News

Lanka crisis is personal for Origin Tea brothers

Published

4 years ago

2022/05/15

Social and economic crisis engulfing Sri Lanka is half a world away but feels very close to home for brothers Chris and Lawrence Seaton in Brisbane, says a report by Brisbane Financial Review.

Their burgeoning Brisbane-based business, Origin Tea, is about to go mainstream with the supermarket launch of products previously only available in cafés.

“We want to keep money flowing into the economy and into the pockets of locals,” Chris said.

The challenge is that the tea comes from Sri Lanka, where a financial crisis is causing severe shortages of essential goods such as fuel, medicine and food.

About 200 people work at Origin Tea’s factory in Sri Lanka, which is experiencing daily power cuts that last up to eight hours. This means switching to diesel generators, which increases production costs by 10 per cent to 20 per cent.

Chris Seaton was in Sri Lanka last month and was shaken by what he saw.

“Sri Lankan families don’t even have gas cyllinders so they can cook and put food on the table,” he said.

“Inflation there is heading towards 30 per cent, which puts all of the cost of living and interest rate talk here in perspective.

Sri Lanka is on the brink of bankruptcy and people have taken to the streets demanding the resignation of the president, who they hold responsible for the economic crisis.

A drop in tourism means the South Asian country is running desperately low on foreign currency reserves and is struggling to import fuel, medical supplies and raw materials.

Along with additional costs for diesel at the factory, pandemic-related supply chain problems mean Origin Tea must pay $6000 for every shipping container it brings to Australia, a six-fold increase on the $1000 it paid before COVID-19.

But the Seaton brothers are refusing to give up on their Sri Lankan operation.

Chris made an urgent trip to Colombo last month to establish new suppliers because local manufacturers could no longer import what they needed, including packaging.

Many Sri Lankans spend their days vying for the limited fuel stocks, so Origin Tea had to organise a shuttle bus, so employees could get to work.

“My role has changed to focusing on how to get dollars into the country because the people who manufacture our cardboard and tea bags can’t pay their suppliers,” Seaton said.

“We want to keep money flowing into the economy and into the pockets of locals.”

Origin Tea was established in 2012 when Chris and Lawrence were fresh out of university and in their early 20s.

Their vision was to “make tea cool”.

“We saw a gap in the market for single origin tea, as single origin coffee became the latest buzzword,” Chris said. “Origin Tea is one of the few offering traceability of high-grade Ceylon tea from a single origin in Sri Lanka.”

Unlike blends, single origin products guarantee provenance.

Until the pandemic, Origin Tea was largely a wholesale business, with products stocked in 1000 cafés nationally.

COVID-19 made the Seaton brothers realise they needed to sell directly to consumers, and their Origin Sticky Chai will be available in supermarkets from next month.

Agribusiness is in their blood. Their grandfather, Donald Seaton, was the founder of oilseed crushing business Gardner Smith, which was run by dad Gary until it was sold to GrainCorp in 2011.

“We have always been about making tea fun and cool but with the situation in Sri Lanka becoming more serious by the day, making and exporting our tea has become vital to helping locals feed their families,” Chris said.

Australian National University economist Sriram Shankar said Sri Lanka’s crisis was caused by many factors, including a heavy dependence on China for domestic investment, external debt and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Tourism had also come to a standstill as the government was accused of political corruption.

“President Gotabaya Rajapaksa made large tax cuts that affected government revenue and fiscal policies, causing budget deficits to soar,” Dr Shankar said.

“I think Sri Lanka is on the verge of bankruptcy, as it has recently announced suspension of its foreign debt payments.

“For recovery, in the short term it needs to be bailed out by the IMF. It is currently negotiating a deal with the IMF. However, in the medium term it needs to initiate serious economic reforms to overcome the crisis.”

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Govt. extends ban on LTTE

Published

58 mins ago

2026/01/13

Sahan Weerasooriya

The NPP government has issued a new extraordinary gazette renewing and extending Sri Lanka’s long-standing ban on the LTTE and several Tamil diaspora organisations and individuals, continuing to designate them as “terrorists”.

The gazette, published recently, replaces a previous gazette issued in May 2025 and reaffirmed the proscription of a wide range of Tamil political and advocacy bodies operating around the world, alongside dozens of named individuals. The government alleged both the organisations and individuals listed are involved in “terrorism-related activities”.

The organisations blacklisted by the Sri Lankan government include:

• Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)

• Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO)

• Tamil Coordinating Committee (TCC)

• World Tamil Movement (WTM)

• Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE)

• World Tamil Relief Fund (WTRF)

• National Council of Canadian Tamils (NCCT)

• Tamil Youth Organisation (TYO)

While the majority of the designations mirror those contained in the May 2025 gazette, the latest document updates identification details and addresses for a number of individuals and introduces at least one additional organisation to the list. All entries have been reissued under new reference numbers for 2026, though the underlying allegations and framing remain unchanged.

Successive governemnts have maintained a sweeping proscription regime against Tamil diaspora groups and individuals. A ban can make it a criminal offence for Sri Lankan citizens to maintain contact with these organisations or their members, severely restricting political engagement and stifling links between the diaspora and the Tamil homeland.

The original mass listings were introduced in 2014 under the administration of Mahinda Rajapaksa. Despite repeated outcry, subsequent governments have continued to uphold and renew the proscription regime, even after the Rajapaksas were voted out of power.

News

Police obtain court order banning Wimal’s protest

Published

58 mins ago

2026/01/13

Sahan Weerasooriya

National Freedom Front (NFF) leader Wimal Weerawansa addresses a gathering outside the Education Ministry on Monday before launching a protest demanding the immediate resignation of Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya as Education Minister over the inclusion of a link to an adult content website in the Grade 06 English module. (Pic by Thushara Atapattu)

Police yesterday (12) obtained an injunction order from the Kaduwela Magistrate’s court against the protest launched by National Freedom Front (NFF) leader and former Minister Wimal Weerawansa opposite the Education Ministry, Isurupaya, at Battaramulla.

Police informed Weerawansa of the court order. In line with the court order, the police informed Weerawansa that the road near the Ministry should not be obstructed and that no sound amplification equipment be used while the GCE Advanced Level (A/L) examination is in progress. The examination, put off due to Cyclone Ditwah, recommenced yesterday.

News

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi expresses optimism that Sri Lanka is on the right path to progres

Published

60 mins ago

2026/01/13

Sahan Weerasooriya

FM Herath with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism Vijitha Herath held productive discussions with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi today (12/01), during the latter’s brief visit to Sri Lanka.

The meeting aimed at further strengthening bilateral engagement and advancing the Strategic Cooperative Partnership between the two countries. Both Ministers reaffirmed the longstanding friendship and time-tested cooperation between Sri Lanka and China rooted in centuries of exchanges and consolidated since the establishment of diplomatic relations seven decades ago. The discussion also focused on enhancing partnership in the areas of trade, investment, development cooperation and tourism.

Minister Herath extended deep appreciation to the Government and the people of China for the steadfast support extended to Sri Lanka following cyclone Ditwah and requested further support for the second phase of resettlement, relocation and rebuilding, particularly for the restoration of affected infrastructure including identified roads, railways and bridges that are vital to connectivity, economic recovery and daily lives of people. Minister Wang assured China’s fullest support for this initiative and expressed confidence that Sri Lanka will continue its rapid recovery under the leadership of President Anura Kumara Disanayaka. He also welcomed the people-centric policies of the Government and expressed optimism that Sri Lanka is on the right path toward fulfilling aspirations of its people.

Minister Herath expressed appreciation for China’s constructive role in international fora and reiterated Sri Lanka’s firm commitment to the One China Policy and China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Both Ministers also recalled the successful high level exchanges in the recent past, including visits of the President and the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka to China in 2025.