KARACHI: It was an unusually delightful end to a press conference. Very seldom does one get to hear the famous Australian folksong Waltzing Matilda in a rather jazzy style at an event held for the media. The occasion was a press briefing hosted by the Australian High Commissioner to Pakistan, Tim George, to celebrate ‘Australia Day in Spring’ in connection with the country’s ever-strengthening relationship with Pakistan at a local hotel on Monday.
Mr George said Pakistan and Australia had a strong relationship which had substance and depth. To give more ‘profile’ to the partnership events were going to be held to celebrate Australia Day in Spring.
He said there were a number of areas where Australia was cooperating with Pakistan, such as defence (in which efforts were made to defeat transnational crime), trade, development (Australia’s development assistance to Pakistan is worth $100 million) and education (Australia is the third largest destination for Pakistani students).
He also touched on his country’s help to Pakistan in times of crises, such as the 2005 earthquake and 2010 and 2011 floods. He said when Sindh faced another debilitating flood in 2011, President Asif Ali Zardari invited him to a meeting and requested if the Australian government could find a way to send sunflower seeds to Sindh farmers like it had done in 2010 to help them recover. Australia, he claimed, was ready to respond quickly.
A senior executive from the Australian Trade Commission, David Landers, said the event characterised the foundation of a long-term trade between the two countries. He pointed out that cultural awareness underpinned long-term sustainable trade.
He said the driving rationale behind the effort was a statistic according to which today there were 1.8 billion middle-class consumers in the world and in the next two decades the number would increase to five billion.
He told the media that Pakistan was right in the middle of it all and with respect to regions such as Asia, parts of Africa and South America, Pakistan was a figurative component part since it had 35 per cent middle-class population. He said Australia wanted healthy trade with Pakistan and while he did not have all the answers there were at least two areas — agriculture and mining — where mutual cooperation would be of great advantage.
When the floor was opened for questions, journalists asked a variety of questions one of which was on Australia’s possible help vis-à-vis the Thar coal reserves. Mr George replied that though he could not be definitive about it, it was possible.As soon as the press conference ended a pleasant surprise came in the shape of Australia’s famous folk group, Fiddlers Feast.
The band members — Andrew Clermont (guitar), Marcus Holden (violin) and Liz Frencham (singer and double bass) — walked towards the dais and started playing Waltzing Matilda. Their performance was so spontaneous and lively that it even moved those who had not heard the number before. Even without the electronic aid, they sounded pitch-perfect and groovy. They rounded off their performance with an instrumental.
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