Western Australia Seeks Direct Flights, Mineral Deals with India

New Delhi, Jan 24 (PTI) Western Australia is keen to have direct air connectivity with India as well as expand cooperation in the area of critical minerals, its Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti said on Wednesday.

Promoting tourism to Western Australia was the priority talking point for the Deputy Premier as she concluded a delegation-led mission in Delhi. A delegation visit is also scheduled for January 25 in Chennai.

India is currently Western Australia's 10th largest trading partner.

"Saffioti engaged in a series of important meetings and events including discussions with key airlines, exploring opportunities for collaboration and enhanced connectivity in the aviation sector. She also met with the chairman of TATA Sons to explore potential collaborations," a statement said.

In an interview to PTI, Saffioti said aircraft availability is a key issue in achieving direct air connectivity between India and Western Australia and that talks are in progress with Air India and Indigo Airlines.

"We are very much keen to increase (flights) and to get direct air linkages between India and Western Australia. So we are working really hard on that. One of the issues is aircraft availability. So we are waiting until the airlines can get more aircraft. In the meantime we are going to work with the airlines on how we can promote the existing links through Singapore and through other ports to bring more Indians into Western Australia," Saffioti said in the interview.

Western Australia takes up a third of the country's land mass. It is 10 times the size of the UK. Perth, the state's capital, is among the most isolated cities in the world.

Saffioti also emphasised on the huge potential for deepening collaboration in the area of critical minerals.

"We are having meetings today and tomorrow with Indian investors and government officials. There's a huge opportunity to partner with Indian companies to invest into Western Australia," she said, adding that Western Australia has a significant share of critical minerals like lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper and can help other countries in their decarbonisation efforts.

Asked about her meeting with TATA Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran, she said,"We talked about the opportunities particularly in tourism and tourism investment. We are very keen to support Indian investment into Western Australia. As I said we have a strong Indian community, a very successful diaspora and the potential for successful partnerships in the future is there".

Responding to a media query related to reports of attacks on Hindu temples in Australia, and Khalistani extremism, Saffioti said: "There's a lot of effort put in by authorities to make sure we can keep these things under control".

India is a key market for Western Australia with the country being its 10th largest trading partner with USD 4.1 billion of goods traded in 2022-23, and an important inbound tourism market.

In the year ended September 2023, India ranked as 7th largest international market, with 27,000 visitors contributing an estimated USD 91 million to the state's economy. The mission capitalized on this momentum, further boosting Indian tourism and trade to Western Australia.

Western Australia is abundant in critical minerals and offers a potential as a major producer of renewable energy to support India's clean energy transition and sustainable development (electric vehicles).

Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) has created new opportunities for the Australian goods and services exporters with reduction of tariffs allowing Western Australia wine brands to be introduced to the market as well as opening the door for avocado and rock lobster shipments.