Indian diaspora count in Australia's election as parties offer grants, raise crucial issues

CHANDIGARH: Indian diaspora is making its presence felt in the federal elections in Australia as major political parties are leaving no stone unturned to woo them. The fate of the parties contesting the elections for the 47th Parliament of Australia will be decided after the polling ends on May 21 evening. Prime Minister Scott Morrison and opposition leader Anthony Albanese are in a tough fight to win the elections.
The major political parties, Liberal and Labor, are trying to garner votes from the Indian community by not only fielding candidates of Indian heritage but also announcing grants of millions to different religious and cultural organisations. The leaders are also taking up crucial issues like parent visas and employment generation and promising action around them.

The magic number for a majority government is 76 seats in the 151-seat House of Representatives. The Scott Morrison government currently has 76 seats while Labor Party has 68 seats. The top leaders including PM Morrison, have been visiting the community events including religious and cultural, to woo the voters.
Morrison and his wife Jenny Morrison, ministers Alex Hawke and Ben Morton, and various candidates interacted with the community in Sydney, at an event organized by the Hindu Council of Australia.
Similarly, Labor party leader Anthony Albanese also visited the Hindu Council recently to catch up with the Indian voters. They have also been visiting the gurdwaras and meeting members of the Sikh community. Political experts say the key issues for Indian migrants are visa processing times, parent visas and employment generation.
Morisson has been highlighting Australia's free trade agreement with India, and his camaraderie with Indian PM Narendra Modi.
In a speech recently, he said: "We share a view about a free and open Indo-Pacific, and the rules-based order. Together with free people in India and Japan and elsewhere, we need to ensure that freedom prevails. We're strong about it. We're working closely - on economic, Covid, humanitarian support, and on security issues. We want to see the Australian and Indian economies become very successful and more entrenched with one other. That presents enormous opportunities."
Indian heritage candidates in fray
Apurva Shukla and Chetan Sahai of the Green Party are contesting from different seats in New South Wales. Both are taking up crucial issues of climate change and affordable living. In NSW Liberal, Jugandeep Singh is contesting from Sydney west, while Harmeet Kaur and her husband Rajesh Kumar are contesting together from Adelaide as a group for the senate seat. Another prominent Indian contesting for the senate from Adelaide is Trimann Gill of the Labor Party. Gill is a small business owner in the passenger transport industry and CEO of a registered training organization. He is the president of the Indian Australian Association of South Australia. Liberal party member Dave Sharma was the first Indian-origin politician to be elected to the House of Representatives in the Australian Parliament in 2019.