Sunday Times 2
New life for Lanka-Aussie ties
The NSW State Government intends to set up a Sri Lankan Ministerial Committee to smoothen dialogue between the two countries, a government minister announced at the Independence Day celebrations in Sydney that brought together eminent expatriates, Australian dignitaries and foreign diplomats in what Consul-General Bandula Jayasekera hopes will be a most useful convergence of interests for Sri Lanka.
Present at the event:Bishan Rajapakse, Peter Kuruvita and Dr. Niranjan Tillekeratne
The February 4 celebrations took place on a boat cruise around Sydney Harbour that provided a relaxed and quintessentially Australian setting for Sri Lanka’s national day – a good mix of ingredients. “We raised our profile higher this year,” said Mr Jayasekera, who held last year’s celebrations at Parliament House in Sydney.
The guest of honour was the NSW Minister for Citizenship and Communities and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Victor Dominello, who represented the State Premier at the function.
Mr Dominello said he had not realised how many Sri Lankan-born Australians had become high achievers. He praised the positive role of Sri Lankans in the Australian community and the richness of the country’s culture. Most importantly for the national interest, Mr Dominello signalled the NSW government’s intention to set up a Sri Lankan Ministerial Committee.
Tom Greig wearing the Sri Lankan cricket t-shirt presented to him at the Sri Lanka National Day
Consul-General Jayasekera said he hoped to give new life to the Sri Lanka-Australia Business Council, building on the opportunities provided by the burgeoning bilateral relationship that includes landmark events such as the visits of the Australian Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister to Sri Lanka during the Commonwealth summit and the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister’s meeting with NSW Premier Mr Barry O’Farrell in Sydney.
The President of the Board of Investment in Sri Lanka, Dr Lakshman Jayaweera, a Sydney resident, was present, reinforcing Mr Jayasekera’s intention to accelerate trade ties.
The mix of guests was shrewdly useful to Sri Lanka as the parade of eminent expatriates provided a real-life display to Australian and diplomatic guests of the worth of Sri Lankans’ contribution to Australian business, finance, law, medicine and other fields while providing these Australian Sri Lankans with an opportunity to meet each other and revitalise a desire to bring benefit to their birth country.
“Sri Lankan Australians need to reach out more,” Mr Jayasekera said. “Our job is to facilitate this and bring people together.”
A sweet and poignant moment came when the late Tony Greig’s widow Vivian and children, Beau and Tom were presented with cricketing gifts including the new team T-shirt. In a master-stroke, Beau sang the Australian national anthem while consulate staffer Chiranie Kulatilake sang the Sri Lankan anthem.
Mr Jayasekera, ever the ambassador, proposed the toast with a Dilmah iced tea mocktail while the strangely-named SS Majistic, festooned with the national flag, sailed past the beautiful crags and islands around what is probably the world’s most famous scenic harbour.
As a Sri Lankan band played, the Australian army chief General Michael Slater cracked jokes with Beau Greig and swapped anecdotes with Colonel Jayantha “Kalu” Weerasinghe; famous chef Peter Kuruvita was grabbed for photos by just about everyone present and the former Australian government minister Mark Arbib explored opportunities in his current role as adviser to the powerful Packer
Beau Greig and Bandula Jayasekera
organisation.
Others present among the 130 guests included Professor Siri Kannangara AM, repeatedly honoured for his work with Australia’s best-known sportsmen; the super-smart Shemara Wikramanayake who controls the multi-billion dollar Funds group at the Macquarie Bank and reputedly earns in excess of $A7.3 million a year; university lecturer and “soft power” advocate Professor Naren Chitty AM; Maithri Panagoda, senior partner at leading law firn Carroll O’Dea; Prema Perera, CEO of Universal Magazines which produces some 60 titles; Arun Abeygunawardene, Chairman of IPAC Securities, one of the world’s largest financial planning firms; NextGroup CEO Dinesh De Silva; Mohan Sekaram, who penned the famous reconciliation email published the world over; Masterchef winner Kumar Perera, ; Wollongong University lecturer Dr Bishan Rajapakse, who has just completed his PhD on emergency medicine practice in Sri Lanka and hit the headlines for being knocked off his surfboard by a whale at Bondi Beach last year; Thushara Liyanarachchi, Sales Director of Taj for Australia and New Zealand, and businessmen Siva Sivakumaran (whose well-known Blue Elephant restaurant provided the patties, Chinese rolls and other party staples), Russell Raymond, Siva Sri Ramanathan and Anton Godfrey.
“I really want to show Sri Lanka to Australians,” Consul-General Jayasekera said. Well, he did.