Thank you to Selina Walker for the welcome to country and I also acknowledge we gather on the traditional lands of the Nunnawal people. For our international guests, it is a matter of great pride to our country that our continent is home to the world’s oldest continuing civilisation on Earth, the indigenous peoples of this land.
There are too many distinguished guests to capture, but a quick special:
Thank you to our hosts Tony Fraser, President, AIBC ACT and Olivia Thornton CEO Cricket ACT
Warm welcome on behalf of the Government to Indian and global cricketing legend Ravi Shastri – you were famous in my house growing up – I have a funny story from childhood I’ll share with your later!
so many formidable former cricketers, including Tim Paine andErin Osbourne
Current cricketer our MC tonight Holly Ferling
Parliamentary colleagues who are here this evening
So many guests from India, and our great Australian Indian diaspora!
It’s terrific to be here tonightto give this formal addresson behalf of the Prime Minister.
Truth be told, some gigs you can get handed by the PM make you think you’ve done something wrong.
But I must be in the good books to get asked to represent him tonight as this brings together two of the PM’s great loves.
Albo the cricket tragic, who is excited for the game tomorrow and has, by all reports, been rather hands on with the selectors of the PM’s XI. I note the reference to the initial composition back in the 1950s including three Parliamentarians – I don’t think you need that kind of help!
And Australia’s ever closer partnership with India.
No relationship is more important or has more potential for Australia this Century than our bond with India, a fellow democracy.
The world’s largest population, with favourabledemographics.
The fastest growing economy, soon the 3rd largestglobally, with enormous complementarity between our economies.
Fastest growing military capability – the pre-eminent regional superpower.
And while our relationship today spans every conceivable dimension – cultural, economic, and strategic – cricket remains one way we showcase and reinforce our enduring links.
Parliament sat this morning at 7am to finish off business for the year and I was chatting about our dinner tonight while sitting next to my friend and colleague, Dr Andrew Charlton MP, Member for Paramatta. Andrew represents the largest Australian-Indian community of any MP, and recently wrote a terrific book on Australia’s relationship with India and the untapped potential. (Christmas is coming, it’s an excellent read and stocking filler!)
Let me borrow from Andrew’s analysis into how our cricketing relationship has evolved, and how this may help us think about the broader Australian – Indian relationship.
For many decades, cricket used to be a sport that Australia played ‘against’ India.
The first ever cricket match between India and Australia was Australia’s 1935-36 tour of India to play a series of four unofficial Tests.
Of course not long after, Australia was one of the first nations to recognise India’s historic declaration of independence. In fact, after India declared independence in 1947, it was in Australia — at the High Commissioner’s residence here in Canberra — that the Indian tri-colour flag was first formally raised outdoors!
By a quirk of time zones, the flag was raised here an hour ahead of the historic ceremony at the Red Fort in New Delhi where Prime Minister Nehru oversaw the rebirth of modern India.
Over the following decades, our cricketers continued to engage in fierce contests and friendly rivalry. Cricket matches between India and Australia have often resulted in unforgettable moments and thrilling encounters like the:
2001 Kolkata Test,
2003 Adelaide Test, and the
2020-2021 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series – which have showcased the spirit and passion of both teams.
Today though, more than ever before, cricket is a sport we share and play ‘together’.
More than a dozen of Australia’s best male and female professional cricketers play alongside Indian players in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Many Australian coaches and support staff have also participated in the IPL, creating friendships and collaborations beyond the cricket field.
Australians with Indian heritage – Australia’s fastest growing migrant cohort – have made a massive contribution to Australian cricket, continuing their passion for the sport.
Former Australian women's national cricket team captain, Lisa Stha-lekar, is regarded as one of the finest female all-rounders in the game. The first woman to complete the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in one day internationals. And only the 5th Aussie woman to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame.
One of Australian cricket’s newer role models is Alana King, the Melbourne-born leg spinner whose sensational career has seen her rack up a stunning catalogue of achievements. Including wins in the Women's Big Bash League, the Women's Cricket World Cup and the Women's Ashes. Alana’s parents moved to Victoria from Chennai in the late 1980s.
But toempiricallyillustrateat a people-to-people level theextent of theintertwiningof ournational stories:Cricket Australia data revealsthat:
the most common surname of all registered cricket players in all Australian clubs is…Singh!
The2nd most common surname is…Smith!
3rd is Patel
4th is Jones,
5th is Brown.
In 2023, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was welcomed in Ahmedabad with a giant billboard at the Narendra Modi Stadium when attending an Australia-India test match.
The billboard pictured the two prime ministers beside the words “75 years of friendship through cricket.”
And so here we are at this year’s Prime Minister’s XI. To be played over 2 days this weekend, continuing a tradition started in 1951.
Bringing together a combination of proven performers and exciting new talent. Giving the unique Australian team the chance to test themselves against some of the best in the world.
It’s been 20 years since the PM’s XI last played India, and only the 4th time in history. For the record, Australia won comfortably in 1991 and 1999, while India scraped home last time in 2004 by 1 run.
This weekend’s game will be watched by over 1 billion people. I’ll be diplomatic and wish everyone luck as we play cricket together as friends on the ground!
Off the ground, more broadly, Australia and India are also increasingly working together as friends. But friendship alone doesn’t cut the mustard or cook the curry.
On the positive side, being glass half full, there’s so much to celebrate in our relationship now.
Political intent is critical, and the relationship between Prime Ministers Albanese and Modi could not be stronger. In just over two years, they’ve already had 11in person meetings, including at the Quad, the East Asia Summit and just last week at the G20.
Along with Japan, Australia is one of only two countries with which India has annual leader-level meetings, a free trade agreement, and biennial meetings of our foreign and defence ministers.
Australia and India now share a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, based on mutual understanding, friendship and a shared vision of a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific.
We are collaborating on science, technology, maritime security, trade and investment, agriculture, education, sport, tourism and of course deepening our cooperationon climate change and defence. As the PM has said, India is now a top-tier security partner for Australia.
India is our fourth largest export market and our fifth-largest trading partner, with two-way trade totaling $49 billion.
Tariff cuts have boosted Australian agricultural and services exports to India.
India is Australia’s largest source of skilled migrants and second-largest source of international students.
And last year our two Prime Ministers signed the Migration and Mobility Partnership Arrangement to promote two-way mobility between our countries in education and business.
The Government is now working on a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, and accelerating our efforts through a new ‘Roadmap’ for Australia’s economic engagement with India.
The Centre for Australian Indian-Relations is firing up our two-way engagement with a suite of programs, scholarships and activities.
Collectively, all of this work is shaping our countries — and our region — for the better.
And we should be optimistic.
But to be glass half empty for a moment, there is still so much more we can and need to do to fulfil our potential.(Sounds like all my school report cards!)
India’s consumption of goods and services will double over the next seven years, driven by a youthful population in which one million Indians turn 18 every month.
Yet Australia’s current trade with India is relatively low – less than 10% of our trade with China. Taking advantage of the economic agreements in place and soon to come, we can do much more. In all sectors, and especially strategic things like critical minerals and ICT.
I’ll finish in a moment, but just make this final point on investment.
Australia needs to significantly lift our investment in India which is currently less than $20 billion – less that we invest in PNG; less than one third of our stake in Singapore; and just a twentieth of what we invest in the US.
New two-way investment pathways, such as renewable energy, are begging for more attention, and both businesses and superannuation funds can and need to do more.
When one country invests in another, it gives them a stake in each other’s future.
When Australian businesses and super funds invest in India, then young Australians will know that their prosperity is tied to India’s success.
And young Indians will know their roads, bridges, ports and businesses are partly funded by Australian capital.
Mutual investment is the essential binding agent that cements a true partnership.
Governments can only do so much, and we are working in overdrive to create the conditions for success.
Our greatest strength in fulfilling the potential in the relationship is Australia’s amazing Indian diaspora. And it is the people in this room and your networks who will make it happen.
I commend the AIBC on your work to help shape policy and to promote bilateral trade and investment opportunities.
Thank you again, and enjoy the evening and the cricketthis weekend.
Thank you.
