Ross B. Taylor AM on LinkedIn: Here is an excellent opportunity to learn more about Indonesia and in… (2024)

Robbie Gaspar and the team continue to make a huge difference to the WA and Indonesia relationship....

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TELLING FOREIGN TOURISTS TO STAY AWAY...Here is my small Letter to The West Australian newspaper highlighting not only how important international inbound tourism is to Australia, but how our federal government appears to be doing everything in their power to make tourists choose other destinations. Our visa application process is slow, outdated, rude and very expensive. Over to you Tony Burke; good luck. #tourism #trade #holidays #people #India #Indonesia #exports #hospitality #business #cciwa #politics #visas

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Well done Pak Robbie and all the team....

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CAN BUSINESS EVER TRUST TONY BURKE?As Industrial Relations and Employment Minister Tony Burke certainly has taken a 'big stick' to small, medium and even big business. With his 'questionable' reforms including the 'same job, same pay' legislation and 'no after-hours contact' regulations - at a time when his government introduced a multi-billion dollar Made-in-Australia initiative, it was certainly not a good way to increase productivity and lower costs.Now Mr Burke takes over Home Affairs including Immigration, and once again SME's are getting pounded. But first, let's look at Immigration and boat people:With over 14,000 desperate Australia-bound asylum seekers, mainly from Myanmar and Afghanistan, currently stranded in Java, combined with Mr Burke’s track record suggesting Australia will indeed return to a more welcoming policy for asylum seekers, he will need all the support he can get from Indonesia to ensure we do not see a repeat of the disastrous boat-people fiasco when Mr Burke was last in charge of our borders. But asylum seekers are only one of the challenges facing Mr Burke.With many countries moving to either reduce or remove inbound visa fees on economically critical sectors such as tourism and international education, his predecessor, Clare O'Neil recently decided to actually increase the fees Australia imposes on people wanting to holiday or study here by 35 -120 per cent; a decision that will damage thousands of tourism and hospitality businesses along with a huge 'own goal' to our $38 billion international education sector including the downgrading of vital 'export' sectors such as medical research for example. Already, thanks in part to Mr Burke’s anti-business IR reforms, we are currently seeing record numbers of business insolvencies; a trend that is now likely to only increase as we remove the welcome mat to foreign tourists and students.Australia’s Homes Affairs and Immigration already is in an unholy mess, and Mr Burke will need to put his ideology-based agenda to one side and move decisively, and quickly, to avert major damage to our regional reputation, our many small-medium businesses - and our border security.#borders #boats #refugees #Indonesia #employment #SMEs #exports #ASEAN #business #government #policy

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Such an important, yet not-discussed, issue....

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Great to have Tyler joining the ii team......

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MEANWHILE AUSTRALIA MOVES TO INCREASE INBOUND TOURIST VISA FEES. SO WHO HAS THE RIGHT STRATEGY?#Indonesia #India #Malaysia #tourism #exports #holidays #relations #ASEAN

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HERE'S AN IDEA: A DEPARTMENT FOR ASIAN DIS-ENGAGEMENT?OK, so you may say this is a facetious headline, but the way our state and federal governments conduct themselves in terms of our place in this region, perhaps we should simply embrace our 'dis-engagement' journey?In recent weeks, the incompetent and bumbling Federal Immigration Minister, Andrew Giles, has smashed the international backpacker program that required foreign backpackers to work in our country regions for at least 88 days of their stay here. And last week, Mr Giles increased international student visa application fees by 125%, dramatically impacting our $35billion international education sector. Meanwhile, parents of young foreign students who have paid this extraordinarily high fee, and whose child has been accepted into one of our universities, are now facing a 5-12 month wait for a visa. It's a mess and it is damaging our nation's reputation within our region very badly.The attack on this sector by the Albanese Government, will have a significant multiplier effect in reducing spending by universities in areas such a medical science for example - potentially one of our most successful future export sectors.So what does WA's premier, and his Asian (dis) Engagement team at the mega-department of Jobs, Trade, Tourism, Science and Innovation (JTSI) say about this? Silence.Then of course we see the continuing dramatic decline in the teaching of Asian languages here. Indonesian language programs in Australian universities are down 50% compared with 1992! But really, who cares as Asia needs us, right? Ummm, well actually they don't. And they have moved on from this tiny and inwardly-focussed country to their south not realising that as a small yet smart, advanced nation we could actually contribute hugely to the regional growth and influence, whilst progressing our own advancement as a nation.And in WA, our State Government has not had a WA trade and Investment Commissioner based in Indonesia for over three years. Nor in Korea. Japan also has no current representation. But we do have one Asian (dis) Engagement bureaucrat who holds a few feel-good meetings a year with Asian business councils who are naive enough to actually turn-up. To be fair, it must be a lonely job given the WA Minister for Asian Engagement was sacked after the last state election, and the role abandoned sending further confirmation (if needed) to our region.As Professor Hugh White reflected recently.."Australia will only take Asia and Asian language education seriously, when we realise that our region is no longer dominated by large English-speaking powers."Meanwhile, Australia's 'South-East Asia Economic Strategy to 2040' sits quietly on the shelves of our political elites, whilst we as a community turn our backs on the emergence and strength of our regional neighbours. #Asia #Asian #trade #business #study #exports #Engagement #Government #Indonesia #China #Korea #Japan

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