MELBOURNE, 31 August 2022: On Saturday 26 November 2022, Victoria will elect a new state government. The Daniel Andrews Labor government is seeking a mandate for the third time. Some media predictions say this won’t be difficult. The Labor branch stacking inquiry is on the back burner and the Matthew Guy-led Liberal opposition is making efforts for a miracle. Anyway, Labor, Libs, and Greens have started to campaign and many candidates can be seen distributing flyers outside stations.
The major parties, as usual, are wooing multicultural communities (non-Anglo communities), attending cultural events, and visiting religious places of worship. There is also no dearth of fundraisers. The emerging South Asian communities seem to be attractive to political parties.
The Indian community has grown fast and their voting numbers in many seats across Victoria are important. Relations between Australia and India also have taken off with a spate of Ministerial visits and India-oriented programs. The CEO Lisa Singh led Australia India Institute’s (AII) big bash to mark 75 years of India’s Independence at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) left a mark on the community.
I have been covering these events, especially in the suburbs, which speaks volumes about parties wooing communities. Bill Shorten and the Victorian Labor top brass in the South Eastern suburbs, were in full strength at the Onam celebration, Springvale Town Hall, organized by the Malayalee Association, Victoria. Hundreds of nurses lighted lamps and were honored for their contribution during the pandemic. The state government, meanwhile, announced 10,000 free nursing and midwifery nurses.
Leader of Opposition Peter Dutton and Shadow Minister Jason Wood MP met people of many communities at the Tamil Community Centre, Dandenong pledging to keep the multicultural flag flying high. Dutton mentioned the previous government’s support for the Afghan and Ukrainian communities. No, doubt, Indians, Sri Lankans, Afghans, and Tamils from Sri Lanka and India among others were visible at this multicultural interaction, held in South Eastern suburbs Labor heartland.
A few days back Victorian Leader of Opposition Matthew Guy launched the election campaign for Indian origin (Punjabi) Liberal candidate Jagdeep, contesting the Labor-held Cranbourne seat. Jagdeep was earlier in the Labor Party and claims wide support in the area. The bar-be-que cum campaign launch attracted a massive Punjabi crowd. In the 2018 election, Labor’s winner Pauline Richards got 60.98 % of the preferred votes. Indian ancestry (includes Punjabi) in Cranbourne (2016 Census), says the Australian Bureau of Statistics, is 4.6 %, the fifth largest community.
Recently, the iconic Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM-2022), attracted a massive crowd at Federation Square when Cricketer Kapil Dev and actor Abhishek Bachchan unfurled the Indian flag to mark 75 years of Indian Independence. The Principal Partner in the festival was VicScreen, an arm of the Victorian Government.
The recent 13th festival this year was widely attended and appreciated. In his message, Premier Daniel Andrews said, ” The IFFM plays an active role in promoting Victoria as a leading destination for screen production, tourism, and education.” Obviously, the community (potential voters) felt connected to the state government with Indian & subcontinent movie screenings across Melbourne.
The four popular suburbs with Indians in Melbourne are Wyndham, Brimbank, Monash, Greater Dandenong, and Casey. Less than 50 % have Australian citizenship. So, most Indian-origin people are not voters. Other South Asian voters are spread out across many suburbs. Still, the parties are wooing the Indian/South Asian voters. As the saying goes, every vote matters.
But things are not rosy for Indian/South Asian candidates, as most of them are in non-winnable seats. Though some candidates want to make a mark by contesting. Deepak Joshi, who is likely to be the Greens candidate for Warrandyte, a strong Liberal seat, wants to be in the thick of things in the electoral battle. A Greens South Asian candidate is also possible in Box Hill, a Labor area.
The much talked about educationist and ex-Labor, Intaj Khan, now in the Liberal Party, was scouting for the Whyandam seat, but another Indian, Preet Singh has been pre-selected by the Liberal Party. In Whyandam, Intaj Khan could have been a strong Liberal challenger in the otherwise ALP stronghold. Meanwhile, Neeldhara, Labor has got the third spot for the Senate in the Northeast. In Mill Park, a safe Labor seat, the Libs might have an Indian candidate.
The scenario of un-winnable seats for South Asians and they accepting them is baffling. Minnie Kaur Verma, a solicitor is Labor’s candidate this year for Rowville, where in 2018 Liberal Kim Wells got elected with 55.69 % against Labor’s Shahbaz Chaudhry with 44.31 % in a two-party preferred result.
In a Facebook post, Kaur says, ” I am running as a candidate because I stand for inclusive leadership. I am running as a Labor candidate because Labor celebrates diversity.
As a lawyer, I have spent my entire career representing folks that are often forgotten – regardless of their ethnicity, gender, age, ableism, sexual preference, socio-economic status.
Come November, as an elected member, I will ensure that we all have a voice in parliament.
Because justice, fairness, and equity are non-negotiable.
In Warrandyte, a Liberal-held seat, the Greens candidate is Deepak Joshi, a human rights activist. He told SAT, ” “As an India-born Australian, what concerns me is the lack of diversity in our State Parliament. It troubles me that our elected members do not represent the diversity we see on the streets and suburbs of Melbourne, and the rest of the state. It is a deterrent for members of culturally and linguistically diverse communities from entering public life. My nomination and election, I believe, will encourage progressive Australians from the South Asian and other CALD communities to participate in the Australian democratic process.”
“I have been nominated to represent the Greens because I want faster action on climate change, a more equitable society, and an honest, clean government. Equally importantly, I want to provide the representation my electorate of Warrandyte deserves by listening, understanding, and responding to the needs of all my communities in order to make the electorate a better place to live, work and conduct business.” In fact, the issue is much deeper.
Dr. Surjeet Dogra Dhanji, the University of Melbourne in her research paper ‘ Australians of Indian Origin in Politics: Interrogating the ‘Representation Gap’ in Australia'(September 2020) suggests:
” …, Australian political parties need to invest in programs to narrow the ‘representation gap’ of Australians of Indian origin across Australia’s
political institutions.
Key suggestions include that Australian political parties should:
• Address the under-representation of ethnic minorities as some have pursued the underrepresentation of women;
• Initiate programs such as communication training to broaden the pool of talent amongst Australia’s diverse Indian diaspora as well as other minority ethnic groups;
• Harness the talent of future generations of Australians of Indian origin and other minority ethnic groups by channeling resources to initiatives that act as pipelines to future
candidates vying for public roles”.
In fact, as Victoria’s November election draws near, we will know more about the position of South Asian candidates. In a purely politically polarised scenario, and with the media predicting a comfortable third term for Daniel Andrews – led Labor, a breakthrough on ethnic lines looks remote. How the South Asian/Indian voters spread out across Victoria and are visible in a few suburbs vote, is likely to be on political lines. The emergence of the Indian/South Asian Diaspora, as in other Western democracies, in Australia including in Victoria, has attracted political parties, which in itself, is important. Their wooing in the November elections is not a surprise.
