Category Business and Trade

Craftsman of quality – Rings of Melbourne

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By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 27.08.2012 (Sydney Morning Herald): Andrew Sampson launched Rings of Melbourne in 2009 as a counter to the imported jewellery flooding the retail sector.

“The consumer has no choice but to buy the imported product, which is inferior in quality compared with the locally made ones. It is pushing designers and manufacturers like me out of business,” says Sampson, who has worked in the industry for the past 25 years.

Passionate about Australian-made products, Sampson says the country is “losing an entire generation of skilled [craftspeople] because they can’t compete with cheap imports. For our jewellers and goldsmiths to survive, we need handcrafted pieces, made here in Australia, back on the shelves.”

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The sour tale of Indian mango exports to Australia

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By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 11.03.2012 (Business Standard): Australia finally gave a green signal to imports of mangoes from India this year, but the king of fruits didn’t make it to the market shelves. The initial 1.267 tonnes of mangoes were found to be rotten or over ripe on arrival in Australia and had to be destroyed, resulting in the two importers incurring losses of nearly A$100,000.

New South Wales-based Karma Krop imported 1.3 million tonnes (mt) of mangoes from Bravima Traders Pvt Ltd and Victoria-based Mals Exim Pty Ltd imported 400 kg for sampling from Pujitha Enterprises Imports & Exports, after the successful culmination of the pest risk analysis carried out by the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS).

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Aboriginal town misses out on the mining boom

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Allery Sandy at the Yinjaa-Barni Art Aboriginal Corporation in Roebourne, Western Australia. Photo Credit: © Neena Bhandari

By Neena Bhandari

Roebourne (Western Australia), 11.03.2012 (IDN): Allery Sandy, 55, is humming and painting the story of the Pilbara landscape, one of the most resource rich regions in Australia. Her canvas is resplendent with colour depicting rivers, flowers, blue gum and open scrub land dotted with Spinifex grass and iron-ore.

“Art, like story telling, in our Aboriginal culture is an important means of expressing feelings close to our heart. It gives us peace and joy. For the young, art distracts them away from alcohol and drugs that are destroying our community”, says Sandy, who is painting with three generations of women, some men and boys, at the Yinjaa-Barni (staying together) Art Aboriginal Corporation in a heritage-listed cottage on the main street of Roebourne.

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