India news: PM says decision to light up Opera House sails for India projects image of Australia to the world
The Sydney Opera House sails were lit up in August 2022 for the 75th anniversary of India's Independence day.
(Wolter Peeters)
The Federal Government is covering the cost of lighting up the sails tonight.
"One of the things about lighting up the Opera House is it projects our image to the world," Albanese told O'Keefe.
"It wasn't our decision about the King's Coronation, state governments took various decisions around the country," he said.
"I was in the UK so I wasn't a party to any of those decisions."
Albanese said it was a major market for both Australian tourism and education.
"There are 1.4 billion reasons why we want the Indian flag on the opera house because it it is the largest population in the world," he said.
"Two thirds of those 1.4 billion people are under the age of 35, we want a relationship with them, we want them to come to Australia and bring their dollars."
The sails were last lit up for the 75th anniversary of Indian Independence in August last year.
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Admiralty House in Sydney. May 24, 2023 Photo: Janie Barrett
(Janie Barrett)
Wednesday, May 24, 2023 at 9:30 am