When the Australian cricket team won their first test series victory over India in a decade, I was over in the subcontinent. I expected Indians to be more upset over their loss in what is a cricket-mad country.
But India seems too busy getting ahead to worry about games anymore.
Up till now, the relationship between India and Australia has been dominated by cricket, with curry and the commonwealth also featuring. These are the so-called three “Cs”.
But the problem with cricket is that it is winner takes all, and it is no real basis for an ongoing, developing and longstanding friendship.
I have long advocated that we must add a fourth “C” to the Australia-India relationship. That is a “C” of commerce. It makes sense for Australia to increase our business with India given our dependence on China.
The last few years have demonstrated how precarious that position is. China has unjustifiably banned our coal, our wheat, our barley, some of our beef, and wine and lobsters too. While those bans have since been lifted, we have all seen how vulnerable we are to the bullying of a communist country.
I have no problem continuing to trade with China and we should be proud of the many Australians that have built successful businesses with China. But, we should not be content with the risky situation of China dominating more than half of our trade.
India offers the best hope for us to diversify from our over-reliance on China. In 2023, India overtook China as the world’s largest country in terms of population. And, India’s population is much younger than China’s offering greater long term prospects for growth in the relationship. More than half of Indians are under the age of 25, whereas thanks to the one-child policy, less than 30 per cent of Chinese people are under 25.
India has been the fastest growing major country in the world over the past few years. India’s ambitious plans for future growth will require lots more of the natural resources that Australia has in abundance.
Australia’s exports to India are dominated by coal. In recent years more than 80 per cent of Australia’s exports to India have been coal.
India has lots of coal, it mines more than double the amount of coal than we do. But most of that coal is of low quality and it is not appropriate for steel production.
The best steel making coal is in Central Queensland and that’s why India is our biggest market for this type of coal. In 2023, Australia exported 42 million tonnes of steel making coal to India, which was about half of India’s coking coal needs.
India has ambitious targets to double its steel production. If Australia can maintain its market share of India’s coal imports, we could increase our steel making coal production by 25 per cent, meaning more jobs and income for Central Queensland.
The challenge now is to convince India that Australia is a reliable and competitive supplier of coal. I met with many businesses in India and there is a concern about the Australian investment environment.
It took a decade to approve the biggest Indian investment in Australia, the Adani Carmichael coal mine. Investors raised with me the Queensland’s government overnight decision to jack up coal royalties. And, one large Indian steelmaker has recently bought a coal mine in Mozambique rather than invest in Australia.
The key to take advantage of that fourth “C” of commerce is a fifth “C” of Central Queensland where the coal that India wants is. But to deliver this opportunity we need to focus on a sixth “C” of competitiveness and reduce red tape and taxes to attract the investment that can build a strong economic future for our children.
