us ra 1ans r

No one had imagined that Australia's relations with Indi a would almost transform after just one vis it PrimeMm.ister Modi took the Australian East Coast by storm, from Brisbane to Me lbourn e through Sydney and Canberra, and he struck a chord wherever he wen t. Prime Minister Modi wowed his audi ences wi th hi s formal E n glish ,5 peeches as well as h is masterly Hindi oratory. But it was not symbolism alone, this was one of the most substantial visits ever undertaken by an India n leader.

C lear ly, the re is today a clear convergence of values and interests between India and Australia in almost every sp h er e: economic and rrade; security and geo- strategy; and peopJeto-people But it required the statesmanship of Modi and the bonding of Tony Abbott and Modi to translate a potential partnership imo a genui ne friendship. This has happened.

I was given the honour of moderating the CEOs roundtable with Mr Modi a t Government House in Melbourne on 18 November. Australian b u sinesses have, in the past, been bearish and cautious about India an d fo und .it difficult to work with India.

Not so on th is occasion The creme de la crem e of Australian b u si nesses were there includ ing Andrew Macke.r12 ie, CEO of the world's la rgest resource company, BHP Billito n; :tvf.ike Smith, CEO of ANZ Banking Group; Sam Walsh, CEO of Rio Tinto; Antho ny Pratt, C EO of Visy; and G ina Rinehart, CEO of Hancock Prospecting Llmited. They were tremendously exc.ited by Mr Modi and bis vision for tbe Indian economy :tvir Pratt annou nc ed th e setting up of a bigb level Leaders h ip Dialogue between Australia n and Indian bus iness, political, and c.ivil soc iety Jeaders. 1he Australia India Institute will nm this dialogue Anthon y Pratt will be tbe founder patron and Ross Fitzgerald of V isy and l will co- chair d1e dialogue. The Prime l'vim.ister blessed the d ial ogue w hich will take p lace annually b eginning wid1 De lhi next October

All in all, we could n ot have expected more from a vi si t which bas, wid1out exaggeration, changed die course of Australia lndia relations, in every sense o f the word

Roundtable; Above right: Ste ve Waugh and cricket greats w ith

PMs Ton y Abbott and N a re ndra Modi

Steve Waugh

Fonner Australian cricket captain, 2004Australian ofthe Year, Officer ofthe Order ofAustralia

Gina Rinehart Chairwoman ofHancock Prospecting Group

Alex Hawke FederalMember for Mitchell, Chair ofthe India-Australia Parliamentary Network

1 was extremely im pressed with the enthusiasm and admiration of the crowd at All phones Arena who came tO see Prime Minister Modi speak. To bave so many peo ple attend an event fo r a world leader is truly exceptional. You woul dn ' t get 30,000 Brits celeb rating David Ca m eron if he visited Sydney, so this demon strates the I ndian collll11tlniry's respect for ivlr Modi as a man o f great stature.

I was privileged tO get t o spe nd a few moments in conversation with Prime Minis ter Modi. He i s a really good perso n - ordinary, down to earth a nd without hubris. It was lovely to meet w ith him The mos t important facet of thi s visit for both the Indian an d A u stralian governments i s tbe d emo nstra ted commi tment to accelerating d1e pace of our relationship. There has always been a fu ndam entally good relati o n s hip, with our shared language, history and strategic interests, but there's potential to go further. With two new governments, and two new Ptin1e M inisters wbo seem to like each other and get on well both per son ally and politically, it is time for an accelerated relationsh ip. Both gover nm ents are kee n to sign a Fr ee Trad e Agreement as soon as possible. There is such a good Indian diaspo ra community here, espec ially whe re m y electorate is in Western Sydney. Th e commtmi ty is d1riving People are running great businesses, settling their families he re, and the Indian migrant story is ovet\vbelmingly successful. It's a great storyIndians are peac eful, commerciall y successful a nd have g reat fa mily life here in Australia.

Prime :Minister Modi is very p ositive, b asi cally saying ' India is open for business'. It's t he fastest growing economy in tbe world and I think A u stralia would be mad not to d o business wi d 1 J ndia. We ba,7e a lot of similarities which are mentioned, a lot o f similar in terests, and I d on't think we've done e no ugh in th e pas t to build d10se bridges. Cricket, i s one commonali ty, obviously, but there's a lot of business conn ection s we should foste r and Prime ?vlinis-ter Modi certainly encouraged th a t today

I'm launchin g a business today c alled Waugh Global Realty and I'll be l ooking co sell real estate to Ris a nd al so Indians in lnclia. I'm partnering up w ith some top developers, so I'm starting a new business. Hur Prime Mi nister Modi also spoke about education, sc ience, agriculture, infrastrucmr e - there's a lot of skills in Australia we can export to India

I th.ink it's a genuine war m th betwee n Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Abbott \'(le should strengthe n ties, perhaps more than we h ave,. I d1ink Tony Abbott realises we have a lot in c ommon , we can benefit a lot from the relationship witb India, India can benefi t fro m a relationship with us, and it's just smart business that we're aligning ourselves more closely.

It is su cb an h onour to have your Prime Minister visiting u s bere in Australia I am very taken with bis quo te, wi d1 his whole attitude, 'from red tape to red c arpet' We have a lot co l earn from your Prime Minister and I h o pe our red Ci\rpet is out to him.

Already some o f the steps diat Prime M inister Modi has taken make a lot o f sen se. He's gone out there and said be will be doing m ore for d1e 11-UJung industry tO see it develop more in In dia I suspect tbat means it will happen I thi n k our Treasurer today in the earlier meetings expressed very well t hat he'd like to see a lot more happ e ning b etween small b u sin ess and medium business as well We know a b out tbe big things, we know a b out LNP, we know about some of the commodities, but I th.ink om Treasurer expressed very well [hat we s hnuld also see more happ en between small to m edium bus in ess in Australia and small to medium b u siness in India because th ere could be an enormous growth between the two.

Prime Minister Abbott and Prime Minister Modi seem very close. There is a lot of und erstanding, also, of course , sharing a democratic background. T here i s an increasing Indian p resence in Australia, d1ere is increasi n g trade between our two countries. I hope, alth ough ir i s alread y a war m relation ship, that it will get deeper at every l e,7el.

The international cricket community mourns as the baggy green cap 408 is no more

Tributes poured in for Australian batsman Phillip Hughes who passed away on 27 November after a freak accident during a Sheffield Shield matcb at the SCG. Hughes, who would have mrned 26 on 30 November, passed away two day s after being struck by a bouncer bowled by Sean Abbott.

Although he was hospitalised immediately, he never regained consciousness.

Sydney's Sanj iv Dubey remembers Phillip Hughes as a "little fellow who came to class with a massive kit bag". As a Year 12 smdem at Homebush Boys High School in 2006, the late cricketer was a studem in Dubey's PD HPE class.

" Of course Ho m ebush Boys is famous for tl1at kind of thing. On a regular day, you'll see some 30 to 40 of those kit bags. But Phi.I stood ouc because he'd come straight to the front of the class witl1 his! He also stood out because of o tl1er characteristics, mostly his attitude in class He would listen and learn , and was keen to make an effort," Dube y said. " The omer sportsmen in m y class would sit at the back, and yes s ometimes nod off too, but not Phil. There's a handful of kids over the years that I've picked as ones w ho woul.d go on and make a mark, and Phil was one o f them."

Canberra's Jay Poria firs t met Phillip Hughes in the mid -2000s when they bo1:h played Sydney Grade Cricke t Jay played for UTS Balmaiu (now known as Sydney Cricket Club) while Phillip played for Western Suburbs D istrict Cricket Club.

Both were picked for t he NSW Under- 19 side i n the Australian Championships in 2006. T he team took the trophy for the fom t b time that year.

"I remember that tour to Adelaide very well ," Ja y Poria to.Id lndit1n Link. ' 1Jhil was always upbeat, and could be pretty naughty too!"

Jay ad.nuts to feeling distraught when he heard of the freak accident at tl1e SCG, but remembers his time witl1 Phil fondly.

"If l had co p ick one quality in tl, e man, it would have to be lus strong determination. Even when his tecbnique was questioned while trialling, and later when he was dropped because of it , he was ver y determined to get back up, and come back stronger. And when he got back into me Under- 19 terun, he came back with a cenmry, and a big one at that."

Peopl e across the world paid tribute to tllc Australian cricketer by putting out tl1eir bats and posting photos to social media with tl1e hashcag #putoucyourbats , a movement begu11 b y the user @ Sq11izabil!y The man behi n d the account PauI Taylor tweeted, " #pncoutyo1.1rbats isn't about me. lc's just a wa y for all cricketers to show their respects to Phillip Hughes. We've all played cricket in one way or another Backyard o r beach cricket, n o matter what lev el, we've all grown up with a bat and ball. Thi s is our way co connect and show our sadness. Thoughts also must g o to Sean Abbott." e Pay our tributes t onoured to h o Phil Hughes dia # ave hosted the C putoutyourbat # C hampion in ,,, , rrcketFamuy "'1111_

The currently touring Indian team released a statement that said: "We cherisb the mem o ries of playing along wicb him and deep ly respect his contribution to the game of cricket."