‘Australian wine for India’s yoga masters’, is a riff that goes around here. But what it really means is, Australia wants its wines to be available cheaper in India. India, according to sources, is asking for 1,800 work visas for chefs and yoga masters.
India and Australia have finalised the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), which came into force on December 29, 2022. But both countries want to deepen their economic and cultural relationship. As such, talks are set to commence, leading to some sort of a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement
In a recent conversation with a group of visiting journalists in Canberra, Australia’s Minister for Trade and Tourism, Senator Don Farrell observed that just as Australia was asking for more access to Indian markets for its agricultural products, India wanted access to Australia’s labor markets.
“It is always a sensitive issue in Australia but we are happy to look at that (request from India),” he said.
The minister said that his government was reviewing the “whole system of visas” to make it simpler,” because “there are something like 120 visas under the Australian system”.
Under ECTA, Australia managed to get India to bring down customs duty on its wines from 150 percent to 75 percent, but the concessional duty is only applicable for bottles priced not more than $5, one Australian negotiator, said. This excludes most of the wines from the ambit of reduced duty--a sore point with the Australians.
On access to the Indian market for Australia’s agricultural goods, Farrell said that Australia understood the “political pressures” on the Indian government.
The Minister welcomed Indian companies to invest in Australia’s critical minerals mining industry. Answering a question, he said that while most countries criticised the US for its Inflation Regulation Act (IRA), which provides huge subsidies for local manufacturing, Australia did not mind the IRA. This was because the US manufacturing industry would require a lot of critical minerals to be imported from countries with which the US has a free trade agreement. Australia would benefit because it has an FTA with the US.
“However, what we don’t want to see is all the critical minerals gathered up and headed to the US,” Farrell said, adding that he “put on the table plenty of access to Indian companies” to the Australian critical minerals mining industry.
“We will give you (India) the opportunity of investing in our country. You are building a terrific electric vehicles industry and we would love to be a part of it,” he said.
Australia welcomes Adani investments
Australia’s Minister for Trade and Tourism, Senator Don Farrell, that his country would “welcome” Adani group’s investments in his country.
“ They are creating jobs in Australia and are good corporate citizens” Farrell told a group of visiting Indian journalists, in Canberra, in Wednesday.
He said this in response to a question about how Australia viewed the Adani group, against the backdrop of allegations of misgovernance raised by the US firm, Hindenburg.
Observing that the Adani group was “lifting living standards in India”, the Minister said, we support that”.
(The visit to Australia of this journalist was sponsored by the Australian government)