He brings to this campaign all the commitment and dedication to duty he showed in the battlefield.

"If we are united, we send a strong message across to the Australian Government and the Australian people and to Sri Lanka as well," he said. "I am happy that during my first six months here I was able to meet a lot of expatriate Sri Lankans in New South Wales, the capital of which is Sydney, in Victoria, the capital of which is Melbourne, and Queensland, the capital of which is Brisbane.

These people have included Sinhalese, Tamils, Burghers and Muslims. During the past two months during the season of goodwill — I have had a large number of cards from Tamil people, and I have met quite a number of them in a spirit of cordiality.

So I feel I have achieved something very substantial in the area of bringing people together in order to achieve some worthwhile goals.

"I strongly discourage migrants from bringing with them discord in their baggage. The strength of Australia comes from having taken to its bosom people from so many diverse cultures and built a united, prosperous nation. There is strength here in diversity. Expatriates must realise this. They should not sow discord."

I asked Major General Perera to comment on prospects for greater Australian investment in Sri Lanka and for more trade, tourism, student and cultural interchange.

He pointed out that Sri Lanka’s engagement with Australia dates back to the 1850s, which pre-dates the Australian federation, when Sri Lankans came to work in sugar cane plantations in Queensland and in the pearling industry in Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Later in the 1950s, when Australia began taking in large numbers of migrants, the Burghers comprised the first wave of arrivals from Sri Lanka. In the 1970s, with the ending of the white Australia policy, migrants from Sri Lanka comprised all the ethnic communities that make up the Sri Lankan nation.

"Many of them," the Major General said, "were professional people whose skills were needed in this country. They have contributed in considerable measure to the development of Australia and they have been good ambassadors for Sri Lanka."

He added: "There are doors opening in many fields here for Sri Lanka — doors opening in the fields of investment, tourism, trade and in cultural and sport interchange. Australia has for some years now been the second largest overseas investor in Sri Lanka. I am confident that I can make Australia the largest investor in Sri Lanka. My confidence stems from meetings I have had with captains of Australian industry, who have told me that they are prepared to look at new areas of investment in Sri Lanka.

"Let me give one instance. Sri Lanka has been experiencing power cuts for some time. There are Australian firms that would like to assist Sri Lanka to increase its power output and I hope to have the blessings of the new government to have Australian involvement in power generation projects".

Commenting on tourism and sport, Major General Perera said that Australians ranked the second biggest spenders among all overseas visitors to Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, the terrorist attack on Colombo’s airport in June 2001 was a setback, "but that is now in the past," the High Commissioner said. "We have to look forward. A special request made by Australian tourists is the need to restore direct air links between Australia and Sri Lanka. I must stress that this request should be given the most serious and urgent consideration".

He added, "when we talk about marketing Sri Lanka as a tourist destination for Australians, we must consider whether enough is being done. If you want to earn money, you must spend money. The Sri Lanka High Commission in Australia, as it is structured, has the capability to project a favourable image of our country as a tourist destination. In this regard, I received the fullest co-operation of tour operators I met in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. I must however, state that giving away brochures is not enough. There has to be a sustained campaign, for the success of which we need guidance from our tourist board. We need guidance on the image to project, on the areas of tourism that need to be targeted and we need funds."

Requested to comment on Australia as a higher education destination. Major General Perera observed that during the first two or three decades of independence, the UK was the favoured country to go for graduate and post-graduate studies. Then some students began going to the US. Now Australia has become a favoured destination. This is because Sri Lankans find Australia’s multicultural society very congenial. The development of Australia as a place for study has advantages for both the host country and for the country from which students come. Today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders and they will surely have goodwill for the country which they obtained professional qualifications."

The High Commissioner pointed out that overstay by some Sri Lankan students could result in regulations regarding staying in Australia by overseas students being made more stringent and therefore things made more difficult for other students who wish to come here for study.

"I have informed the Australian Government that because some students overstay, it would be unfair to regard this as a common practise," the High Commissioner said.

Regarding asylum seekers, whose increasing arrivals during that past few years have become a major political issue in Australia. Major General Perera said that the Australian and Indonesian Governments would be co-hosting an international conference in Bali (Indonesia) next month to find ways and means of combating, among other things, people smuggling by unscrupulous people. This conference is at ministerial level and I believe Sri Lanka would be represented by a senior Minister. "Lots of people who try to come here by illegal means are not political refugees, they are economic refugees.

Australia is looking for people with special skills who could help in the development of the country. If they have required skills, they could apply to come in here by legal means. Those who try to come here by illegal means risk losing their lives on the high seas. If they survive the hazardous voyage, they will certainly be caught and deported. They will not recoup any of the money they paid to people smugglers.

"I favour measures to tighten up people-smuggling by introducing stringent punishment to be meted out to people who seek to thrive on the misfortune of others."

I asked Major General Janaka Perera whether he had a message he would like to get across to people in Sri Lanka with a special interest in the Sri Lanka-Australia connection. He said, "In the area of investment, that there is much potential, we need to make Australian investors aware of that potential. We have to put in funds and effort to ensure our message is heard by Australian investors over those of others competing for Australia’s investment dollars."

"In the areas of culture and sport, the expatriate Sri Lankan community and the Australian public are looking forward to the Sri Lankan cricket team’s visit in 2002-2003. More interchange in culture and sport would help to break down barriers between people and strengthen the already existing good relations. To achieve this, we have to work unremittingly for peace and stability in Sri Lanka. We must have one focus, one target".