By Stanford Conway
The Observer
Australian High Commissioner to the CARICOM region John Michell said he wanted to profile his country in the Caribbean and assured the relationship between St. Kitts-Nevis and Australia would grow stronger through sports.
In an exclusive interview, the High Commissioner intimated that the upcoming Commonwealth Games would provide an excellent platform to showcase the twin-island Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis before the commencement of Cricket World Cup 2007.
He said with former 100M World Champion Kim Collins and Tiandra Ponteen participating in the Games, Australians would be sensitised on their track records and the country from which they came via the local media.
Commissioner Michell promised that in addition to the Commonwealth Games, he would personally ensure materials of and information on the Federation were available to the Australian public and he expected that action to be reciprocated not only by St. Kitts and Nevis, but also other countries in the region.
Michell said he was aware of the Federation’s economic transformation and expressed the view that the Australian tourist population might venture to visit long before Cricket World Cup 2007.
He explained that many people around the world only know Australia as the country of good cricketers and kangaroos but there was much more for them to learn about the continent.
“To many people, the image of Australia is that of a land of cricket and kangaroos but they need to know that the continent is of a cosmopolitan nature where its 20 million population comprises over 200 different ethnic groups.
“In recent years, Australia has had one of the most outstanding economies of the world and as a high-growth, low-inflation, low-interest economy, it is more vibrant than ever before with an efficient government sector, a flexible labour market and a very competitive business sector,” Michell said.
He added that Australia is the sixth largest country in the world in land mass, the 13th most industrialised nation in the world and, just like St. Kitts and Nevis, it is being run by a democratic-type government with a federal-state system recognising the British monarch as sovereign.
Michell said his High Commission moved from Barbados to Trinidad in 2004, where it could be more intimately involved in overseeing Australia’s commercial investments in the twin-island republic.
At the time of the interview, the Australian High Commissioner was on a two-day visit to St. Kitts where he met with students of the Democratic Institute Workshops at the Foundation for National Development on Tuesday, September 27.
The Democratic Institute Workshops are conducted by the Department of Gender Affairs and funded by the Australian High Commission through its discretionary aid programme.
It was launched on June 14 and comprises 14 weekly sessions and will conclude with a graduation ceremony on October 11.
The workshops were initiated with the aim of increasing the participation of the Federation’s women and youth in the political processes by preparing the 20-plus participants to run for elected offices, manage political campaigns and/or work as political organisers.
According to the Department of Gender Affairs, the Federation currently has no woman elected to political office, which places the country at the bottom of the international ratings for United Nations members in gender equality in politics.
Other Caribbean countries have increased the number of women in the political sphere by conducting similar fora to the democratic Institute module.
In addition to his meeting with the participants of the workshops, the High Commissioner paid courtesy calls on the Minister of State with responsibility for Sports, the Hon. Richard “Ricky” Skerritt, and Commissioner of Police Robert Jeffers.
He said during the courtesy calls he was appraised on a number of issues in connection with the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 and was satisfied with the accommodation and security arrangements.
The High Commissioner was taken on a conducted tour of Warner Park and expressed his satisfaction with the progress seen in the construction of the new state-of-the-art stadium to host Cricket World Cup 2007 matches.
