities for collaboration, particularly around the financing and planning of infrastructure projects in India, but also Mr Varghese recommends a boosted role for the Australia-India Council. He's talking about greater business collaboration; greater direct air services between our nations; in agriculture, using the expertise of the Bureau of Meteorology to help India with forecasting, particularly around monsoons which can be devastating for crops and agriculture in that country; of course, the scale-up of the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund; and advocacy to bring India into APEC.

These opportunities all sit well with Labor's Future Asia policy, which was announced last year, through which we'll hold annual Australia Week in India trade missions; boost Australia and Indo-Pacific capability, particularly on boards; commence a diaspora program—as we all know there are 700,000 in the Indian diaspora living in Australia—as well as focusing on a greater uptake of Indo-Pacific languages in our schools and universities. One of those areas that we will concentrate on, if we're elected, is Hindi. There are many opportunities for us to grow the relationship with India, and I commend this report to the Chamber. (Time expired)

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