OVER recent weeks a ''reality'' television series
has led a mixed group of Indian citizens on an at times hair-raising guided
tour of Australia, a nation that the program's title suggests is ''Dumb, Drunk
& Racist''. Having got our attention with this outrageous provocation, it
becomes clear that the bleak label is host Joe Hildebrand's own creation - his
Indian fellow travellers are clearly in at least two minds about the
proposition. Clever, funny and at times brave and insightful, the show
entertains. It also confronts a serious issue: are Indians and Australians
ready for that larger journey towards understanding each other better?
Recent signals have been mixed. Assaults and
robberies that affected Indian students in 2009-10 saw them leave Australia in
droves. The exodus wrought havoc in the tertiary education sector and cost
Australia billions of dollars. Aussies visiting India used to be
set upon by happy crowds chanting names such as ''Boon'', ''Border'' and ''Mark
Taylor''. Cricket is still a shared passion, but since the student crisis
travellers from Down Under have been asked, "Why do Australians hate
us?"
The good news is that recent polling suggests an
unexpectedly rapid recovery in Australia's reputation in India. The AMR
Research data, revealed in a report published today by the Australia India
Institute, shows that Indians surveyed ranked Australia the eighth-best country
in the world, up from 35th during the depths of the student crisis.
Yet similar optimistic moments in the past have
turned out to be false dawns and there has been precious little solidarity
between our democracies. Australia hasn't hosted a visiting Indian prime
minister for 26 years.
The AII report, Beyond the Lost Decade,
reveals some of the reasons why. Influential Indian policymakers regard
Australia's foreign policy as ''erratic'', ''impetuous'', ''immature'' and
''unduly mercantilist''. Australian diplomats counter that India is simply
holding on to old grudges, mainly the perceived overreaction to its 1998
nuclear tests.
The report, produced by a taskforce whose members
combine decades of experience in diplomacy, government and media, finds that
perceived commonalities such as cricket, democracy and the English language
have created a deceptive sense of familiarity that masks very different world
views. India's need for energy security will not necessarily produce close
political ties. India demands respect and prefers discrete alliances with
reliable partners. It seems to move slowly, yet once its confidence is gained -
as an unlikely friend in Israel has gained it - doors can open quickly.
The Labor Party's decision last December to lift
its ban on uranium sales to India created a circuit-breaker and an opportunity
to advance the relationship. But since then the Gillard cabinet has not
formally adopted the policy, apparently due to problems with international
treaty obligations. This is creating renewed uncertainty among some Indian
officials.
Nimble diplomacy from the 1960s to the 1990s helped
Australia get in on the ground floor of Asia's economic miracle. But when India
opened its economy in 1991, Australia failed to seize the opportunity. It will
now be harder for business to establish a foothold, especially without an
Australian Indian community as large and influential as those in Britain and
the United States, which facilitated closer ties.
The taskforce report highlights practical actions
that both nations can take to build goodwill, stronger people-to-people ties
and better understanding of each other.
Changes to visa regulations after the student
crisis moved the goalposts for some Indians studying in Australia. Although
some grandfathering measures were put in place, many of those affected have
only until the end of this year to make other arrangements, or leave. The
report suggests giving them another year to work out their futures.Similarly,
the withdrawal of post-study work rights for international students undertaking
vocational courses hit Indian students hardest. The report suggests restoring
those rights to students at TAFE and other reputable vocational institutes,
where most Indians were enrolled.
Australia's federal system makes achieving uniform
standards in any field a challenge, but competition between states can be
healthy. States that enjoy the benefits of the international student program
should be rated annually on student security and education quality. A high
ranking would produce overseas marketing opportunities for states that excel.
Making Australia Asia-literate won't just happen of
its own accord. Innovative programs to educate Australian schoolchildren in the
history, culture, economies and languages of our dynamic regional neighbours
are essential. To avoid the possibility of some states and schools failing to
implement these changes, the Australian curriculum should mandate and specify
the study of India from primary school onwards.
In higher education, for every 100 international
students who study here, one Australian student should be supported to study in
Asia. On today's enrolment figures, that would mean up to 3500 young
Australians completing all or part of their degrees in Asian countries,
including India.
Australia's reputation abroad is high, but this
popularity is superficial and, as the student crisis showed, can plummet when
negative narratives get picked up by 24-hour television news channels abroad.
The taskforce report calls for major changes at
Radio Australia and the international television service Australia Network.
India doesn't need news broadcasts funded by Australian taxpayers - it has 500
television stations of its own, dozens of which carry 24-hour news. Nor do
Australian expatriates and travellers need Canberra to pay for their news and
sports updates, all of which they can get from the internet. By junking the old
broadcasting model, Radio Australia and Australia Network resources could be
freed up to commission or produce quality programs that Asians want to hear,
read and view. Doing so would convey a far better sense of what Australia is,
and can do, than any number of news bulletins. Such content would have greater
impact if distributed via India and Asia's own TV and radio networks.
In 2009, when Indian media reported the student
crisis as symptomatic of racism, Australian officials reacted defensively,
provoking claims of a cover-up. Dumb, Drunk & Racist suggests a
braver approach. A smart, sober and diverse Australia should be big enough to
admit everything is not perfect, engaged enough to effectively communicate what
it offers the world, and confident enough to allow others to judge.
(Co-authored with Christopher Kremmer)
(Source: The Age)
