It's on: The election we had to have

It was a prayer that Tony Abbott probably said every night. With a parliament evenly spl ir., it came down to cwo men: Rob Oakeshott and T o n y Windsor, who decid ed to case their l ot in favour of the G illa rd camp. To n y Abbott has b een spi rting bricks ever si nce that fateful a nn ouncement and has continually called on tbe Gillard and Rudd governments r.o call the election.

God h as liste n ed and a n election has n ow been called, but perhaps not with aJl o f che adva n tages wh id1 T o ny Abbott had a few months ago. This time, the contest is betwee n two formidable oppo n ents, unli ke the battle between Abbott and Gillard, which was heavily tilted in tl1e favour of t he leader of the Co alition.

Th e Labor Party change of leaders h ip was a change which had r.o happen.

Labor was slipping in tbe polls and all indications were tl1at they would be totally annihilated. \'(/bile ilie Gillard led governm ent was putti ng groundb reaki n g refor ms in place, the message was just not getting tl1rough. Too mum noi se about leadership spills, backgroundin g of journalists by chose in tl1e anti Gillard, pro R udd camp, all caused a toxic atmosphere To the Labor Party and aU political observers, Rudd was whiteanting his leader and the more he did so, the m o re popular he became w ith the elec torate and ilie poU numbers in hi s favo ur shot up. The p ublic loved hi m , bur his own party, other than a select few, desp ised him

However, it was self preservation as Gillard was deposed and Rudd bec ame the n ew leader of the Labor Party, and th e fourtl1 Prime Jl.,finisrer of Australia in six years Since then , poll numbers have shot up

For tl1e Indian A u stralian community, Kevin Rudd has never openly demonstrated his fr iendship with India, mili ke his lo\·e for C h in a The Labor Party has been more d i smissive of t he smdent issues than tl1e Liberals. The issue w h im will emerge is which parry aligns itself witl1 the asp irational Indians who h ave n ow made ilieir new h ome in Australia. Trends have been changing in the l nclian Australian commmu1:y. A large number which cam e d own under in the last I 0 -15 years have changed from being migrants in employed positions to t hose who have dabbled in small businesses

These busi nesses might be &ancluses of Subway, 7- 11, or Australia Post, o r even s mall businesses in exporting/importing, accounti.ng servic es, food ou tl ets, travel agents etc.

T hey now need a governmem whic h can support cbern in these activities by n:un imising red rape a n d the restrictio n s which lead co a free Aow of services

The Liberals have form o n this bur Labor i s erring to narrow this g a p PM Kevin R udd has increasiJ1g ly sp oken ab out his plan to connect wi cl1 business. ln his first term, h e could n ot do chis. If he can n ot assure tl1e migrant community iliac he now has a new plan ro help tl1e migrant com m unity h o ping to make a better life h e re, i t is goin g to be difficu..lt to get their ticks in ilie ballot box for t he Labor Parry

Pawan Luthra is the current Parliament of NSW Multicultural Jomnalist of the Year