ARCHIVED MEDIA RELEASE
PA/6/2002 23 May 2002
Media Release by the Minister for Foreign Affairs,
Hon. Alexander Downer, MP
Australia-India Council Chairman reappointed
I am pleased to announce that the Chairman of the Australia-India Council (AIC) has been reappointed for a further three-year term. Mr Michael Abbott QC, a leading Adelaide barrister, will continue to serve as Chairman until May 2005.
Mr Abbott was one of the founding members of the AIC in 1992 and has played an active role in developing Australia-India relations, particularly in arts and law. Under his chairmanship, the AIC has initiated several substantive projects including: the Australia India Disaster Management Symposium; Australia India Security Roundtable; Australian Studies Fellowship Program and the Sandy Hollway Olympics/volunteering seminars in India.
The following board members have also been appointed or reappointed for the coming term:
Professor Suzanne Crowe, Professor of Medicine at Melbourne's Monash University and Director of the AIDS Pathogenesis Research Unit at the Macfarlane Burnet Centre for Medical Research, has been reappointed to the board. Professor Crowe is actively involved in the development of Australia-India research links in the HIV/AIDS field.
Ms Safina Uberoi, an award-winning, Sydney-based freelance film and television producer and director, has also been reappointed. Ms Uberoi has played a key role in promoting collaboration between the Australian and Indian film and television industries.
Professor Bruce Bennett AO, a former Rhodes Scholar and a graduate of the Universities of Western Australia, Oxford and London, has been appointed to the board. Currently based in Canberra, he has planned and lectured in Australian Studies programs in Australian and overseas universities. He is Professor of English at University College, University of New South Wales at the Australia Defence Force Academy. Professor Bennett hopes to foster educational and cultural linkages.
Other board members are Ms Betty Churcher AO, Adjunct Professor, Centre for Cross Cultural Research, Australian National University, Canberra; Mr Darren Gribble, Canberra-based business consultant and former Australian High Commissioner to India; and Mr David Ritchie, Deputy Secretary, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Canberra
The Australia-India Council was established by the Australian Government to broaden and deepen Australia-India relations through contacts and exchanges in a range of fields which promote mutual awareness and understanding. AIC programs and activities are a form of "second-track diplomacy" conducted in parallel to, and in support of, government-to-government contacts and exchanges.
Australia places great value on its multifaceted relationship with India. The Government has worked hard to expand Australia's political, commercial and cultural links with India and is continuing to pursue opportunities to develop the bilateral relationship further. My recent visit has confirmed that India shares our view that there are significant prospects for expanding our relations in the future, at both the official level and through people-to-people links.
The Australia-India Council is playing a substantial role in this process by initiating and supporting collaborative projects in a range of areas such as the arts, commerce, education, environment (including disaster management; health and social issues), institutional and professional links, print and electronic media, film and public awareness and sport.
For further information, including the High Commissioner's speech, contact Rory Medcalf (First Secretary) or Shekhar Nambiar (Public Affairs Manager), tel. 6888 223, extension 197 or 460.