Andrew Charlton (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Why is Australia's relationship with India so important and how will the Prime Minister's upcoming trip to India advance Australia's interests?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Parramatta for his question and for, also, his ongoing engagement with his diaspora community there in Parramatta, one of Australia's largest.

India is indeed a key strategic partner. We have a rich friendship underpinned by shared democratic values, bonds between our people and an affectionate but fierce sporting rivalry, which will be resumed later this week. The Varghese report about the relationship with India is a very significant one. But it should not be left on the shelf. What we need to do is to make sure that we continue to develop the relationship. Indeed, one of the first things that I did as Prime Minister was to go to the Quad leaders meeting in Tokyo and meet with Prime Minister Modi. I look forward to, later this week, meeting with Prime Minister Modi for the third time, along with our trade minister, our resources minister and more than 25 business leaders, including significant leaders of the resources sector, the education sector, the IT and communications sector and the transport sector, who are all travelling as part of that delegation.

India is Australia's sixth-largest trading partner, but there is so much potential for so much more: creating Australian jobs, helping our industries prosper, sparking growth and innovation. Renewable energy will be a focus of this visit. India's ambitious goals of 50 per cent renewables and 30 per cent electric vehicles by 2030 provide an opening for Australian manufacturing and resources. Our relationship with India is vital from a security perspective as well. Our defence links are growing. Australia will host Exercise Malabar for the first time this year. We will welcome Prime Minister Modi to Australia for the Quad leaders meeting in the first half of this year, joining with the leaders of Japan and the United States in promoting a free, fair and rules based order and a stable and balanced region.

I really look forward to the visit. The first time I went there was with a backpack in 1991—catching buses, hitching rides, catching trains. It will be a lot different this time, I suspect! The relationship with India is a very, very important one. The Indian diaspora is one of Australia's largest and is growing. They make an enormous contribution here. And it's wonderful that Indian students are once again returning to our educational institutions. We have some significant announcements about education and those relationships—how we can strengthen them, benefiting our economy but also benefiting those people-to-people links. No relationship is better on a phone or a Zoom call than it is in person. The visit of Prime Minister Modi will be a very welcome one later, in a short period of time, and, of course, India is the host of G20. I will attend there as well, as ministers are for the ministerial meetings.

This will be a very significant visit and I'm really looking forward to it. We begin later today, in travelling to Perth, and then will travel there early tomorrow. It happens to coincide with Holi, which is one of the great celebrations that takes place in Indian culture. I look forward to the welcome there and I look forward to welcoming—I'm sure, with every member of this parliament—Prime Minister Modi here in a short period of time.

Government members: Hear, hear!

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

on indulgence—I want to endorse the comments of the Prime Minister and wish him and the delegation well on what is a very important trip to India, an incredibly important trading partner. The cultural links and defence links, as the Prime Minister pointed out, are more important than ever. The diaspora community here is an integral part of modern Australia. They're wonderful Australians. The Treasurer and I and others joined for the national day in Brisbane, the celebrations on Australia Day. The Diwali events and others we go to regularly show how rich the culture is, and the engagement of young people in the Indian community in those events is quite a remarkable sight.

I had the great pleasure and great honour of meeting with Prime Minister Modi 2½ years ago in New Delhi. The warmth that he has for our country is sincere. The way in which he will engage with the Prime Minister will see our relationship advance. Prime Minister, as I said, I wish you and the delegation well on the trip. The fourth test, I hope, will be more similar in outcome to the last test than to the first two—not to be too controversial, but it is a little precarious over there.

It is an important relationship. The Quad was one of the great achievements of the coalition government when we were in power, and that relationship is more important than ever, for reasons that we all identify.