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 Australia |  Sri Lanka |
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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.
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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. [1] 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. [2]
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.
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. [3]
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. [4] 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. [5]
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. [6]
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. [7]
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.
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 latters 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, admist 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 prased by the likes of Glenn Maxwell.
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.
In 2008-09 the estimated budget for aid to Sri Lanka is $27 million. [8] 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 Organisation for Migration. [9]
Deshabandu Muttiah Muralitharan is a Sri Lankan cricket coach, businessman and former professional cricketer. Averaging over six wickets per Test match, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. He is the only bowler to take 800 Test wickets and more than 530 One Day International (ODI) wickets. As of 2024, he has taken more wickets in international cricket than any other bowler. Muralitharan was a part of the Sri Lankan team that won the 1996 Cricket World Cup.
Ranil Wickremesinghe is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the ninth president of Sri Lanka from 2022 to 2024. Previously, he served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 1993–1994, 2001–2004, 2015–2018, 2018-2019 and in 2022. He held several ministerial roles, including Minister of Finance, Minister of Defence, Minister of Technology and Minister of Women, Child Affairs and Social Empowerment. Wickremesinghe has led the United National Party (UNP) since 1994 and has been Prime Minister of Sri Lanka on six occasions.
Sri Lankabhimanya Lakshman Kadirgamar, PC was a Sri Lankan lawyer and statesman. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka from 1994 to 2001 and again from April 2004 until his assassination in August 2005. Lakshman Kadirgamar served as the President of Oxford Union in 1958–59.
Junius Richard Jayewardene, commonly abbreviated in Sri Lanka as J.R., was a Sri Lankan lawyer, public official and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 1977 to 1978 and as the second President of Sri Lanka from 1978 to 1989. He was a leader of the nationalist movement in Ceylon who served in a variety of cabinet positions in the decades following independence. A longtime member of the United National Party, he led it to a landslide victory in the 1977 parliamentary elections and served as prime minister for half a year before becoming the country's first executive president under an amended constitution.
Deshamanya Arjuna Ranatunga, is a Sri Lankan politician and former cricketer, who was the 1996 Cricket World Cup winning captain for Sri Lanka, and scored the winning boundary in the final. He is regarded as the pioneer who lifted the Sri Lankan cricket team from underdog status to a leading force in the cricketing world.
The United National Front (UNF), later the United National Front for Good Governance (UNFGG), was a political alliance in Sri Lanka led by the United National Party.
A delivery or ball in cricket is a single action of bowling a cricket ball toward the batter. Once the ball has been delivered, batters may attempt to score runs, with the bowler and other fielders attempting to stop this by getting the batters out. When the ball becomes dead, the next delivery can begin.
Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium is a 16,800-seat cricket stadium in Sri Lanka. It is situated in the Central Province, close to Dambulla on a 60-acre site leased from the Rangiri Dambulla Temple. it is the first and only International cricket ground in the dry zone of Sri Lanka. The stadium is built overlooking the Dambulla Tank (reservoir) and the Dambulla Rock.
Deshamanya Robin Bradman Weerakoon, CCS is a Sri Lankan civil servant. As a senior bureaucrat of the Sri Lankan government, he served nine Sri Lankan heads of state in a career spanning half a century.
Cricket was introduced to Sri Lanka in the first quarter of the 19th century, following colonisation of the island by the British. The earliest known match was recorded in 1832 and the earliest first-class one in 1926. The national team has played Test cricket from 1982. The national team has achieved international success by winning the 1996 Cricket World Cup and the 2014 ICC World Twenty20. Cricket is played nationwide with Test venues in Colombo, Galle, Kandy and Moratuwa. The country's most notable players include Aravinda de Silva, Arjuna Ranatunga, Rangana Herath, Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene, Muttiah Muralitharan, Kumar Sangakkara and Chaminda Vaas. Administration and governance are performed by Sri Lanka Cricket, which was founded in July 1922 as the Ceylon Cricket Association (CCA). The main domestic competition is the Premier Trophy which attained first-class status in 1988.
Tamil Union Cricket & Athletic Club is a first-class cricket team based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. They play their home games at P. Saravanamuttu Stadium.
Japan–Sri Lanka relations refers to the bilateral relations between the Sri Lanka and Japan.
Eran Wickramaratne, MP is a Sri Lankan banker and politician. He is the former State Minister of Finance and member of Parliament of Sri Lanka. He was the Deputy Minister of Investment Promotions and Highways under 100 days program. He was the CEO of NDB Bank from 2001 to 2010 and a former chairman of the Information Communication Technology Agency (ICTA).
The Prime Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the most senior member of parliament in the cabinet of ministers. It is the second-most powerful position in Sri Lanka's executive branch behind the president, who is the constitutional chief executive. The Cabinet is collectively held accountable to parliament for their policies and actions. The powers and functions of the Prime Minister has changed several times since the creation of the office in 1947.
Ranil Gemunu Abeynaike was a Sri Lankan cricketer. Abeynaike was a right-handed batsman who bowled slow left-arm orthodox. Born at Mount Lavinia, he was educated at S. Thomas' College Mount Lavinia, in the Dominion of Ceylon. He was the son of Orville Abeynaike.
Sri Lanka–United Kingdom relations, or British-Sri Lankan relations, are foreign relations between Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom.
Parliamentary elections were held in Sri Lanka on 17 August 2015, ten months ahead of schedule, to elect 225 members to Sri Lanka's 15th Parliament.
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