By Neeraj Nanda
MELBOURNE, 18 January: In an obvious reference to the latest India Strategy launched by the Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, leader of Opposition Mathew Guy today said, “I don’t want to attack anyone for engaging India”, Mathew guy said this while addressing the South Asian media here today.
Guy announced that if elected, a Liberal-Nationals government will further deepen ties with India through the establishment of a sister-state relationship between Victoria and an Indian state.
The Opposition Leader’s views come amidst Premier Daniel Andrews India tour and he announcing plans to boost Victoria’s exports – such as food and manufacturing goods to India from a five-year annual average of $ 500 million to almost $ 1 billion by 2027. Though supporting the initiative Mathew Guy said, “The Strategy does not have specifics.”
For the Indian diaspora in Victoria, Mathew Guy proposed the Indian Community Centre to cater to the social and cultural needs of the community.
Answering to a pointed question about the law and order situation in Victoria, Mathew Guy said the situation was bad because of the “weakness of the criminal justice system” and urged ‘mandatory sentencing” for “most violent offenders”. About the African gangs, he said it was not that all these people were in crime but “they were overrepresented in crime.”
