INDIA NEWS
BUSINESS AND POLITICS
ACT Election 2020: Despite decline in primary votes, Labor may win again An opinion poll survey carried out by uComms has revealed that the Labor party is still treading the path of victory despite a fall in first preference votes in the party’s favour and a rise in that of the Liberals’
Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory Andrew Barr
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he 2020 general election for the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Legislative Assembly is scheduled for October 17, the uncertain atmosphere created by the Covid-19 pandemic notwithstanding. The ACT Election Commission is gearing itself up to ensure that all the norms of social distancing and sanitizing are followed at the polling booths, while the voters themselves are being encouraged to vote early. All the eligible members of the electorate will be
able to cast their votes between September 28 and October 17 to avoid overcrowding in any location.
almost 4% in its primary voting figures from 10.3 % in the last elections to 14%, according to the latest survey.
Second term likely for Andrew Barr-led government
In a bid to garner support of the electorate, Andrew Barr declared on 3rd August that if elected for a second term the party would launch a $150 million interest-free loan scheme for home owners with land value of up to $600,000 to provide financial assistance in installingrooftop solar panels, household battery storage and hot water heat pumps. He also added that this would help to generate almost 1200 new job opportunities.
One of the most influential public policy think tanks of the country, the Australia Institute, recently published the outcome of a pre-poll survey carried out by uComms, an Australian market research and analytics platform, over a cross section of 1049 ACT inhabitants on July 20. Interestingly, the first preference votes for the incumbent Labor party have dipped from 38.4 % in the 2016 elections to 37.5 % if the election were to happen now. However, this will still be enough to see them in the lead as the Green party, with whom the Australian Labor Party has been helming the ACT governance since the signing of a formal Parliamentary Agreement in 2016, has shown an impressive jump of
Overwhelming support for truth in political advertising The survey which was conducted primarily to comprehend public opinion regarding truth in political advertising revealed that almost 90 % of the ACT residents have an affirmative stance towards the implementation of such laws with the highest
proportion being Green voters, the figures being 94%, closely followed by 93% of those who are supporting independentsor others. Labor Party supporters stood at 91%, while those voting for the Liberals accounted for 84%. Liberals not close to forming government Although 38.2 % of the respondents claimed that they would cast their votes in favour of the Liberals, this 1.5 % increase as compared to the previous elections in which the party was led by the erstwhile opposition leader Jeremy Hanson will not be enough for them to topple the ruling party. Thus, the Liberals now spearheaded by Alistair Coe will once again find themselves in the role of the Opposition. However, the Liberals have promised a slew of measures with one of the most ambitious ones being their declaration to increase tree cover by planting
one million trees as according to Coe there are many areas like the Woden town centre and the Gungahlin town centre where green space is blatantly deficient. But the ACT government has been critical of what according to them is an unrealistic and unfeasible plan with no clarity on the strategy to achieve it. Youngest voters exhibit strong inclination for Labor Party While the Liberals are the uncontested favourites among the voters above 65 years with approximately 42% expressing support for them, the youngest age group comprising those aged between 18 and 34 years are strongly inclined to vote for the Labor party as 41 % answered that they would definitely vote for the incumbents. As far as the Greens are concerned, they appeared to be a popular choice for the 35-50 years age group. By Deepika Banerjee
AIBC announces Agribusiness chapter launch, highlights growing trade opportunities between India and Australia The latest AIBC webinar on July 30 brought together a panel of expert speakers to announce the launching of the Agribusiness chapter which would capitalize on the increasing avenues of Australian agribusiness in the vast Indian market
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he monumental June 4 virtual summit between PM Morrison and his Indian counterpart PM Modi set into motion a myriad of opportunities between both the democratic nations with the long-awaited materialization of the nine Comprehensive Strategic Partnership agreements. Among these one of the most pivotal is the agreement on Agriculture Cooperation and Water resources management which promises opportunities for both the Australian and Indian economies, especially since it is being expected strongly that growth in this sector will continue unabated even in the following year despite the uncertainties surrounding the Covid-19 impact in the near future. The Australia India Business Council (AIBC), which is always at the forefront in identifying and facilitating trade opportunities between the two nations, conducted a webinar on July 30 to launch the Agribusiness Chapter. The participants included key note speakers and panelists comprising Jim Varghese AM, National Chair AIBC; Con Livissianis, Chair AIBC Agribusiness Chapter; David Littleproud, Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management; Manish Gupta, Consul General of India, Sydney; Adrian Murphy, President, Grains Industry
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Association of Victoria; Manek Gupta, Managing Director, Glencore Agriculture India, Indian Pulses and Grains Association; Anthony Russell, Executive Manager, Grains Industry Market Access Forum; Shantha Devi Raman, Senior Partner, Law Offices of India, New Delhi; Peter Creaser, Assistant Secretary, Biosecurity Plant Division, Department of Agriculture; and Sumit Rao, Director, Imperial Malt Limited, Haryana, India. Emergence of feasible opportunities for Australian farming ventures Acting as moderators, Jim Varghese AM, National Chair AIBC, and Con Livissianis, Chair AIBC Agribusiness Chapter,averred that the time was ripe for Australian farming businesses to look towards India as a potential and feasible market with a wide array of opportunities in areas of food products, agricultural machinery, food processing, food wastage, supply chain, storage and logistics and water management, and harvesting. A stupendous growth in the Agribusiness sector in India being almost a foregone conclusion in the near future, AIBC must be proactive in identifying and forging ties with strategic partners in India for Australian Agribusiness. Citing the Barley Crisis and the Cotton Crisis, both Varghese and Livissianis stated that
collaboration and cooperation need to be fostered with the latter specifically pointing towards the necessity to address the tariff barriers so that Australia can find a perfect substitute in India as they move away from China following the rise in ideological differences between Australia and China. David Littleproud, Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management acknowledged that formalizing the comprehensive trade agreement with India will be mutually beneficial and also said that Agricultural Research and Development, water irrigation and supply chains were key areas in which Australia needs to ramp up its efforts to partner with India. Potential role of AIBC in promoting foreign trade in Agriculture sector Lauding the efforts of AIBC, Adrian Murphy, Grains Industry Association of Victoria, stated that the organization must play a key role in building closer ties between importers and exporters of agri-products and work towards promoting the supply of Australian barley in India. He emphasized that Australia’s pledge to provide quality agricultural products gives them an even stronger footing to add value to the Indian agricultural sector. To ensure that this potential becomes a reality, AIBC
is in an ideal position to act as a mediator and facilitator. Growing market for certain agricultural products and other allied areas Giving an in-depth analysis of the bilateral trade figures of grains, pulses, chickpeas, barley and cotton, Manek Gupta, Glencore Agriculture India, opined that there will be further opportunities in the trade of pulses, grain and cotton. In a similar vein, Anthony Russell, Executive Manager, Grains Industry Market Access Forum, also identified the potential market for pulses as well as the increasing opportunities to upgrade Indian supply chain, grain storage management and food security. However, he feels that the obstacles facing Australian agribusiness in dealing with its Indian counterpart are tariffs and fumigation methods. Apart from this, Sumit Rao, Director, Imperial Malt Limited, Haryana, India, also shared his views about the inclining opportunities for Australian barley in India and supported his assertion by providing a brief overview of the Indian barley market. Conducive measures in the Indian Agricultural Sector Manish Gupta, Consul General of India, Sydney, shared the news about the Indian Government’s decision to launch the National
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Agricultural Market and reforms in policies that would encourage optimum investment in Agri e-commerce. Recognizing Australia’s potential to play a major role in strengthening the agricultural sector, he welcomed constructive efforts by India and Australia to collaborate in priority areas such as Agri research, Water management, B2B partnerships and Start-ups. Stringent Indian laws to protect Australian patents Shantha Devi Raman, Law Offices of India, delineated the various Indian laws that are in place to ensure the security of Australian patents and intellectual property of the Australian Agri products in India, extension of patents and Intellectual Property, and overriding provisions of World Trade Organization agreement. She also added that these will not only safeguard enforceability but also deal with infringements effectively. Significant progress in tackling bio-security issues Peter Creaser, Assistant Secretary, Biosecurity Plant Division, Department of Agriculture, on an optimistic note stated that there had been noticeable advancement in dealing with bio-security issues and laid stress on the importance of threat assessment processes for agricultural products, in coming up with the requisite measures.
AUGUST 2020
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