Does the Indian community matter?

Both major parties contesting in

Federal Elections

times the influence.

totally mishandled that crisis.

BY DARSHAK MEHTA

To describe the Indian community’s influence in political or national affairs in Australia as toothless and irrelevant would not be an exaggeration.

The forthcoming election will have proven that beyond all doubt.

Not only do we, as a community, have little impact on policies formulated that affect our country of birth, but we have zero influence on matters that affect students, newer permanent residents and visitors.

How did it come to this?

It is a subject which our plethora of Associations (Trade and Cultural) need to introspect about, and take steps to address.

Indian Link asked both major political parties to expound their stance on two important matters which are of great interest or/and concern to a lot of Indian-Australians – the Visa-Capping issue and the uranium-sales issue.

Till the time of going to press, all we got was a bland acknowledgment and a disingenuous apology that during the election campaign, it would not be possible to attend to our query.

I mean, can you imagine both political parties not having a settled position on Israel and policies that affect it? During the campaign both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition are expected to have close interaction with the Jewish community and address at least one major function each.

The Jewish community in Australia is about a third of the size of the Indian community, but would easily wield three

Did you know that outside Israel, the only country in the world where Jewish people have occupied the highest offices of State, Chief Justice, Chief of Army and Head of State itself is, in fact, here in Australia. Tony Abbott said this when he last addressed them last month.

How about we publicly ask the obligatory/token Australian Government mantri, at our next Indian mela, as to what is his party’s stand on uranium exports to India and also if they support the Visa Capping Bill of 2010 in its current form?

This won’t be bad manners. We need to make them squirm. Anyone can turn up at a function, make motherhood statements, talk nonsense and then disappear after being felicitated. Why do we crave the indulgence of some of these extremely ordinary members of the Australian political class? We actually need to put these people on notice that they cannot take us for granted anymore.

So, how do we assess the policies of the Government and the Opposition?

The Labor Party will not sell Uranium to India and the Liberal Party will. This is fairly clear-cut.

The ALP is not going to do anything on the Visa Capping Bill of 2010 unless there is a huge outcry and unless the Indian Government also chooses to publicly embarrass them. You can’t just attract all these students to Australia with the implicit understanding that at the end of their “studies” they stood a great chance of becoming permanent residents. And after these poor souls (some, literally!) come here - families mortgaging homes etc - they are told that the policy is being changed retrospectively and that at the end of their academic endeavours, there is little chance of them being able to get PR status. This is treachery of the worst kind and it is entirely dishonourable for a Government to behave in this manner. They were fully aware of what was going on all along, and, if they were not, they should have been.

The ALP is not going to do anything on the Visa Capping Bill of 2010 unless there is a huge outcry and unless the Indian Government also chooses to publicly embarrass them

The Liberal Party traditionally takes a hard-line on immigration policy, but it should be pointed out that some of the largest rises in migration numbers occurred under the Howard Government. So, what they preach is not necessarily what they practice.

In the last three years of the Labor Party being in power, the relationship with India has been as badly bruised as some Indian students. The damage done to Australia’s image by the racially motivated attacks on Indian students has resulted in Australia being considered as an extremely racist and hostile country by most Indians back home. The Federal Government as well as the Victorian Government have both floundered and

Apart from the above issues, I suppose the Indian Australian community should be alarmed at the current debate playing out in which the issues of population, immigration and infrastructure have all been blurred, and what has emerged is a dog-whistle to the xenophobic, the bigoted and the racist.

Both parties are guilty of indulging in this for the sake of a few Western Sydney marginal seats.

Overall, the standard of debate so far has been underwhelming, the issues uninspiring, the vision (what vision?!) absent and as far as the Indian Australian voter goes, they are either being taken for granted, or, worse still, ignored.

We need to be more activist and assertive. We need to demand more of any self-anointed community leaders who claim to speak for us or represent us.

The history of this country - on and off the sporting fieldis replete with examples that unless one is prepared to stand up and be counted, we will be bullied or ignored.