YEAR-AUS 2LST

Sibal reviewed the steps taken by the Australian
government on safety and security of Indian students with the
then Foreign Minister Stephen Smith.
During his visit, Vayalar Ravi met several Australian
government officials and authorities to discuss the condition
of Indian students and visa issues pertaining to them.
Australian government initiated rapid audit programme
for improving the quality of educational institutions that
came into spotlight following Indian student attack issue.
The new immigration rules were announced to crackdown
on people seeking permanent residency through low-value
education courses.
This led to closure of many vocational colleges,
leaving hundreds of Indian students wondering about their
future.
Between 2003 and 2009, the number of overseas
vocational students jumped from 48,573 to 212,538.
The new migration rules and reports of students safety
led to decline in Indian students' numbers by almost half
during the year.
In a dramatic political development in June, Julia
Gillard, then deputy prime minister revolted against prime
minister Kevin Rudd and forced him to step down and became
Australia's first woman Prime Minister.
She announced General election in August and after
prolonged political uncertainty with her Labor coalition
returned to power in September with a slim majority. She
appointed Rudd as her Foreign Minister.
Concerned over a decline in enrollments of overseas
students, the government has said it would review the existing
student visa policy to boost its multi-billion dollar
education sector.
On business front, India and Australia intensified
fast-growing trade and investment links despite failed efforts
on Uranium sale to India.
Trade in goods between the two countries reached 21.52
billion Australian dollars in 2008-09, a rise of 52 per cent
over the previous year. India's export to Australia were 2.74
billion Australian dollars, a rise of 32 per cent.
Australia's ruling Labor party led by Gillard has
shown no sign of changing its policy on Uranium sale to India,
which is likely to be a subject of discussion ahead of Indian
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Australia next year.
Importantly, a joint study on the feasibility of a
bilateral Free Trade Agreement was finalised this year.
The study recommended that the Australian and Indian
Governments consider negotiation of a comprehensive bilateral
FTA that includes trade in goods, trade in services,
investment and other trade and investment facilitation
measures as a single undertaking. PTI