Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to congratulate and commend the Prime Minister on his recent visit to India and, with this, pay tribute to the Indian community in my electorate. My community welcomes the further strengthening of the bilateral relationship between Australia and India that was announced at the Annual Leaders' Summit in New Delhi between the two prime ministers.

We have an active and vibrant Indian diaspora here in Australia, contributing to all walks of life in our country. Their contribution on many social, economic and cultural fronts has made a significant impact to communities right across Australia, including in my own electorate. The engagement of our Indian community in my electorate and their participation within groups and civil society have been of great benefit to our local constituency, and we are all the better for it. On the diplomatic front, our engagement with India and people-to-people links have been very important contemporary pillars for Australia's ability to build its research capacity. It has also been very important to our ability to develop many of the key sectors that have supported the growth of our economy.

Education has been particularly important to the Australian Indian community, and I'm pleased that education was a key focus of the Annual Leaders' Summit. The new agreement, which supports mutual recognition of education qualifications, is very much welcomed. Coupled with the progress being made on a new migration and mobility partnership arrangement, this will have a very positive impact on our people-to-people links, which should always be at the forefront of diplomatic engagement with our region and with the global community. The agreement is very important to our onshore international education sector and will encourage the mobility of students, graduates and professionals.

I spoke earlier of the obstructions faced by and constraints on newly arrived migrants, and having the migration and mobility partnership arrangement placed at the top of the Prime Minister's agenda as part of his visit reflects how acutely aware this government is of the challenges and opportunities before us. Ours is a government that understands that engagement with our region and the world is not a spectator sport and that this engagement is underpinned by an appreciation that our modern Australia shares characteristics and values of a similar nature to those present in our neighbourhood and our source countries of migration.

The visit was a mark of the enduring friendship between our two countries and was a transformational step of benefit to both Australia and India, with a focus on new jobs and mutual opportunities. I want to congratulate the Prime Minister on the success of his visit. I share in my community's optimism for the future of our enduring bilateral relationships, and I do so in particular because, in my constituency, almost one-third of people living in Calwell are from the subcontinent, particularly from India, but also from neighbouring Pakistan and Bangladesh. They are the new Australians of the future.

See this speech in context