Three Australian families have had a deep impact on a what is now way of life across India.
First are the Kirbys, who at one stage were the largest shareholders in the Melbourne-based Village Roadshow that had a pan-Australian multiplex footprint, brought the first multiplex to Saket in New Delhi in 1997 through their joint venture with Priya Cinema. Today, India’s largest multiplex chain in India is PVR-originally Priya Village Roadshow. In 2024-25, PVR cinemas received 137 million in audience attendance – a growth of 196 % from 10 years ago.[1]
Second are the Murdochs who have, since early 1992, began investing heavily in India via their Star TV vehicle. The family reaped rich dividends as Star India was the jewel in the crown for the Disney Co. when it made a successful bid for the Murdoch entertainment empire. The Star TV business strategy holds valuable lessons for overseas investors to India. Today Star TV has over 130 channels and is the largest network across India through its joint venture with Jio.[2] The Indian media and entertainment landscape continues to attract the Murdoch family. James Murdoch has made an initial $500 million investment through a joint venture with Reliance Industries for the Jio OTT platform.
Third is the Packer family of Network 9 fame, which introduced the short format of limited overs cricket, moving away from the traditional whites to designer colourful designer sportswear on the cricket field where the game was played under floodlights with a visible white ball and multiple camera angles which appealed to audiences. Today there are 74 short-format India Premier League matches played across India. In 2025 there will be 15 one-day internationals (ODIs) of 50 overs and 15 T20 matches involving the Indian cricket team.[3] Over 34 matches have been played in 2024-2025 by the India women’s national cricket team across domestic and international T20 formats.[4]
The Murdochs are a case study of how to stay the course in India. It’s not for the faint-hearted, as companies in corporate Australia like telecommunications giant Telstra found out. In 1995, Telstra was the first investor in the privatised Indian telecom market. But in 1999, Telstra’s Joint Venture partner Modi Group acquired its entire 49% stake. Its business is today embedded in an Indian company and is called Bharti Airtel, the second-largest telecom and data operator in India, with a global presence and valued at $140 billion. In comparison, the market cap of Telstra today is $36 billion.
There is then, a big play in the India-Australia space, but it’s important to understand that collaboration and creation of content together for cricket or the small and big screen should come organically. Best not try and mix Indian kaju barfi and Aussie lamingtons. There are already efforts being made, and the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne is one such example as is Jalebi, the short film produced last year. A co-production treaty between India and Australia is also in place. Given the 35,000 Tamil-speaking Indian origin people in Australia, could the next Tamil singing sensation in India be from Down Under?[5]
The focus, however, of the bilateral collaboration in today’s complex era of multiple transitions, should be on hard issues, viz. regulation of big tech. Guardrails have to be put in place, without which there is a very strong possibility that Indian and Australian content produced for the digital age will soon have American and Chinese flavours or characteristics. India and Australia must work together now, before Big Tech-enabled AI ingests original copyright material into its large language models (LLMs).
Both countries have their strengths and must cooperate on common agendas to enhance them further. To its credit, the Australian government has taken on big tech companies via The News Media Bargaining Codes. In late October, Prime Minster Albanese’s government looked at amendments to the Australian Copyright Act to ensure that there are no free lunches for Big Tech via “exceptions” to AI interactive LLM’s.
Similarly, credit must be given to the Indian government for banning TikTok in 2020, depriving the Chinese ecosystem of a rich and diverse dataset emanating from India. India is in the process of also bringing out its own laws on AI and AI and copyright – an area of co-operation for both countries.
It is feasible for this coalition to be expanded to the other Commonwealth countries where there is depth, variety and rich copyrighted material – across the Caribbean, ASEAN, South Asia, Middle East, parts of the Pacific and the UK. Many Commonwealth nations have low digital density; the moribund organisation could get reenergised if its members can form a digital coalition, giving them a seat at the global digital stage. India and Australia are in a position to lead this coalition, supported by the UK and Canada. A trio has been created at the November 22 G20 Summit in Johannesburg, where India, Australia, and Canada agreed to a new trilateral technology and innovation partnership for AI, critical materials and energy. The Australia-Canada-India Technology and Innovation (ACITI) Partnership[6] can be broadened to include the ecosystem of technology, and the UK can be invited to join. This could be the new Quad to tackle the hegemonic plans posed by big tech emanating from the U.S. and China.
A specific area of co-operation for India and Australia is electronic gaming. That’s now a way of life, and racks up revenues of $350 billion worldwide Both India and Australia barely have a footprint in the gaming business but can be pioneers with their own version of a mobile cricket gaming app on the lines of the Electronic Arts FIFA.
India would like to emulate Australia’s $3.5 billion concert economy. A focus of co-operation should be on concert infrastructure development as India takes baby steps in the concert economy. It’s an opportunity for service providers based in Australia to look for joint ventures in India. There are commonalities here. Like Australia, a number of sporting venues in India are owned by the state. India can learn much from Stadiums Queensland and Venues New South Wales, two state agencies which have privatised the venues owned by them.
This must all be backed up by the one sector where the bilateral is at its strongest – education. Sports medicine, science and stadium management can be an area of study, backed by India’s National Sports Policy 2025[7] which pays special attention to sports medicine and sports science. Given India’s demographic dividend, and with cricket now a way of life, the number of private sports leagues across India and the country’s Olympic aspirations means there is already a pressing need for sports medicine and sports science. The New Education Policy 2020 permits foreign colleges and institutions to operate in India.[8] Several Indian state governments offer various incentives by way of land to lure such investment. Australia has been an early adopter, with Deakins and Wollongong universities set up in GIFT city in Gujarat, and now University of York and University of Western Australia in Maharashtra. By 2030 the Indian education market is expected to be $313 billion; 46% will be controlled by the private sector in sports, science and sports education.[9] Such degrees and diplomas can be given in collaboration with the Australia Sports Commission[10] and Sports Medicine Australia.[11]
Finally, the indigenous people of both countries have vast opportunities together through Geographical Indicators (GIs). India’s ambition is to have 10,000 GIs, and fertile collaboration lies in the preservation of indigenous arts and goods. Saving these indigenous skills is only possible by the expansion and sale of their arts, craft and products. Both Australia and India can jointly develop capacity building exercises.
Blaise Fernandes is a Board Member, Gateway House and President and Director, Indian Music Industry.
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References:
[1] PVR INOX. Annual Report 2024–25. https://tinyurl.com/58zerref
[2] Star India. Rate Card of STAR’s TV Channels as on February 2025. https://cdn.jiostar.com/jiostar/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Rate-Card.pdf
[3] IPL 2025 Fixtures Table – https://www.espncricinfo.com/records/format/one-day-internationals-2
[4] ESPN Cricinfo. “India Women – Women’s T20 Internationals Team Series Results. https://www.espncricinfo.com/records/team/team-series-results/india-women-1863/women-s-twenty20-internationals-10
[5] Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Report on Australia’s Indian Diaspora 2022 – https://www.dfat.gov.au/sites/default/files/australias_indian_diaspora_220317_full_report.pdf
[6] Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. “Bilateral Documents.” https://www.mea.gov.in/bilateral-documents.htm?dtl/40321
[7] Prime Minister’s Office (India). “Cabinet Approves National Sports Policy 2025.” https://www.pmindia.gov.in/en/news_updates/cabinet-approves-national-sports-policy-2025/
[8] Ministry of Education (India). National Education Policy 2020. https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/NEP_Final_English_0.pdf (Para 12.8 on Pg 39 of the 2020 Policy)
[9] Press Information Bureau. “Press Release.” https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2126844
[10] Australian Sports Commission. “About Us.” https://www.ausport.gov.au/
[11] Sports Medicine Australia. “About SMA.” https://sma.org.au/about-sma/