Sunday, 16 August 2026
Darling Harbour Theatre, Sydney
Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC

Bujari gamarruwa

Diyn Babana Gamarada Gadigal Ngura

In greeting you in the language of the Gadigal, Traditional Owners of this land, I pay my respects to Elders past, present, and emerging.

Premier,^[1] Leader of the Opposition,^[2] Consuls-General, Distinguished Guests,

It is an honour to be here today in celebration of India’s 80th Independence Day. This is particularly so, as Dennis and I are Adjunct Professors at Jindal University, and it is wonderful to have that direct connection with India. 

Your national flag, with the vivid saffron, white and green bands, and the navy-blue ‘Ashoka Chakra’ in the centre – displayed behind me – captures so much of the heart and colour of India, and together with the Australian flag with its radiant Southern Cross, represents your contributions as Australian citizens and residents to our country. 

The Tiranga – or Tricolour – was formally adopted by India’s Constituent Assembly on 22 July 1947, four weeks before independence was achieved on 15 August 1947.^[3] Australia was among the first countries to witness the hoisting of independent India's Tricolour flag when Sir Raghunath Paranjpye, India's first High Commissioner to Australia, raised the flag at his Canberra residence before an audience including Australian cabinet ministers – with the words “Jai Hind” or “victory to India.”^[4]

That flag-raising marked a new step in the modern relationship between India and Australia. And yet, as we know, the ties between our two countries reach back much further than that. 

In geological terms, Australia was part of the Indian subcontinent millions of years ago, before the forces of nature broke us apart. The human connection began in the late 18th and 19th centuries, when cameleers migrated to Australia, who, with their camels, proved instrumental to exploring the Australian Outback.

We have, of course, come a long way together since those first dusty camel tracks, with this year marking another significant milestone. For the first time on record, people born in India have become the largest overseas-born group in Australia,^[5] overtaking England which had held on for so long. 

The significance of this milestone cannot be overstated. Economically and socially the India–Australia relationship is a deeply connected one – as our ties grow stronger, through education, sport, cultural and business exchange, and with the Indian diaspora playing such a fulsome part in daily community life. 

Dennis and I see this as we engage with people across New South Wales, both in the metropolitan areas and in the regions. You are there in the hospitals, schools, businesses and community organisations we visit. You are there in the local convenience store after the big stores have left town. You are there at the Cherry Festival in Young, and you are there in the restaurants, thankfully still open when we finish up some nights after 8 or 9 pm when the rest of the town seems to have gone to bed. 

You are the highly-skilled engineers and technicians whom we have met in our advanced manufacturing industries such as at RØDE, the audio technology manufacturer; at ResMed the medical equipment company; and at Thales, innovating and enabling Australia’s advanced defence capability. You are the specialists to whom we are referred by our GPs, and you are the GPs in our suburbs and country towns maintaining essential health services. 

In many ways this is unsurprising. The Indian diaspora is highly educated and entrepreneurial. In fact, the 2025 statistics reveal that one in five business registrations made in NSW were by those born in India. That ranks India as the second most common country of birth for NSW business founders, after those born in Australia.^[6]

In Western and North-Western Sydney, that number is far greater – last year, 56 per cent of new business founders were Indian-born.^[7] Your great leader Mahatma Ghandi observed: “The future depends on what you do today." It seems that as such a vibrant sector of our community, you have been all been stamped with the Ghandian DNA. 

Of the many businesses in the figures to which I have referred, many are being built by young Indian-Australians fittingly reflected in the theme of India’s 80th Independence Day – “Yuva Shakti” – or “Youth Power." As this theme predicts, it is the contribution of young people that will make India a developed nation by 2047, when it will celebrate 100 years of Independence. 

You will achieve this without losing any of your cultural history, noting that this year will be the first live performance of Vande Mataram at the Red Fort, marking 150 years of a song that has occupied such an important place in India’s national story.

To the people of India, and the NSW Indian community, warmest best wishes on your 80th Independence Day celebrations!