More to Australia than cricket

Michell discussed Australia’s people, economy and culture in an effort to inform the students about aspects of Australia besides its sports and exotic wildlife.

"Many in the Caribbean think of Aussies in terms of cricket and kangaroos," he said, "which is not incorrect, but simply incomplete."

He continued, "Australia is the 13th most developed country in the world with a Gross Domestic Product of A$835 billion or TT$3.841 trillion" he said, "which amounts to TT$190,000 per capita head." "We’re very rich in agriculture and minerals and the end result is that we produce a lot more than we could consume, so therefore, we’re a very export-orientated country. We have to sell what we make because people can’t consume domestically because our population is so small," Michell said.

Consequently, the High Commissioner added, Australia wanted a strong global, rules-based trading regime, and TT stands with Australia in that regard.

He said Australia’s population numbers approximately 20.2 million people and the mass of the population lives along its massive coastlines. He said Australia was a huge country that was also an island continent.

"Australia’s a multi-cultural society with over 200 ethnic groups, including lots of Trinis and over six million migrants have settled in Australia since 1945.

"We’ve got a lot of wheat, meat, a lot of wine and Australian wine is, arguably, the best in the world," he stated. "And we have a very large tourism industry." Michell said Australia’s main trading partners are Japan, China and the United States.

"We also do a lot of trade with New Zealand, a country close to us, South Korea, the UK, not very much out here, but we’re working on that," Michell said.

He revealed that more than 840 multi-national companies have their regional headquarters in Australia.

"Our economy is currently very, very strong and we’ve had 14 years of sustained economic growth," he said.

The High Commissioner disclosed that Australia’s highly sophisticated technology sector was ranked second to the USA in "e-readiness" by the Economist Intelligence Unit. This technological prowess is testimony, he said, to Australia’s high educational standards. "We have 700 beaches, the most of any country in the world, as well as rainforests, deserts and snow fields," he noted, "so, there’s a lot of bio-diversity to go around."

"The Economist Intelligence Unit survey last year ranked five Australian cities in the top ten places in the world to live," he revealed, "with Melbourne being rated the best city in the world."

He added that Trinidad and Tobago has been developing a sports commission similar to Australia’s.