Meeting the Prime Minister on Australia Day

You’ve been happy here,” Kevin Rudd said to me, “then write to your friends (back home) and tell them as well”.

I had been talking to the Prime Minister of Australia at an Australia Day function.

When I was introduced to him as an international student from India, he asked me where I came from. We spoke about my PhD for a bit. Then he asked if I had had a comfortable stay: I assured him I had, and told him of my experiences as a student here.

Mr Rudd came across as friendly and approachable, delightful and very well spoken. He seemed genuinely concerned that Australia is being seen as a tough place for Indian students.

“The attacks on Indians and Indian students are very unfortunate …” he said. “Australia is really a very safe country to live and study in”. He mentioned his own multicultural family as a case in point –some close family members are not of Australian origin, he informed me. It was at the recommendation of the Consulate General of India (NSW) that

I received an invite to the Australia Day Reception on 24 January at the Museum of Contemporary Arts in Circular Quay.

I was pleasantly surprised at getting the invite, but was also proud to be representing international students. When I left India in 2007 to fulfil a long-cherished dream of gaining a higher degree from abroad, I had never imagined that I would be a special invitee of the Prime Minister at such a formal event!

Entering the grand function, I was somewhat overwhelmed, but soon felt amazed at how casual and relaxed it all was.

The PM’s wife Therese Rein was there, and the Premier of NSW Kristina Keneally and her husband. I got an opportunity to shake hands with them all. The other invitees, nearly 300 in number, were diplomats, scientists, economists, businessmen, new citizens, Olympic athletes …

I got a chance to speak to Robin Bell

– Olympic Kayak champion (who also studied from the University of Sydney) and his wife Julianne.

In his speech Mr Rudd mentioned all the people in Australia contribute to making this country great, and all the eminent personalities present are the building blocks of society.

But I will remember best his short personal conversation with me.

“Tell your friends and family,” he said, “that the few incidents of hostility that we have experienced lately, cannot replace the warmth (that genuinely exists)”.

Astha Singh of Kanpur India, is working towards a PhD at the Faculty of Agriculture Food and Natural Resources, University of Sydney. A Faculty Merit Scholarship holder, she has been teaching undergraduate students as well as presenting research papers at conferences all over Australia.