Express News Service
CANBERRA: Australia is reviewing the whole system of visa structure which may help provide India with greater access to its labour market, according to Australia’s Minister for Trade and Tourism, Senator Don Farrel.
Farrel, who met the visiting journalists from India, at the Australian Parliament in Canberra, said that just as Australia is trying to get access to India’s agriculture market, India is seeking to access the Australian labour market.
“This is always a sensitive issue in Australia. Were happy to look at that. We are reviewing the whole structure of the visa system. There are something like 120 different visas in the Australian system and we are hoping to simplify it. During Covid, around a million visas could not be processed. The pending number of visas has been reduced and we trying to reduce it further. We are looking at how we design a fit-for-purpose migration system. There is an excellent opportunity for young Indian workers, especially in the digital space.”
To a query on whether the Indian investments in coal and gas would be hit following Australia’s transition to green energy, the minister ruled out that it could have an impact in the short term. However, in the long term, “Australia will be phasing out fossil fuels and ramping up its industry but not any time soon,” he said.
The minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese look forward to swift progress in negotiations and an early conclusion of an ambitious Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), which will build on the foundation laid by the Economic Cooperation Trade Agreement (ECTA), including new areas of trade, investment and cooperation.
On Adani group’s Queensland Carmichael coal mine which generated controversy in Australia, the minister said that Australia welcomes Adani’s investment in creating jobs in Australia and also supports it.
On the USD 750 billion Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) which covers subsidies relating to the clean energy sector and includes a restriction on electric vehicles using batteries from a “foreign entity of concern”, which affects China, the minister said that there is a drift towards protectionism in the current environment. “We would like to push back against that and keep trading relations open. how easy is it going to be when the whole world is fighting inflation,” he said.
“We do need some allies and India presents the opportunity. We are an Island nation and we can increase jobs by increasing trade and not becoming protectionist,” he added.
“We are in the process of increasing the trade. The first month after ECTA was signed, a total of AUD (Australian dollar ) 2.5 bn goods went into India at lower tariffs. It is a positive outcome. We want access to agriculture market.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit in a few weeks, building on that relationship,” he said.
CANBERRA: Australia is reviewing the whole system of visa structure which may help provide India with greater access to its labour market, according to Australia’s Minister for Trade and Tourism, Senator Don Farrel.
Farrel, who met the visiting journalists from India, at the Australian Parliament in Canberra, said that just as Australia is trying to get access to India’s agriculture market, India is seeking to access the Australian labour market.
“This is always a sensitive issue in Australia. Were happy to look at that. We are reviewing the whole structure of the visa system. There are something like 120 different visas in the Australian system and we are hoping to simplify it. During Covid, around a million visas could not be processed. The pending number of visas has been reduced and we trying to reduce it further. We are looking at how we design a fit-for-purpose migration system. There is an excellent opportunity for young Indian workers, especially in the digital space.”googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
To a query on whether the Indian investments in coal and gas would be hit following Australia’s transition to green energy, the minister ruled out that it could have an impact in the short term. However, in the long term, “Australia will be phasing out fossil fuels and ramping up its industry but not any time soon,” he said.
The minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese look forward to swift progress in negotiations and an early conclusion of an ambitious Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), which will build on the foundation laid by the Economic Cooperation Trade Agreement (ECTA), including new areas of trade, investment and cooperation.
On Adani group’s Queensland Carmichael coal mine which generated controversy in Australia, the minister said that Australia welcomes Adani’s investment in creating jobs in Australia and also supports it.
On the USD 750 billion Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) which covers subsidies relating to the clean energy sector and includes a restriction on electric vehicles using batteries from a “foreign entity of concern”, which affects China, the minister said that there is a drift towards protectionism in the current environment. “We would like to push back against that and keep trading relations open. how easy is it going to be when the whole world is fighting inflation,” he said.
“We do need some allies and India presents the opportunity. We are an Island nation and we can increase jobs by increasing trade and not becoming protectionist,” he added.
“We are in the process of increasing the trade. The first month after ECTA was signed, a total of AUD (Australian dollar ) 2.5 bn goods went into India at lower tariffs. It is a positive outcome. We want access to agriculture market.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit in a few weeks, building on that relationship,” he said.
