Australia-India Sports Excellence Forum in Gujarat
Wednesday, 5 March 2025
(check against delivery)
Good morning
Namaskar
Yumulundi. Yumulundi is a word in the language of the Indigenous peoples from around our capital, Canberra. In greeting you this way, I am demonstrating the respect of the Australian people, Government, and High Commission, to Indigenous people here in India, in Australia and all around the world.
Welcome to the inaugural Australia-India Sports Excellence Forum.
Acknowledgements
I am particularly honoured to welcome Srimati Raksha Nikhil Khadse – India’s Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports to this forum.
Honourable Minister of State – we are grateful that you have taken the time out of your difficult schedule to join us. I know you have a deep interest in supporting Indian sport – and especially improving performance through sport sciences, coaching and training.
And I understand that you are strongly committed to continuing the success of Prime Minister Modi’s ‘Khelo India’ program and the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) to support India’s elite athletes.
I think both of us are looking forward to seeing how this forum will ignite ideas about how Australia can best be part of India’s journey to furthering sporting success, including as you bid for the 2036 Olympics.
Equally, I would also like to welcome Gujarat Minister of Sports Harsh Sanghavi. Thank you for co-hosting this important event with us. We greatly appreciate your efforts in helping to organise this forum.
I know that you have great commitment to the thriving sporting culture of Gujarat. After you brought back the National Games to Gujarat in 2022, you have not only continued to improve sporting infrastructure here but you have also committed to sport as a broader tool for good. I have learned of your commitment to using sport to improve public health and combat drug use in young people. Congratulations.
I would also like to welcome the many other important visitors here.
You should know that we have some of the top leadership of Australian sport here today:
- Kieren Perkins, CEO of Australian Sports Commission
- Robyn Smith OAM, Governing Board Member, International Paralympic Committee
- Simon Hollingsworth, CEO of Athletics Australia
- David Pryles, CEO of Hockey Australia
I am delighted we have been able to bring the cream of Australian sports admin to this meeting.
And to the important Indians in the room,
- Colonel N S Johal, CEO of Target Olympic Podium Scheme
- Adille Sumariwala, President of Athletics Federation of India
- M Thennarasan, Principal Secretary of Sports Authority of Gujarat
- Sandip Sagale, Director General of Sports Authority of Gujarat
Thank you very much for making yourselves available.
We look forward to this forum being a first and important step to a much deeper partnership between Australia, India and Gujarat in sports.
India and sport
I know that India is a country with a deep and ancient sporting tradition; a tradition that lives on in the present.
The determination and commitment of Shri Arjuna in mastering the dhanush can be seen in the Commonwealth Games successes of Deepika Kumari.
And when I think of Neeraj Chopra’s Olympic gold and silver medal for javelin, I suspect for many, those javelins soared like those of Shri Yuddhisthirta.
It is inspiring to see India’s ancient sports like kabaddi and kho-kho find popularity all over the world, particularly in Australia.
Now is the time that sporting culture comes to the fore. India is a great sporting nation waiting to achieve its destiny, and Australia has much to offer to help India in its journey to reach its lofty goals.
Australia-India in sport
Our countries have a joint passion for sport.
The obvious, of course, is cricket. Both sides have been fierce competitors, but great admirers of each other. It is rivalry that is now the most exciting rivalry in the world of cricket.
I have learned that the Indian national team’s first international tour in 1947-48, as a newly independent India, was to Australia.
And that riveting cricket rivalry has extended all the way through to last year, as both sides competed for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
And last night, of course, Australia was not the victor, and India showed its true capacity. We don’t welcome the result, but we delight in the rivalry. Shabash India.
And now, the rivalry and comradery we share in cricket is beginning to grow and diversify across other sports.
Our hockey teams regularly face off to hone their international competitiveness.
We’d love to see Australian football and rugby take off in India, noting the complementary skills of Indians from sports like kabaddi.
And there are people at this Forum here to discuss collaboration in athletics, in gymnastics, football, swimming and more.
And further to that, we will learn during the Forum that there is a whole ecosystem that comes together to support elite athletes, especially in Olympics, to ultimately win medals.
I would note there are many in this forum on the Indian side who can add to our understanding of that. We know of many officials in sport organisations, and I am delighted we are joined today by senior officers from Tata, Adani and Reliance who are deeply engaged.
In addition to that, we have Australian universities present, people who are experts in the business of sports science and sports business.
The Olympics Bid
Australia likes to imagine itself as an incredibly strong competitor in the Olympics – and in Paris last year, that was a good demonstration. Australia, a country of only 26 million people, was fourth on the Paris medal table.
Over the next two days, you will hear about our abilities to develop elite sport, but also our plans for hosting the Olympics in Brisbane in 2032.
And when it comes to sports management, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to work closely with India as it moves towards its 2036 Olympic ambitions.
Australian expertise already makes a significant contribution towards India’s sporting achievements:
- We are incredibly proud that Australian firm Populous helped design the iconic Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad.
- Australian universities are global leaders on Sport science and management.
- Deakin University, which operates a campus here, in GIFT City, is already ascertaining what it can do to deliver useful sports education outcomes with India, for India, in India.
And our consultations with Indian-Australian communities and sporting bodies show there is more that can be done – including in relation to talent, inclusive participation, and sports tech.
Broader Australia-India Relationship
Just last November, Prime Minister Modi and Albanese met for their annual summit. Amongst a small range of conclusions they made at the meeting, they chose to upgrade the bilateral cooperation we have together in Sports.
Last week, Australia’s Prime Minister launched the New Roadmap for Australia’s Economic Engagement with India.
That includes the engagement of sports business and peak bodies, including in sports infrastructure, elite performance, and sports event management.
At the end of the day, the reason the Australian Government is investing so strongly is not only our strong bilateral relationship, and our complementary economies, but also in recognition of our people.
The Indian diaspora in Australia is now the fastest growing migrant community in Australia. It creates what Prime Minister Modi likes to call the human bridge.
It has grown to approximately 1 million people, which may not sound a lot in an Indian context, but for us, that’s a very large number. it is 4% of Australia’s population.
And we know Australian-Indians are more likely than others in our country to be engaged in community organisations, including in sports.
This diaspora, a number of whom are here today, contribute substantially to our bilateral ties, and deepening understanding of each other.
They are an important bridge in business, including sports business. They understand this culture and many of Indian languages, and they understand how Australia and works and what we have to offer each other.
And it is with these people-to-people links in mind, that we have come today to build partnerships, to make the most of our values and rivalry, to enhance our competitiveness and our sporting culture.
It’s what both of our Prime Ministers wanted following their meeting last year. And arguably more importantly, it’s what our people want of us.
So with that in mind, I’ll be paying very close attention to the discussions we have at this conference; to what we what we can learn from each other here to help guide the way forward for Australia, and for Australia-India Sports cooperation into the future.
I thank you for your attention and participation, I wish the forum every success.