PM leaves for strategic India visit

ArticleData Array ( [Article] => Array ( [article_id] => 1129487 [headline] => PM leaves for strategic India visit [abstract] => Kevin Rudd is on his way to India for his first visit to the subcontinent since becoming prime minister. [keywords] => Rudd, India [content] =>

Kevin Rudd is on his way to India for his first visit to the subcontinent since becoming prime minister.

Mr Rudd arrives in Mumbai today for a two-day whistlestop tour during which he will meet a range of political and business leaders, including Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The trip, which also takes in New Delhi, is aimed at boosting Australia's economic and strategic ties with the south Asian superpower.
   
Amongst other things, the creation of a free trade agreement between the two countries is expected to be on the agenda.

It's also hoped Mr Rudd's visit will soothe strained diplomatic relations which arose from a spate of violent attacks on Indian students living in Australia.
   
Mr Rudd is the most senior member of the government to head to India after an outcry over the students' treatment led to fears about a possible backlash affecting Australia's $15 billion a year international education industry.

 

[start_date] => 11 November 2009 | 11:05:58 AM [comments_allowed] => 1 [source] => AAP [commentCount] => 0 [video] => [image] => [audio] => [reporter] => [relatedLinks] => Array ( [2] => Array ( [id] => 1128947 [label] => Rudd seeks to boost ties with India [display_order] => 0 [type] => Article ) [1] => Array ( [id] => 1128492 [label] => Rudd spends big on consultants [display_order] => 0 [type] => Article ) [0] => Array ( [id] => 1127712 [label] => Rudd takes beating in polls over asylum issues [display_order] => 0 [type] => Article ) ) [relatedArticles] => Array ( [0] => Array ( [article_id] => 1127712 [headline] => Rudd takes beating in polls over asylum issues [abstract] => Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has taken another hit in the opinion polls over asylum seekers, but Labor's approval rating remains steady.
[content] =>

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has taken another hit in the opinion polls over asylum seekers.

The Newspoll in The Australian shows 53 per cent of voters think the prime minister is doing a bad job of managing the issue, against 31 per cent who think he is handling it well.

The Fairfax/Nielsen poll shows 47 per cent disapprove of Labor's stance on the 78 asylum seekers refusing to get off the Oceanic Viking in Indonesia, while 45 per cent are for it.

It also shows Mr Rudd'S personal approval rating has slipped three points to 68 per cent while Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull's climbed two points to 37 per cent.

But Mr Rudd is still way ahead as preferred prime minister, with 68 per cent to Mr Turnbull's 24 per cent, and Labor's 56 to 44 per cent ahead in the two-party preferred stakes.

[content_type_id] => 3 [site_name] => World News Australia [articledate] => 9 November 2009 [articletime] => 9 November 2009 [display_order] => 0 ) [1] => Array ( [article_id] => 1128492 [headline] => Rudd spends big on consultants [abstract] => Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has reportedly spent $454 million on consultants in the past financial year.
[content] =>

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has reportedly spent $454 million on consultants in the past financial year.

The figure, a five per cent increase on the money spent on consultants in the 2007-08 financial year, came as the government grappled with the fallout from the global financial crisis and the detail of the proposed emissions trading scheme.

But spending on outside advisers gave then opposition leader Kevin Rudd a line of attack on the former Howard government before the 2007 election.

The Australian newspaper analysed the spending on consultants over four years in 40 departments that generally spend $1 million a year or more on consultants.

It found that despite promises in 2007 to crack down on government spending on consultancies, the Rudd government spent $454 million in 2008-09, its first full financial year in government.

The figure is not far short of the former Howard government's record spend of $480 million on outside advisers, The Australian said.

Major firms including Boston Consulting Group, McKinsey Pacific Rim Inc, KPMG and the Allen Consulting Group have been employed to design business models, improve processes and gather data, the newspaper said.

Meanwhile the PM was heckled last night at a community cabinet meeting in Bathurst.

Elysha Hickey, a university student, declared the debate on asylum seekers had been going around in circles.

"Look Kevin, enough is enough when it comes to asylum seekers," she said, her voice cracking.

"Stop this fear-mongering."

Afterwards Ms Hickey was unrepentant.

"This debate is only going to go away when politicians change the way they talk," she told reporters.

Mr Rudd responded by returning to government policy, defending his tough but fair approach.

"It's a responsible policy in the national interest," he told the crowd of about 500.
 

[content_type_id] => 3 [site_name] => World News Australia [articledate] => 10 November 2009 [articletime] => 10 November 2009 [display_order] => 0 ) [2] => Array ( [article_id] => 1128947 [headline] => Rudd seeks to boost ties with India [abstract] => Kevin Rudd this week will attempt to boost Australia's economic and strategic ties with India, on his first visit to the subcontinent as prime minister. [content] =>

Kevin Rudd this week will attempt to boost Australia's economic and strategic ties with India, on his first visit to the subcontinent as prime minister.

Mr Rudd flies into Mumbai on Wednesday on a whistlestop visit to a country flagged as a foreign policy priority since he won government.

Two earlier attempts to make the trip had to be shelved because of domestic issues in India.

This visit is aimed at bolstering Australia's relationship with the south Asian superpower, the world's biggest democracy with a growing middle class and a population of 1.2 billion.

It will help make amends for strained relations earlier this year, after a spate of violent attacks that seemed directed at Indian students turned the spotlight on problems in the rapidly-growing education export industry.

Mr Rudd is the most senior member of the government to head to India after an outcry over the students' treatment led to fears about a possible backlash affecting the $15 billion a year industry.

Education is Australia's third biggest export, and India sends the second largest number of students to Australia after China.

Mr Rudd will meet a range of political and business leaders during his trip to Mumbai and New Delhi, including Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Australia is keen to build its trade relationship with India - already the country's fourth biggest customer - given its vast potential as a consumer market.

Like China, India is crucial to Australia's growth prospects over the coming decades.

The two countries have been considering a free trade agreement to build their economic ties.

A recently completed feasibility study reportedly found a free-trade deal would be favourable to both countries, but it remains unclear whether Mr Rudd and Mr Singh will give the green light to the start of negotiations.

Rory Medcalfe, from the Lowy Institute for International Policy, says that despite the strong growth in trade, Australia's relations with India continue to fall below expectations.

In a policy paper released on Tuesday, Mr Medcalfe argued the two countries should be looking at ways to expand their strategic partnership, particularly in areas like defence and energy security.

The Rudd government, he says, needs to act on its rhetoric about India.

"Two years on (from winning office), the Rudd government's progress in pressing its claim has been uneven and in some areas downright disappointing, especially on the strategic front," Mr Medcalfe said.

An issue Canberra and New Delhi haven't seen eye to eye on is the Rudd government's refusal to sell uranium to India because it isn't a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT).

The matter may be raised ahead of a review of the NPT next year and could take on greater import for India in the context of global efforts to address climate change.

"Australia and India should work to expand common ground on nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament, which might help open the way on uranium sales," Mr Medcalfe says.

"Both governments need fully to grasp Australia's vast potential in ensuring India's energy security."

[content_type_id] => 3 [site_name] => World News Australia [articledate] => 10 November 2009 [articletime] => 10 November 2009 [display_order] => 0 ) ) [comments] => Array ( ) ) [winston] => test )