Foreign relations exist between Australia and Sri Lanka. Both Australia and Sri Lanka are members of the Commonwealth of Nations. Australia has served as a haven for Sri Lankan migrants, with the 2022 national census reporting that at least 145,430 individuals born in Sri Lanka had migrated to Australia.
History
Pre-19th century Relations between both nations of Australia and Sri Lanka may have existed before colonialism. The Tamil Bell, discovered in 1836 by missionary William Colenso in New Zealand led to a speculation about a possible Tamil presence in New Zealand and possibly Australia as said by Indologist V. R. Ramachandra Dikshitar in his book called The Origin and Spread of the Tamils which states that the Tamil seafarers might have a knowledge of Australia and Polynesia. It is believed that the Tamils could have reached Australia in the 14th century coming from the areas of present-day India and Sri Lanka.
19th and early 20th centuries Both Australia and Sri Lanka were colonies of the British Empire. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, many people from Ceylon migrated to Australia which was mainly for labour purposes.
1948–present After gaining independence from the United Kingdom, Ceylon opened a High Commission in Canberra in 1949. In 1951 Ceylon's Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake was the first high-profile diplomatic visitor to Australia, which was followed by Prime Minister Sir John Kotelawala in 1954. President Junius Richard Jayewardene visited Australia in 1978. In 2011 President Mahinda Rajapaksa participated in the CHOGM summit in Perth, Australia. In 2017 Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and President Maithripala Sirisena made state visits to Australia. Prime Ministers Sir Robert Menzies, Gough Whitlam and Tony Abbott have visited Sri Lanka. In November 2017 PM Malcolm Turnbull visited to Sri Lanka.
The Australian Government has expressed concern over the conflict between the Sri Lankan Government and the Tamil Tigers. In October 2008, Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told his Sri Lankan counterpart that military action alone will not solve the dispute with the Tamil separatists. In May 2009, Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said that Sri Lanka should seek a political solution with the Tamils to stop another generation turning to terrorism.
During Prime Minister Tony Abbott's visit to Sri Lanka for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2013 meeting, he announced Australia would be donating two navy patrol boats to the Sri Lankan Navy to promote enhanced collaboration on people smuggling.
2017 marked the 70 Years of relationships between Australia and Sri Lanka, Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe paid a state visit to Australia to mark the event.
Diplomatic missions Australia has a High Commission in Colombo. Sri Lanka has a High Commission in Canberra and Consulate-General in Melbourne which was opened in 2013.
Sporting relations Sri Lanka and Australia have established a strong sporting relationship, particularly in cricket, which is the most prominent sport linking the two nations. Both countries however, have met in other sports like netball and rugby where these sports are also popular in the respective countries.
The Sri Lanka national cricket team and the Australia national cricket team have played 152 matches against each other in 3 different formats. The first encounter between Australia and Sri Lanka took place on June 11, 1975, during the group stage of the 1975 Cricket World Cup. Australia won this match by 52 runs and progressed to the finals, where they were defeated by the West Indies. On the other hand, Sri Lanka was eliminated in the group stage, having lost all three of their matches. Since then, the teams have been fierce rivals culminating in them facing off in the 1996 Cricket World Cup final where Sri Lanka won in a huge underdog victory. The teams later faced each other again in the Cricket World Cup final, this time during the 2007 edition, in which Australia emerged victorious. While relations between both teams have usually friendly, with players of both teams playing in each other's domestic leagues there have been some notable outliers of sour incidents. The 1995 Muralitharan MCG incident refers to a controversial event that occurred during a Test match between Australia and Sri Lanka at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in December 1995. During the match, Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, known for his unique bowling action, was no-balled multiple times by Australian umpire Darrell Hair for throwing, rather than bowling. This decision sparked significant debate regarding the legality of Muralitharan's bowling style, which involved an unusual wrist and arm motion. The incident led to protests from the Sri Lankan team and ignited discussions about the rules governing bowling actions in cricket. It also highlighted issues of bias and fairness in officiating, particularly against bowlers with unconventional styles. Despite eventually playing in Australia for 2 seasons with the Melbourne Renegades in the T20I Big Bash League, Muralitharan faced a lot of racism in Australia and even claimed criticism from then Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard, the latter's comments on whether Muralitharan was "chucking" the ball was a huge reason on why the Sri Lanka Cricket voted against Howard's bid for ICC Presidency. In 2022, amidst the political and economic meltdown in Sri Lanka, many people came to support and thank the Australian national cricket team for touring the island nation and the crowd was praised by the likes of Glenn Maxwell.
High Commissioners Australian High Commissioners to Sri Lanka #OfficeholderTitleOther officesTerm start dateTerm end dateTime in officeNotes1Charles FrostCommissioner of Australia to the Colony of Ceylon16 January 19474 February 19483 years, 262 daysHigh Commissioner of Australia to the Dominion of Ceylon4 February 19485 October 19502Dr John Burton19 January 195128 March 195168 days−Alex BorthwickChargé d'affaires28 March 195129 February 1952338 days3Roden Cutler VCHigh Commissioner of Australia to the Dominion of Ceylon29 February 195214 June 19553 years, 106 days4Allan Eastman195619581–2 years5Charles Kevin195919611–2 years6Bertram Ballard16 July 19627 December 19653 years, 144 days7Gordon Upton7 December 196522 January 19704 years, 46 days8H. D. White22 January 197030 April 19722 years, 99 days9H. G. Marshall30 April 197222 May 19723 years, 79 daysHigh Commissioner of Australia to Sri LankaA22 May 197218 July 197510Alex BorthwickA18 July 197531 October 19794 years, 105 days11Warwick Mayne-WilsonA31 October 197912 February 19822 years, 104 days12David RutterAB12 February 198215 March 19853 years, 31 days13Robert CottonB15 March 1985February 19882 years, 10 months14Tonia Shand AMBFebruary 1988December 19913 years, 10 months15Howard DebenhamB1 January 1992March 19953 years, 2 months16Bill TweddellBMarch 1995July 19961 year, 4 months17David Ritchie AOBJuly 1996January 19992 years, 6 months18Peter RoweBJanuary 1999January 20023 years19David BinnsBJanuary 2002January 20053 years20Dr Greg FrenchBJanuary 2005February 20083 years, 1 month21Kathy KlugmanBFebruary 20087 January 20123 years, 11 months22Robyn MudieB7 January 201220163–4 years23Bryce HutchessonABFebruary 201629 January 20192 years, 11 months24David HollyAB29 January 20196 July 20223 years, 158 days25Paul StephensB6 July 2022incumbent3 years, 182 days
Trade In 2007 a two-way trade agreement was created between Australia and Sri Lanka valued at $232 million a year. The trade agreement includes exports from Australia such as vegetables and dairy products. Tea and other foods, textiles, clothing, rubber, iron and steel which are the main imports from Sri Lanka.
Defence In 2014, Australia transferred two Bay-class patrol boats to Sri Lanka Navy Former Royal Australian Air Force Beechcraft KA350 King Air aircraft (registration A32-673) joined Sri Lanka Air Force in 2023 May. Sri Lanka is also engaging in joint activities with the Australian military in the Indo-Pacific Endeavour (IPE) activities
Aid In 2008-09 the estimated budget for aid to Sri Lanka is $27 million. In April 2009, the Australian Government announced a further A$4.5 million of humanitarian aid to assist the end of the civil war in Sri Lanka. $1.5 million will be given to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration.
The Government of Australia has announced a total of AUD $3.5 million in assistance for Sri Lanka in response to the impacts of Cyclone Ditwah.
See also Sri Lankan Australian Foreign relations of Australia Foreign relations of Sri Lanka List of high commissioners of Australia to Sri Lanka
References
External links Sri Lanka Country Brief