PA/40/10                                                          19June 2010

High Commission Rebuts Media Report on Lawn Bowl Team

With regard to the article on page 26 of today’s Times of India newspaper - ‘Aussies rebuff Indian lawn bowls team again’ - which includes quotes from a Ministry of Sport official, the High Commission wishes to clarify the following.

We had positive discussions with the Ministry of Sport on Wednesday where they provided us (for the first time) details of the Ministry’s financial assurance that had been requested on two separate occasions previously. This financial assurance is important as all visa applicants must show sufficient financial capacity to support their stay in Australia.

The previous applications for visas submitted by the team were refused because the required documentation was not provided (despite many requests from the High Commission). These documents were only tendered after the visas were refused. At the time of refusal there was no indication that such documents would be provided. At the time of the earlier visa refusals the Ministry had not advised the Australian High Commission of any details of their financial support.

After our positive discussion with the Ministry of Sport, we contacted the team manager on Friday and invited him to lodge applications for the team on Monday. We noted that visa fees would have to be paid as previous applications had been assessed and finalised. It is a legal requirement of the Australian Government that visa fees are paid in order for an application to be valid. The Australian High Commission has no authority to waive fees (which cover the significant cost of processing visas, including unsuccessful applications).

In the Wednesday meeting Australian High Commission officials made it clear to the Ministry of Sport that Australia welcomes a partnership with India to assist the preparation of Indian teams before the Delhi Commonwealth Games. Given the positive tone of our meeting, we fully expected further discussions would take place with the Ministry on future team visits to Australia, including the lawn bowls visit.

We are therefore surprised that the Ministry has chosen to speak to the media in this way.

The Australian High Commission stands ready, as it had conveyed to the lawn bowls team on Friday, to accept fresh applications from the team on Monday.